May 5, 2021

Washington, DC – Five years after the United Nations Security Council passed landmark resolution 2286 committing countries to prevent attacks on health care and hold perpetrators accountable, violence against health workers and facilities rages on unabated.

A new report and interactive map published today by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC), of which MedGlobal sits on the Steering Committee, highlights a global onslaught of violence against health workers, facilities, and ambulances from 2016 through 2020, including:

• 4,094 reported attacks and threats against health care
• 1,524 health workers injured
• 681 health workers killed
• 401 health workers kidnapped
• 978 incidents where health facilities were destroyed or damaged

On May 3, 2016, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286, which obliged Member States to take specific actions to end – or at least ameliorate – violence against health care. This SHCC report provides a review of violence against health care from 2016-2020 and of the inaction of governments to effectively respond to the crisis.

The data underscore the abject failure of the UN Security Council and UN Member States to take any meaningful measures to prevent attacks or hold those responsible to account.

Read the full report here and explore the interactive map.