19/08/2026
Wednesday, August 19, marks UN World Humanitarian Day. This year, the day draws attention to the dangers inherent in aid work. Together with other actors in the field, Finn Church Aid (FCA) calls for the protection of aid workers to ensure that assistance can reach the people who need it the most.
Humanitarian aid work is often carried out in conditions that jeopardize the health and safety of the aid workers themselves—literally in the most difficult environments on earth. Recent years have been marked by an exceptional disregard for the principles of international humanitarian law. At the same time, the need for aid is unprecedented due to protracted conflicts and crises.
A particularly worrying trend in recent years is that aid workers performing life-saving tasks have become targets of military action. In 2025, 350 aid workers were killed, 322 were wounded, 235 were abducted, and 280 were detained.
🆘 Humanitarian aid work is particularly challenging and dangerous in many of the countries where FCA operates. Myanmar, Ukraine, South Sudan, and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza are among the most dangerous places in the world for humanitarian work. Yet, tens of thousands of employees from FCA and other humanitarian organizations go to work every day to help people living amidst crises and conflicts.
“Humanitarian aid means securing the basic necessities of life for people who have found themselves in the midst of, for example, a natural disaster or armed conflict. People who—in the worst-case scenario—have lost everything. Whether it is the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Myanmar, or the devastation caused by climate change in South Sudan, these are the places where the needs are the greatest and where our assistance is needed,” says Tomi Järvinen, Executive Director of Finn Church Aid.
Read more 👉 https://www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi/en/latest-news/news/world-humanitarian-day-protecting-lifesaving-aid-and-those-who-deliver-it/
