NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS EXHIBITION ON STAFF SECURITY OPENS 3 APRIL

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS EXHIBITION ON STAFF SECURITY OPENS 3 APRIL

A new permanent exhibition on the safety and security of United Nations and associated personnel will open at 10 a.m. Monday, 3 April, on the ground floor of the General Assembly Building (Delegates' Entrance, above the Viennese Cafe). The exhibition, paid for by the United Nations staff and sponsored by the United Nations Staff Union, seeks to make Member States and the public fully aware of the continuing threats against United Nations staff.

In the exhibition, the dangers faced by United Nations personnel are highlighted by the stories of various staff members who gave their lives or "disappeared" in the service of the Organization. Among them are: Valentin Krumov, of the United Nations mission in Kosovo, killed in Pristina in 1999; Saskia von Meijenfeldt, of the World Food Programme (WFP), and Luis Zuniga, of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), killed in Burundi in 1999; Maria Wewiorska, of the United Nations mission in Georgia, killed in Tbilisi in 1998; and William Jefferson, of the United Nations mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, killed near Tuzla in 1997.

An appeal is launched to government and warring parties to respect the rights of United Nations and associated staff. States are called upon to ratify the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, and to take measures ensuring the security of peacekeepers and humanitarian workers. The public at large is invited to support the campaign to stop violations of staff members' human rights.

The exhibition will be inaugurated with a brief ceremony, to which have been invited senior United Nations officials, representatives of the operational agencies, delegates of Member States, as well as United Nations staff members who want to remember the sacrifice of their colleagues and draw attention to the dangers threatening their co-workers around the world each day.

* *** *