ICRC President: Every humanitarian worker killed without consequence allows this insidious pattern to continue

Excellencies, colleagues,

Last year, two ICRC drivers were killed by gunmen in Darfur. Just months later, three of our staff were killed in eastern Ukraine when shelling hit the site of a planned frontline distribution. 

And in Gaza, 54 staff and volunteers of the Palestine Red Crescent Society and four staff of the ICRC have been killed, many in the line of duty. 

In March of this year, the killing of eight Palestine Red Crescent Society medics sparked global outrage. The public outcry quickly waned and little meaningful action—if any—followed. 

In July, two colleagues were injured by gunshots while trying to evacuate a wounded ICRC staff member and his family. This was despite clear notification and coordination with the parties. 

This alarming frequency of attacks is compounded by deliberate harmful information campaigns designed to erode trust in our teams and portray our colleagues as legitimate targets. 

Such online attacks must end—not only because they are harmful in the digital space, but because they can lead to serious real-world consequences for our teams and those they serve.

Every humanitarian worker killed without consequence allows this insidious pattern to continue. It reverberates and each attack signals to others that the lives of aid workers are dispensable, and the rules of war designed to protect them are disposable.

The Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel is a crucial step in helping to reverse this tragic trend. I appreciate, I commend, and I fully support Australia’s leadership in driving this declaration forward. 

I hope that all states unite behind it and translate the political support the declaration represents from paper into action.

The rules of war are clear. There are no gaps. It is up to states and parties to conflict to enforce them. 

The lives of humanitarian personnel, and those they serve, depend on it.