Caritas Internationalis is using World Humanitarian Day to demand better protection for aid workers and an end to violence in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, and other war zones, according to a official announcement. The Catholic Church’s global aid network wants governments to stop letting people get away with attacking civilians and humanitarian workers. They’re also remembering colleagues who died trying to help others. The dangers facing aid workers right now are worse than they’ve ever been.
The death toll is staggering. Last year alone, over 380 aid workers were killed in 20 countries while doing their jobs. This year looks even deadlier – 128 people have already been killed across 17 countries in just five months. These aren’t just numbers. They’re real people who died trying to save lives.
See also: World Humanitarian Day 2025: Inside the deadly reality for humanitarian workers
Caritas works in more than 162 countries, so they know how risky this work really is. In places like South Sudan, Colombia, and Congo, local churches often stick around when everyone else flees. “For our staff working at the frontlines, it’s their everyday reality,” said Secretary General Alistair Dutton. He wants people to ask what they can do – and what their governments can do – to help those helping others in war zones.
What really worries Caritas is how international law seems to be falling apart. Pope Leo XIV recently said “the force of international law and humanitarian law seems no longer to be binding.” After gunmen attacked civilians at a Catholic church in eastern Congo on July 27, local Caritas leader Abbé Edouard Makimba Milambo called for all humanitarian workers to be kept safe.
