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Issue Spotlights

A Call to Action: Humanising Humanitarians

Panel in front of the audience.
Group of Friends hosts inaugural panel at Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week 2026

At Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week 2026, the Group of Friends for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel convened its first public event in Geneva, placing renewed focus on the risks faced by aid workers operating in some of the world’s most challenging environments. 

The 60-minute session, titled “A Call to Action: Humanising Humanitarians,” brought together frontline responders, safety experts, UN officials and Member States to examine the growing threats confronting humanitarian personnel and the importance of strengthened protection measures.

Frontline voices at the centre

Speakers from South Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen shared reflections on the realities faced by humanitarian personnel on the ground, including exposure to violence, intimidation, digital targeting and increasing constraints on access to people in need. 

From left to right: Gloria Soma, Executive Director of Titi Foundation in South Sudan; Ross Skowronski, Founder and Director of Mission Kharkiv; and Faiza Al-Tamimi, President of Nahda Makers Organization in Yemen.

Gloria Soma, Executive Director of Titi Foundation in South Sudan, underlined that local responders are often among those most directly exposed to risk. “As a local actor, we are the last line of protection and the last out. We have normalised this risk and this reality...[But] we are always working on a time bomb, living by the hour,” she said.

Ross Skowronski, Founder and Director of Mission Kharkiv in Ukraine, reflected on the pressures facing aid workers operating close to conflict-affected communities.

“It doesn’t make a difference whether we are wearing a white vest or a black vest: humanitarians are a target”, he said. 

He added that protecting humanitarian personnel is “not only a legal obligation but a practical necessity for the humanitarian response itself”.

Faiza Al-Tamimi, President of the Nahda Makers Organization of Yemen, encouraged participants to remain mindful of the individuals behind the figures.

“These are not statistics, these are real people...We are one humanitarian family, which means we have a collective responsibility to protect humanitarians.” 

Taken together, these testimonies underscored the extent to which insecurity has become an increasingly common feature of humanitarian operations in many contexts.

Global trend of rising violence against humanitarians

Anthony Neal, Director of Policy, Advocacy & Communications at the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO) providing his remarks to the audience.

Anthony Neal, Director of Policy, Advocacy & Communications at the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), said these personal accounts reflected a broader global pattern. Drawing on INSO data, he highlighted attacks, access restrictions and online disinformation as factors continuing to reshape humanitarian operations across regions. The result, he said, is reduced access, heightened risk and growing consequences for both humanitarian personnel and civilians. “It’s not just about inviting local actors to the table, but making sure they are heard”.

A response from OCHA shaped by frontline experience

Edem Wosornu, Director of OCHA’s Crisis Response Division, delivers remarks during the event.

Speaking on behalf of OCHA and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, Edem Wosornu, Director of OCHA’s Crisis Response Division, shared her own frontline experience, which had informed her perspective on the issue. “It’s not a job, it’s a calling,” she said of humanitarian work. She also emphasised the importance of upholding legal norms: “There is no armoured vehicle, no coordination system that can stop attacks on humanitarian personnel when IHL is ignored”. 

Wosornu further highlighted the importance of survivor-centred support, strengthened Duty of Care, and sustained follow-through by Member States on commitments under the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel.

A united call to action: deliver on the Declaration

H.E. Clare Walsh, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia, and H.E. Akram Harahsheh, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Jordan, in Geneva.

Chaired by the Ambassadors and UN Permanent Representatives of Australia and Jordan, the session concluded with a clear appeal to Member States to translate commitments into concrete action. 

The Ambassadors observed that frontline humanitarians continue to face death, injury and detention with increasing frequency, and stressed that this trajectory must not be allowed to continue. 

Panellists emphasised that the response must include implementation of the Declaration’s commitments, including: 

  • Adherence to international humanitarian law. 
  • Alignment of protections at the international, national and local levels. 
  • Access that is safe, rapid and unhindered for humanitarian personnel to do their live-saving work. 
  • Accountability for all attacks on humanitarian personnel that amount to violations of international law, to put an end to the myth of impunity. 

The closing message from Geneva was clear: 

When humanitarians cannot work safely, lives cannot be saved and our shared humanity is placed in jeopardy. 

The Group of Friends continues to encourage Member States and partners to support the Declaration and reinforce the central message: Protect Humanitarian Personnel.