2024: A Year of Record Civilian Harm
For civilians in conflict-affected countries, 2024 was marked by a series of increasingly bleak records.
The United Nations recorded more than 36,000 civilian conflict deaths — a 10 percent increase over the already record-high 33,443 deaths in 2023. Children faced unprecedented levels of violence in conflict zones, driven largely by Israel’s war against Hamas in the occupied Palestinian Territory (oPT).
Journalist deaths in conflict reached the highest figure in decades, while more aid workers were killed than ever before — the vast majority of them national staff. More people were killed or injured by explosive weapons in 2024 than in any year since at least 2010, and the number of healthcare personnel killed was the highest since records first began being systematically collected.
Against this backdrop, global displacement also hit an all-time high, with more than 123 million people forced to flee their homes by the end of 2024.
This executive summary highlights key findings from CIVIC’s 2024 Protection of Civilians Trends Report, which tracks the state of civilian protection worldwide.
Click here to view the full executive summary and visit the report website for the complete analysis and data here.
