Sixty-two aid workers have been killed worldwide since the beginning of the year, denounced Thursday the UN which is preparing to commemorate, 20 years later, the anniversary of the bloody attack against its headquarters in Baghdad. .
Every year, the UN celebrates World Humanitarian Day on August 19, the date of this suicide bombing in 2003 which killed 22 people including Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN special representative in Iraq, and injured some 150 local and foreign aid workers. In addition to the 62 aid workers killed since January in conflict zones, 84 have been injured and 34 kidnapped, according to the Aid Worker Security Database compiled by British consultancy firm Humanitarian Outcomes.
For several years, South Sudan has been one of the most dangerous places for humanitarians. As of August 10, 40 attacks against them, having killed 22, were counted, said the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA). Sudan comes close behind, with 17 attacks on aid workers killing 19 since January. Such high figures had not been recorded in this country since the conflict in Darfur between 2006 and 2009. Other countries where aid workers have lost their lives include the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia, Ukraine and the Yemen.