UK's UN envoy urges stronger protection for aid workers at UN Security Council meeting

Arab News

02-04-2025

LONDON: UK Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward has called for urgent action to protect aid workers in conflict zones as she addressed a UN Security Council session on implementing Resolution 2730.
Speaking at the meeting on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, Woodward stressed the importance of maintaining momentum in ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of humanitarian workers.
'I pay tribute to those on the frontline and extend my condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives,' she said.
Woodward highlighted the escalating risks faced by aid workers, citing figures from the Aid Worker Security Database that recorded 64 deaths, 36 injuries, and eight kidnappings in just the first three months of 2025. She noted that the majority of those affected were local or national aid workers.
'The most dangerous place to deliver humanitarian assistance is Gaza, with over 400 aid workers reportedly killed since the beginning of the conflict,' she said, adding that Sudan and South Sudan are also high-risk locations.
She expressed concern over the detention of aid workers by the Houthis in Yemen, calling for their immediate release, and stressed the need to protect those responding to the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in Myanmar.
Marking the one-year anniversary of the attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza, in which seven aid workers, including three British citizens, were killed, Woodward renewed calls for the conclusion of the Military Advocate General's review into the incident.
'We continue to call for the conclusion of the Military Advocate General's consideration of the incident, including determining whether criminal proceedings should be initiated,' she said.
She also condemned the recent killing of eight medics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, along with first responders and a UN aid worker in Gaza. 'We call for a thorough and swift investigation with meaningful accountability for those responsible,' she said, urging Israel to support efforts to locate PRCS medic Asaad Al-Nasasra, who remains missing.
Woodward emphasized the need for all parties in conflict to comply with international humanitarian law, ensuring that humanitarian supplies, personnel, and aid workers are respected and protected. 'States must investigate attacks on aid workers and hold perpetrators to account. Effective, trusted deconfliction mechanisms must be set up and used,' she said.
She also urged the strengthening of international commitments to aid worker protection, highlighting the UK's participation in an Australian-led ministerial group working to develop a political declaration aimed at driving global action on the issue.
'The UK is proud to be part of the Australian-led Ministers Group to develop a political declaration to galvanize collective action to protect aid workers, and we encourage others to join,' she said.
Additionally, she called for greater support for humanitarian organizations, including local groups, whose work is hindered by inadequate funding and operational risks.
'Actors who play a fundamental role in aid worker safety face operational risks due to inadequate funding,' she said, pointing to the UK's support for key security-focused groups such as the Aid Worker Security Database and the International NGO Safety Organization.
Woodward reaffirmed the UK's unwavering commitment to ensuring aid workers can operate safely, saying: 'The UK remains steadfast in our commitment to allowing aid workers to do their job in safety and preventing violence against aid workers from becoming the new normal.'