SUMMIT ON SECURITY OF INTERNATIONAL STAFF TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 28 JUNE

                                                                  Note No. 5673

                                                                  22 June 2001

Note to Correspondents

SUMMIT ON SECURITY OF INTERNATIONAL STAFF TO BE HELD

AT HEADQUARTERS, 28 JUNE

To address the security problems faced by United Nations and associated personnel around the world, the fourth annual Summit on the Security of International Staff will take place on Thursday 28 June, from 10 am to 1 p.m., in Conference Room 4 at Headquarters.

The meeting intends to draw attention to the tragic increase in attacks against United Nations staff members and humanitarian workers worldwide, and to discuss possible solutions.  The theme for this year is "Getting away with murder", and the focus will be on the legal rights of United Nations and humanitarian workers.  The legal aspects will be examined by a panel to which have been invited, among others, Ralph Zacklin of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been invited as the keynote speaker.  Other invited speakers include the President of the General Assembly, Harri Holkeri, the President of the Security Council, Anwarul K. Chowdhury of Bangladesh, and the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mark Malloch Brown.  The heads of operational agencies -- including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) -- have also been invited to speak.

The summit will have a plenary session followed by a panel discussion/working group.  The event is organized by the Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service and by the United Nations Staff Council.

The past three summits -- held in 1998, 1999 and 2000 -- highlighted the duty and commitment of governments to protect and defend United Nations and humanitarian workers performing their duties under hazardous field conditions.

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