United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres says humanitarian workers are a lifeline for over 300 million people caught in conflict and disaster globally, as he marks World Humanitarian Day.

The day was chosen after the murder of UN colleagues in a terrorist bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, on August 19, 2003.

In a statement, Guterres spokesperson Stephane Dujarric warns that the lack of funding for humanitarian work and the killing of humanitarian workers are a cause for concern.

“Funding for that lifeline is drying up and those who provide humanitarian aid are increasingly under attack. The secretary general points out that last year, at least 390 aid workers, a record high, were killed across the world from Gaza to Sudan to Myanmar and beyond. On this World Humanitarian Day, he called on all to honour the fallen with action. Together, he adds, let us say in one voice, an attack against humanitarians is an attack against humanity.”