Statement from the Humanitarian Coordinator, Mark Bowden: Aid workers killed in Afghanistan

Kabul, 2 June 2015: Reacting to the announcement by People in Need that nine members of their national staff have been killed on 2 June 2015, in an attack on its compound in Zari district, Balkh province, Mark Bowden, the Humanitarian Coordinator, has made the following statement:

"Once again, I am appalled to be speaking out following the killing of aid workers who are providing much needed assistance in Afghanistan. I share the grief of our colleagues at People in Need and the families of those killed.

This most recent attack highlights the challenges aid workers face and the unacceptable sacrifices aid workers make when working in Afghanistan. Since the start of 2015, 26 aid workers have been killed, with another 17 injured and 40 abducted.

Aid workers in Afghanistan provide emergency trauma care, run feeding programmes for malnourished children, and assist people displaced from conflict and natural disasters. Attacks against aid workers lessen their ability to carry out these essential activities, leaving the most vulnerable in Afghanistan most at risk.

I call on all parties to ensure that those providing humanitarian assistance have safe access to people in need and can carry out their lifesaving work unhindered”.

For more information contact:
Roxanna Shapour, Public Information Officer United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)
Shapour@un.org
+93 79 300 1110