In a report to the UN General Assembly, Mr Ban said the number of deaths of UN civilian staff members as a result of malicious acts rose to 25 in the year ending June 30, 2008 up from 16 the previous year - an increase of 36 per cent.

The year ending in June was also the worst in recorded history for humanitarian and other non-governmental organisations, which lost 63 national and international workers to malicious acts, he said.

'I'm gravely concerned by the wide scale of threats, the rise in deliberate targeting of humanitarian and UN personnel and their vulnerability worldwide,' the secretary-general said in his report.

'The security of humanitarian and United Nations personnel continues to deteriorate.'

'Violent acts against United Nations and humanitarian personnel in conflict and post-conflict areas continue unabated,' he said.

Mr Ban called for UN security efforts to be strengthened but he said 'the primary responsibility for the protection of United Nations staff rests with host governments.'

'Current security challenges call for global collective responsibility and steps to promote compliance with internationally agreed principles' to protect humanitarian and United Nations staff, he said.

The secretary-general urged all 192 UN member states to address the unlawful arrest, detention and harassment of UN staff and obstructions to their free movement as well as impunity for crimes committed against UN and humanitarian personnel.

During the year ending in June, he said, 'humanitarian and United Nations personnel were the targets of deliberate attacks by extremists, armed groups and disgruntled sections of populations in all areas of humanitarian and United Nations operations.'

'While threats by extremists existed in the past in a few locations, the threats have expanded indiscriminately to all locations,' Mr Ban said.

The attack against UN offices in the Algerian capital, Algiers, on Dec 11, 2007, in which 17 UN staff members were killed, provides stark evidence of this disturbing trend, he said.

The secretary-general said key factors in the alarming growth of malicious incidents include the expansion of UN operations, particularly in conflict and post-conflict areas; rising criminality; the spread of terrorist tactics; sharp increases in food and fuel prices leading to violent protests; rising public expectations and local dissatisfaction with UN operations; and the climate of impunity for violent acts against UN and humanitarian personnel.

'Abduction and hostage-taking ... remains the most disturbing feature of the humanitarian working environment,' he added.

During the year ending in June, Mr Ban said, there were 490 non-fatal attacks on UN premises, installations and convoys and 546 cases of harassment and intimidation, 578 robberies, 263 physical assaults and 199 hijackings of UN staff.

There were also 160 arrests of UN staff members by governments - and 39 cases where rebels or other non-state actors detained UN staff, he said.

Security incidents against humanitarian organisations reported to the UN during the same period included 236 attacks of convoys and premises, 70 cases of detention by state authorities and 103 incidents of unlawful detention by non-state actors, 41 incidents of assault, 132 incidents of harassment, 113 armed robberies, 50 vehicle hijacking and 70 residential break-ins, he said.

Most of the security incidents directed against UN staff occurred in Africa, including 20 of the 25 UN deaths, Mr Ban said.

He singled out the 297 incidents against UN personnel in Sudan, including the killing of five contracted drivers for the UN World Food Programme and said the trend of politically or criminally motivated targeting of humanitarians is most evident in Somalia, where 18 NGO staff members were murdered during the year ending in June.

Mr Ban also cited Afghanistan, where UN and humanitarian staff 'continue to face direct targeted attacks.' -- AP