Mr. President,
Members of the United Nations Security Council,
Ten years ago, the international community committed to protecting healthcare workers in conflict settings.
On 3 May 2016, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286, condemning attacks against the wounded and sick, medical personnel and humanitarian workers, their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities.
Ten years later, more than 17,000 incidents affecting healthcare have been documented. Nearly five every day.
Behind these figures are doctors, nurses, ambulance workers and first responders who have been killed or injured while trying to save lives. And every day, new attacks target healthcare facilities, ambulances and medical personnel.
It is on behalf of these healthcare professionals, and on behalf of my humanitarian colleagues, that I am writing to you.
My name is Dr Mego Terzian. A paediatrician and humanitarian physician, and former President of Médecins Sans Frontières France, I currently lead Mehad, an NGO operating in conflict-affected areas that relies first and foremost on the expertise and skills of local healthcare professionals.
I have devoted my career to assisting those deprived of access to healthcare, wherever the right to health is violated. Throughout this work, I have met humanitarian healthcare workers whose courage and dedication are extraordinary. Their safety has always been a priority for our teams.
Yet in recent years, their lives and their ability to provide care have come under direct threat as attacks against healthcare facilities and medical personnel have multiplied.
Since the beginning of 2026 alone, 379 attacks have occurred in Ukraine, 164 in Palestine, 15 in Syria and 1 in Yemen — the countries in which our organisation operates.
These attacks, in addition to endangering my colleagues and fellow healthcare professionals, are also severely undermining all of our health activities on the ground, jeopardising access to healthcare for local populations already weakened by health systems that have been devastated.
Ten years ago, through Resolution 2286, the Security Council condemned such attacks and called on all parties to armed conflicts to fully comply with their obligations under international law.
Ten years later, condemnation is no longer enough.
Mr President, Members of the Security Council, today we call on you to turn these commitments into action and to act to ensure:
- Respect for international humanitarian law, as set out in the Geneva Conventions;
- Independent investigations into attacks against healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals, so that those responsible may be held accountable when such attacks constitute violations of international law;
- The continuation of unhindered humanitarian action.
Your commitment today is essential, and it must be this: that not one more healthcare professional should die for trying to save lives.
Protecting the lives of healthcare workers means protecting humanity.
