Tánaiste and Minister Richmond call for greater protection for aid workers on World Humanitarian Day
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 19 Lúnasa 2025
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris, and Minister for International Development and Diaspora, Neale Richmond, have marked World Humanitarian Day by calling for greater international protection for humanitarian workers, warning that aid workers are being killed at a rate of more than one a day.
The Tánaiste also highlighted the funding crisis facing humanitarian organisations globally. Ireland provided a record €310 million in humanitarian aid in 2024 and is set to match that again in 2025 as humanitarian need rises around the world.
The Tánaiste said:
“There has never been a more dangerous time to be a humanitarian aid worker. Over 390 aid workers were killed last year. This is a chilling figure and is a wake-up call to the international community. Aid workers are the best of us. It is unacceptable that they are losing their lives at the rate of more than one a day while trying to protect and defend the most vulnerable people in our world.
“World Humanitarian Day comes at a time when the humanitarian sector is underfunded, overstretched and under attack. On a daily basis we see the horrifying impact of armed conflicts on civilians, particularly children, and on aid workers. On World Humanitarian Day, Ireland joins the call to protect people living in crisis and ensure the safety of those trying to help them.”
Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Neale Richmond, said:
“International law is clear: humanitarian aid workers, along with journalists and medics, must be protected in times of conflict. It is completely unacceptable that they continue to be targeted and killed while trying to help others.
“The vast majority of aid workers who are killed are local people trying to help their own communities. World Humanitarian Day is an opportunity to reflect on their bravery and call on the international community to do more to implement the laws to protect them.
“It is also an opportunity to pay tribute to Irish aid workers and NGOs who continue to do such incredible work around the world in our name. They are the personification of our values.”
Ireland has so far in 2025 responded to significant humanitarian crises, including those in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and Lebanon. It has also provided humanitarian support to many more less visible crises and to sudden onset emergencies such as the earthquake in Myanmar.
The United Nations has identified that over 300 million people across the globe are in need of humanitarian assistance. Observed annually on 19 August, World Humanitarian Day aims at increasing public understanding of humanitarian assistance and at honouring the humanitarians killed, injured or kidnapped in the course of their work.