UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said this week that 24 aid workers have been killed in Sri Lanka over the last 14 months. "Safe, unhindered access for humanitarian workers is fundamental to humanitarian operations. Unfortunately, both access and security have declined significantly since June 2006, with grave consequences for those communities reliant on a humanitarian lifeline, he said in his report on the work of the organisation.

His assessment comes last week when another young male worker with the Halo Trust was shot and killed in Jaffna on November 18.

Ban Ki-Moon also highlighted the lack of progress in the investigation into the murders of the 17 local aid workers attached to the French charity Action Contre le Faim.

"Despite the serious nature of these crimes and their repercussions, insufficient attempts have been made to hold the perpetrators accountable. In Sri Lanka, there is still little progress in the work of the government established commission investigating human rights abuses, including the murders of 17 staff of Action Contre le Faim who were killed in a single, abhorrent act in August 2006," he mentioned in the report.

It was mentioned in his report that the armed conflict has displaced over 100,000 people this year but that 120,000 have been resettled as well.

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