At least 36 humanitarian workers and contractors had been killed in South Sudan since January, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in the country said. That figure already exceeded the 31 deaths recorded throughout 2025 and was accompanied by a sharp rise in attacks affecting relief personnel and property.
Ramanathan Balakrishnan marked World Humanitarian Day by calling for every killing to be investigated and its perpetrators held responsible. He said most of those killed were South Sudanese nationals. The supplied report did not list individual incidents, victims or suspected perpetrators behind the cumulative toll.
The UN Mission in South Sudan recorded more than 450 violent incidents involving aid workers or humanitarian assets between January and July. That was over twice the number registered in the equivalent seven-month period a year earlier. The category covers both personnel and property, so it should not be read as a count of lethal attacks alone.
Humanitarian operations were also being disrupted by renewed clashes between government and opposition forces. Aid organisations had relocated from some areas, reducing access to communities requiring assistance. South Sudan, a country of about 12 million people, has faced recurring conflict and climate-related pressures since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.
Relief organisations urged the national government and every party to the 2018 peace agreement to protect humanitarian staff. Their requests included investigations of attacks and guarantees that aid groups could reach people safely and without obstruction. The agreement had been intended to end the country’s civil war, but the reported fighting showed that insecurity continued to constrain its humanitarian environment.
The consequences extended beyond staff safety. UN estimates indicated that around 10 million people in South Sudan would require humanitarian support during 2026. More than 7.5 million were expected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity, making interruptions to relief access particularly consequential.
Funding was another source of pressure. The UN refugee agency and the World Food Program warned in the week before the August 19 report that because of severe shortfalls, food, nutrition and other essential programmes could be withdrawn from a refugee and asylum-seeker population exceeding 650,000 in South Sudan. That warning concerned the availability of programmes and was separate from the tally of workers killed.
The figures present a snapshot at the date, not a final annual count. They show that fatalities had surpassed the previous full-year total before the end of August, while reported violence involving the humanitarian sector had more than doubled. The evidence does not allocate responsibility for the overall pattern to any one armed actor.
