NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS SUMMIT ON SECURITY OF INTERNATIONAL STAFF TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 15 JUNE

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS SUMMIT ON SECURITY OF INTERNATIONAL STAFF TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 15 JUNE

To address the increasing security problems faced by United Nations and associated personnel around the world, the third Summit on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service will be held at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, 15 June, in Conference Room 3, at Headquarters.

The event is organized by the United Nations Staff Council Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service, in cooperation with the Coordinating Committee for International Staff Unions and Associations of the United Nations System (CCISUA). The event will seek to mobilize action to ensure the safety and security of staff worldwide which, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said at the second Summit, "is a non-negotiable issue".

The Summit will review the current security situation in the field and follow up on the decisions taken by the Security Council and the General Assembly on that issue. Between 1992 and 31 January 2000, 184 civilian staff members were killed and 228 taken hostage or kidnapped. In addition, there were 292 reported violent incidents against United Nations staff throughout the world, including violent robbery, physical assault and rape.

The plenary session will be opened by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Invited speakers include General Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab (Namibia), Security Council President Jean-David Levitte (France), Economic and Social Council President Makarim Wibisono (Indonesia), and United Nations Security Coordinator Benon Sevan. Mehri Madarshahi, President of the CCISUA and the United Nations Staff Union, will serve as moderator.

The panel discussion will cover the political, legal, physical and psychological aspects of protection of United Nations staff and locally recruited and associated personnel. Among the invited speakers are Permanent Representative Antonio Monteiro (Portugal), United Nations Legal Counsel Hans Corell and representatives of the United Nations operational agencies. George Irving, former United Nations Staff Union President, will be the moderator.

A special presentation will honour the countries that have ratified, since the last Summit, the 1994 United Nations Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel -- Bangladesh, Botswana, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Senegal and Uruguay. Thirty-two countries have ratified the Convention.

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