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I thank the United Kingdom for organizing this most timely briefing, commemorating the World Humanitarian Day. With an unprecedented number of Level 3 humanitarian crises and over 50 million refugees and internally displaced in the world, the dedicated service of humanitarian workers could not be more crucial. As we pay tribute all the humanitarian workers whose selfless and tireless efforts testify to what’s best in our humanity, we must also do our best to make sure that their life-saving work does not exact the ultimate price- the price of their own lives.

Mr. President,

Last week this Council visited South Sudan, seeing firsthand those displaced surviving in conditions of unspeakable squalor, threatened by cholera and other diseases, on the brink of a famine, with some 50 000 children at risk of dying from acute malnutrition. To many of those displaced, UN protection and humanitarian aid offer their only lifeline.

This lifeline has been threatened by SOFA violations, incitement, and attacks against humanitarian workers. Early this month, six humanitarian workers were killed, among them a nurse. As Toby Lanzer, UN humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, lamented, “I cannot imagine how anybody could do that. Somebody who has gone to provide medical care and attention to your children, and you have executed that person. It defies the imagination.”

And yet that what defies imagination is an increasingly dangerous reality for humanitarian workers in all conflict zones.

In Afghanistan, the number of aid workers killed last year more than tripled. In Syria, an estimated 33 Red Crescent volunteers and 13 UN staff members have been killed; dozens of humanitarian staff are missing.

11 UNRWA staff lost their lives during the recent shelling of Gaza. In Sudan, more aid workers have been abducted this year than in any year since 2004. In May, two Malian humanitarian workers died as their vehicle struck an IED near Timbuktu.

In all, the year 2013 saw a total of 460 aid workers killed, wounded and kidnapped, the highest number ever.This year, 79 aid workers have lost their lives so far, making the first eight months of 2014 deadlier for humanitarian workers than the entire year 2012. As the Humanitarian Outcomes latest report indicates, the number of victims relative to the attack rate also continues to rise.

Locally recruited humanitarian personnel are especially vulnerable to attacks and account for the majority of casualties, also kidnappings, harassment, banditry and intimidation. We must do more to protecthumanitarian workers, including locally recruited staff. Questions related to the multiplication of non-state actors in conflict zones and an increasingly asymmetrical nature of threats must be urgently addressed.

Mr. President,

The Rome Statute defines attacks against humanitarian workers as a war crime. Resolution 1502 establishes that status-of-forces, status-of-missions and host country agreements between the UN and host countries should include provisions regarding attacks against humanitarian personnel as crimes punishable by law and the prosecution or extradition of offenders. And yet, how often have we seen those provisions put into action? Much too often, accountability too remains a casualty of conflicts that kill humanitarian workers.

States need to make sure that perpetrators of attacks committed on their territory against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel are brought to justice. As long as the climate of impunity prevails, humanitarian workers will be increasingly exposed to attacks and other life-threatening situations.

This Council should consistently condemn attacks against humanitarian and medical workers and should seek accountability for such crimes, including through the use of the various instruments at its disposal, such as sanctions designation criteria, commissions of inquiry, fact-finding missions, HR monitoring teams, as well as the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, and referrals to the International Criminal Court.

Mr. President, 

Humanitarian action, as described in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocol, is based on the principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence, the essential features of any humanitarian operation. Violating these principles may carry grave consequences for the humanitarian workers themselves, as well as for those who depend on the assistance they provide.

In Syria, we have witnessed a most blatant violation of the principles of impartiality and neutrality as parties to the conflict, in particular the Syrian regime, have repeatedly obstructed humanitarian aid, withheld consent for operations or redirected aid as a tactic of war. This council must make sure that relevant humanitarian resolutions are implemented in full and take necessary further action in the event of failure to do so.

My delegation is also concerned regarding the politicization of humanitarian access on the eastern borders of Ukraine, where attempts to deliver purported humanitarian aid have been accompanied by Russia’s increased military movements, violations of Ukraine’s borders, and support to anti-Ukrainian rebel groups. All such attempts to manipulate humanitarian access for military or political purposes are totally unacceptable and go counter to the spirit and letter of IHL.

I thank you, Mr. President.