In Focus: World Humanitarian Day 2025
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On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, took the lives of 22 humanitarian aid workers. Five years later, in 2008, the United Nations General Assembly designated 19 August as World Humanitarian Day to honour those who dedicate their lives to advocate for the survival, well-being and dignity of people affected by crises, and for the safety and security of aid workers.
World Humanitarian Day is a global campaign by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Last year, it carried a powerful call for those in power to act decisively to protect civilians — including humanitarian workers — in conflict zones. Despite this urgent appeal, attacks have persisted.
Women and girls in crisis settings face the harshest inequalities — limited access to decision-making, education, work, health care, and being disproportionately exposed to gender-based violence. They make up 60 per cent of the chronically food insecure, and over 500 die each day from preventable pregnancy and childbirth complications. In 2023, they accounted for 95 per cent of verified conflict-related sexual violence cases. Yet, their voices and leadership remain underrepresented in humanitarian response.
Women are not only among those most affected by crises but are also at the forefront of the response. They deliver aid, save lives, and defend human dignity, often at great personal risk. This year, we continue to urge #ActForHumanity: world leaders must take concrete steps to safeguard civilians and aid workers, uphold international humanitarian law, and end impunity.
On World Humanitarian Day 2025, UN Women stands in solidarity with all humanitarian workers and reaffirms its commitment to gender-responsive humanitarian action. We cannot build a safer, more resilient world without the leadership, knowledge, and strength of women and girls at the heart of every humanitarian effort.
WE Respond: Gender Responsive organization Dashboard
The mapping initiative, developed by the Asia Pacific Regional Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GIHA WG) and supported by UN Women and UNICEF, aims to raise the profile integration of Women and Girl- Focused Organizations (WGFOs) into regional and national humanitarian and disaster risk reduction efforts.
