Video of an aid worker who survived a suicide bomber attack

On Oct. 5, 2009, a suicide bomber attacked the headquarters of the United Nations (UN) Food Program in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing five UN staffers and injuring five others. Watch a 4 minute video featuring one of the survivors, Adam Motiwala, an American Muslim, describe the attack.

Motiwala was an information officer for the World Food Program in Islamabad.  Like other aid workers around the world, he risked his life to help more than three million displaced Pakistanis due to ongoing fighting. He suffered injuries to his head, legs and stomach and required surgery to remove shrapnel from his head behind his ear, as well as in his ankle.

 

Aid worker safety

Flawed Counterterrorism Policy Puts Aid Workers in More Danger

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Date: 
February 1, 2012
Author: 
Nathaniel J Turner

Nearly 800 aid workers were killed in the past decade. Already in 2012, four aid workers have lost their lives. Kidnappings have also been on the rise, just last week a successful rescue took place to save an American citizen and her colleague, both staff for the Danish Refugee Council, who had been held captive in Somalia since last October.

The Aid Worker Security Report 2011

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Date: 
September 16, 2011

An August 2011 report by EISF shows that the overall decrease in violence against aid workers is caused by “fewer humanitarian workers in [dangerous] areas, and greater restrictions on the movement and activities of those remaining, rather than increased peace and security.” The Aid Worker Security Report 2011 found that this was partly due to the U.S. cutting 89 percent of funding to Somalia and “government restrictions on foreign humanitarian activity in the Darfur region” of Sudan.

Honoring International Charities and Their Workers on 9/11

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Date: 
September 11, 2011
Author: 
Kay Guinane

Today, on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Americans are reflecting on what the attacks and our response to them tells us about ourselves, honoring those who have stepped up to fight terrorism, and thinking about what kind of future we want. As part of this reflection, I invite you to consider the contributions of American international charities that provide life-saving humanitarian relief, support development that contributes to long-term sustainability in impoverished regions, and facilitate peace talks aimed to ending armed conflict.

Health Care in Danger

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Date: 
August 15, 2011

"Violence against health-care facilities and personnel must end. It's a matter of life and death," said Yves Daccord, the Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

"The human cost is staggering: civilians and fighters often die from their injuries simply because they are prevented from receiving timely medical assistance," added Daccord.
 
See the results of a two-and-a-half-year, Sixteen Country Study in which the ICRC documented over 600 instances of violence against health care workers and facilities, and found millions of lives could be saved if the delivery of health care were more widely respected.

Database Tracks Major Incidents of Violence Toward Aid Workers

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Date: 
May 11, 2011

The Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) is a global compilation of major incidents of violence against aid workers from 1997 through the present. It is a project of Humanitarian Outcomes.  

Around the world, aid workers providing humanitarian assistance are at risk due to real or perceived association with military or foreign policy agendas. To curb this, it is imperative that aid workers be able to maintain their neutrality and impartiality from government interference when conducting their operations. Learn more….

Index of Aid Workers Killed or Abducted Around the World in 2010

in
Date: 
October 14, 2010

The perception of being associated with a military force carries potentially deadly consequences for humanitarian aid workers operating in combat zones.  To reverse this trend, it is imperative that aid workers are perceived to be independent of military or political influence, and deliver aid in an impartial and neutral manner.

Aid Worker Safety Threatened by Military Agenda

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Date: 
December 14, 2010

Along with a Dec. 13, 2010 New York Times article, two reports find the blurring of aid and development work with foreign policy agendas has led to a spike in violence toward aid workers and threatens to shrink the amount of humanitarian activity in places of armed conflict. A Nov. 2010 report released by the European Interagency Security Forum (EISF) and a June 2009 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) call for promoting and protecting the independence and neutrality of humanitarian organizations as the best means of protecting aid workers in the field.

Abduction Management Tools for Aid Workers

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Date: 
June 1, 2010

Resources for managing security concerns and risks for aid workers operating in dangerous environments. 

  • The May 2010 report, Security Risk Management: NGO Approach, provides the user with tools to identify and assess the NGO's operational context (activities and the security realities), evaluate the problem (risk analysis), and identify solutions (Mitigation Measures) to accomplish its mission of enabling operations while ensuring the safety and security of NGO personnel, assets, and programs. It is produced by InterAction Security Unit.
     
  • Abduction of aid workers has risen sharply in particular contexts in the past decade.  The May 2010 EISF Briefing Paper Abduction Management explores the dimensions of effective, proactive abduction and kidnapping response mechanisms.

  • On May 11, 2010, a Harvard sponsored seminar titled, Security on Mission: How to Survive a Kidnapping, addressed the prevention and mitigation of kidnapping. The event explored the causes, risks, and consequences of kidnapping for humanitarian professionals working in some of the world’s most dangerous areas. 

Aid Workers Killed or Abducted Around the World in 2009

in
Date: 
December 2, 2009

The following is a list of aid workers killed or abducted from around the world in 2009. They are listed by the country where the incident occurred. Updated- December 14, 2009.  The most recent incidents added are marked with a *.