September 23, 2025
JAKARTA – Foreign Minister Sugiono kicked off this week’s whirlwind of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings in the United States by calling on member states to step up protections for humanitarian workers, co-hosting the launch of a related declaration while spotlighting the plight of aid personnel in Gaza.
With the past two years considered the deadliest on record for humanitarian workers, Indonesia called for stronger international commitments to their safety, as well as accountability for attacks against them.
Diplomatic activity is already intensifying in Manhattan, New York, ahead of the UNGA’s general debate, which opens on Sept. 23. Led by former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the week’s agenda is expected to focus on UN reforms, the escalating climate crisis and Israel’s ongoing military operations in the Middle East.
A string of high-level meetings are slated for this week, including a closely watched summit on the two-state solution scheduled for Monday afternoon.
In his first major engagement, Sugiono on Sunday attended the launch of the Global Declaration on the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, an Australian-led initiative aimed at strengthening worldwide compliance on the protection of humanitarian personnel.
Indonesia stands ready to contribute and to cooperate with all member states to ensure humanitarian workers are protected, Sugiono said.
“They must never be targets. The greatest honor we can offer those who have fallen is [by] ensuring [that] their mission continues, through a stronger commitment to peace, deeper international cooperation and unwavering adherence to the principles of humanity,” he said.
The Sunday declaration introduces commitments to decriminalize humanitarian work, counter disinformation, ensure gender-responsive protections and streamline access through visa and customs reforms, among others.
It also established a ministerial group, consisting of Australia, Jordan, Switzerland, Indonesia, Sierra-Leone, the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil and Colombia, tasked with championing international humanitarian law and protecting aid workers in conflict zones.
At the launch, Sugiono drew particular attention to the personnel of the UNRWA, the largest aid body in Palestine, who have suffered massive casualties since the outbreak of ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine’s militant group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
Citing UN data showing that one in every 50 UNRWA members have been killed in Gaza this year, Sugiono said the casualties marked the highest loss of UN personnel in history.
“Regrettably, global figures also indicate that such incidents are not declining. These figures are not mere statistics. Each and every fallen humanitarian worker is more than a name,” he stressed. “We must [work] hand-in-hand to ensure accountability, and to stop impunity and double standards”.
Despite being the main provider of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, UNRWA, which currently employs 11,000 staff in Palestine, has been hit repeatedly by Israeli strikes and blockades over the past two years, with Tel Aviv accusing the body of supporting Hamas.
According to the latest UNRWA figure from early September, more than 360 of its members have been killed in Gaza, and over 900 incidents of attacks on its facilities have been recorded.
President Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to speak on the opening day of the forum on Tuesday, following addresses by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and US President Donald Trump.
Indonesia has already signaled its plan to put the Palestinian issue high on its agenda at the world’s largest multilateral stage. Prabowo’s appearance will also mark the first time in more than a decade that an Indonesian president has joined the UNGA general debate.