Humanitarian Relief

Attacks Against Aid Workers - Knowing When to Duck

by Michael Kleinman

Published November 30, 2008 @ 06:23PM PST


[Knowing When to Duck - Produced by the World Food Program]

As a follow-through to the previous post, humanitarian organizations face more than just intimidation in Darfur - according to recent statistics gathered by the UN:

"So far this year we have seen 11 killed [in Darfur]; 261 vehicles hijacked; 172 assaults on premises; 35 ambushes/lootings of convoys; 189 staff abducted; 28 wounded; and 25 relocations."

To that end, the above video from the World Food Program (WFP) - Knowing When to Duck - Feeding People in a Dangerous World - provides a look at the risks faced by humanitarian organizations in Darfur, Haiti, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

It's difficult to overstate these threats.  Since January, 33 aid workers have been killed in Somalia, in addition to 31 aid workers killed in Afghanistan, 11 in Darfur and 4 in Chad.  Just last week, an aid worker was killed in Sri Lanka.

For more information about attacks against aid workers, see here.

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

Check Spelling

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Subscribe to RSS Feed

Michael Bear Kleinman Michael Bear Kleinman
Los Angeles, CA

Michael is an aid worker, lawyer, and consultant with experience working in Afghanistan, across east and central Africa, and Iraq.

Related Blog Posts

close

This user's Profile page is not public. They have restricted it to only their friends.

Already a Member?

Create an Account

You must create a Change.org account to complete this action.
If you already have an account click here.