Kuwait Organizes High-Level Geneva Event On Humanitarian Access, Aid Workers Protection

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) By Imen Kherij
GENEVA, June 26 (KUNA) -- The Permanent Mission of the State of Kuwait to the UN in Geneva organized on Thursday a high-level side event entitled "Humanitarian Access and the Protection of Humanitarian Workers: A Cornerstone for Advancing Human Rights in Conflicts" held within the United Nations Human Rights Council's 59th session.
The event saw the wide participation from permanent representatives UN experts and officials as well as representatives of humanitarian organizations and diplomatic delegations.
In a statement to KUNA Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva Ambassador Nasser Al-Hayen affirmed Kuwait's commitment to strengthening international cooperation and fostering partnerships between humanitarian and human rights actors to ensure more effective and dignified responses for people affected by conflicts and disasters.
He stressed that the organization of this event reflects "Kuwait's deep-rooted humanitarian approach and its steadfast support for multilateral humanitarian action" emphasizing that "protecting humanitarian personnel and ensuring the delivery of aid to those in need are both moral and legal imperatives that the international community must uphold especially amid growing threats to aid workers in conflict areas notably in the Gaza Strip where humanitarian staff face serious violations that hinder relief operations and endanger the lives of besieged civilians."
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Michael Fakhri who participated remotely in the event warned against the alarming increase in the use of starvation as a weapon of war particularly in Gaza calling it a deliberate strategy aimed at humiliating weakening and forcibly displacing civilian populations by destroying food systems agriculture storage infrastructure water pumps and destabilizing markets to provoke inflation.
Fakhri criticized the Security Council's failure to operationalize its Resolution 2417 (2018) which affirms that starvation is a war crime and the denial of humanitarian access is a grave breach of international law. He called for armed peacekeepers under the UN General Assembly's "Uniting for Peace" framework to accompany humanitarian convoys into besieged areas such as Gaza.
Humanitarian Access Advisor at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Patrick Duplat expressed deep concern over the militarization of aid especially in Gaza where assistance is used to serve political or military objectives.
"Civilians should not die trying to access humanitarian assistance," he said, adding that militarized aid mechanisms "do not adhere to humanitarian principles and actually hinder the work of humanitarian agencies."
He urged member states to examine the type of humanitarian funding they provide and ensure that it aligns with international legal and ethical standards.
For his part the Head of the OHCHR's Asia MENA and Pacific Division Francesco Motta highlighted what he called the "moral and legal collapse" in conflict zones particularly in Gaza. He cited that since October 7 at least 467 humanitarian workers were killed including 323 UN staff (317 from UNRWA one from WHO two from UNDP one from UNDSS and two from UNOPS) 47 staff and volunteers of the Palestinian Red Crescent and 97 NGO staff.
He further reported that 1,581 healthcare workers were killed (1,066 men and 415 women) in addition to 122 civil defense personnel.
"No hospital in Gaza is currently functioning at full capacity," he warned.
According to the May 2025 IPC assessment 1 million people in Gaza are projected to face IPC Phase 4 (emergency) while 470,000 are at risk of IPC Phase 5 (catastrophe) by September out of a population of 2.1 million.
Motta added that in the West Bank ambulances are regularly obstructed from reaching the wounded while requests for specialized treatment are denied or delayed.
He noted that 2024 witnessed the highest death toll ever recorded among humanitarian workers with 377 fatalities across 20 countries including 168 UN personnel the highest in the UN's history.
Director of Health Emergencies and Humanitarian Response at the World Health Organization Altaf Musani revealed that since 2018 WHO has documented over 8.630 attacks on health facilities and workers across 23 conflict settings leading to over 4,000 deaths and 6,000 injuries.
He stated that 2025 marks the highest number of attacks on health systems ever recorded including 1,528 attacks in Gaza and the West Bank (720 in Gaza 808 in the West Bank) 171 verified attacks in Sudan causing over 1,000 deaths and recent attacks in Iran and Israel.
In a statement to KUNA following the event Professor Marco Sassoli of the University of Geneva emphasized that starvation and discrimination are twin violations of international humanitarian law. He underscored that "arbitrary denial of humanitarian aid especially when directed at specific groups amounts to prohibited discrimination."
Sassoli reminded states of their obligations under Security Council Resolution 2730 (2023) which mandates the establishment of national and international monitoring mechanisms to ensure the protection of aid workers and the integrity of humanitarian operations.
The event reaffirmed Kuwait's leadership in global humanitarian diplomacy and its steadfast commitment to advocating for principled humanitarian action grounded in international law (end)
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