More than 37,000 civilians killed in 2025 in 20 conflicts, according to OCHA

More than 37,000 civilians were killed in 2025 in 20 conflicts around the world, or one victim every 14 minutes, according to OCHA.

Speaking on Wednesday during an annual Security Council open debate on the issue of protection of civilians in armed conflict, Edem Wosornu, director of the Crisis Management Division at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stressed that a civilian is killed “every 14 minutes » in 20 conflicts.

Protecting civilians requires respecting the UN Charter

Edem Wosornu highlights a record number of attacks against journalists and aid workers as well as a steady increase in sexual violence and serious violations committed against children. She recognized in this respect that the real results are probably « bien plus lourd »notably in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and occupied Palestine.

These alarming trends are the result of “choices”, stressed the head of OCHA, whether it is to ignore the obligation to protect civilians, to adopt permissive interpretations of international humanitarian law (IHL), to subordinate the protection of civilians to military imperatives or even to allow impunity prevail. Rather than mere expressions of concern, protecting civilians requires respecting the United Nations Charter and preventing disagreements from escalating into armed conflict, Wosornu insisted.

This also requires guaranteeing respect for IHL, without exception or selectivity, she added, also pleading for an end to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and the transfer of weapons when there is a risk for civilians, for the protection of humanitarian personnel and journalists, for the maintenance of human control over the use of force and for the end of impunity.