The World’s Aid Workers Must Be ProtectedNAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 7 2026 (IPS) - This summer, an ambush on a marked humanitarian convoy in Duk County, South Sudan, left 17 dead and five injured. In the past three years, more than 1,000 humanitarian workers have been killed, most notably in Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Worryingly, 2024 was the worst year on record with 383 aid workers killed worldwide. Twenty years ago this month, seventeen of our colleagues were executed in our office in Muttur, Sri Lanka, wearing shirts that clearly identified them as humanitarian aid workers. The aid workers this summer were traveling in a marked humanitarian convoy.