UN says a record number of aid workers were killed in 2023

A World Food Programme truck backs up to a UN helicopter in Yida camp, South Sudan (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/AP)

A record number of aid workers were killed in conflicts around the world last year, and this year may be on course to be even deadlier, the United Nations has said.

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries in 2023 — more than double the previous year’s figure of 118.