MEMORIAL SERVICE AT UN HEADQUARTERS HONOURS FALLEN STAFF

MEMORIAL SERVICE AT UN HEADQUARTERS HONOURS FALLEN STAFF

The annual memorial ceremony at United Nations Headquarters today culminated with the reading of the names of the 111 United Nations staff members fallen in the service of the Organization in the last 12 months.

The ceremony honoured, among others, the staffers killed in the attack against the United Nations office in Baghdad on 19 August 2003 -- including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Secretary-General’s Special representative for Iraq.

Following a minute of silence in memory of the fallen, as well as of former President Ronald Reagan of the host country, who was put at rest today, acting General Assembly President Brown B. Chimphamba remembered “those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for this Organization and its MemberStates in the service of humanity”.  Their only failing, he said, had been “their extraordinary willingness to work in perilous circumstances to help the United Nations to meet its obligations“, and their deaths affected all members of the United Nations family.

Security Council President Lauro L. Baja, Jr., paid tribute to “to the men and women of the United Nations and its associated organizations in the field, both civilians and those wearing the blue helmet, who are undaunted by the inexorable perils attendant to their work”.  He recalled Security Council resolution 1502(2003), which urges governments to punish crimes against United Nations and associated personnel and expresses the Council’s determination to ensure the safety and security of staff.  He called on the “almost two thirds” of Member States that have not ratified the 1994 Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel to do so and make it universal, thus enhancing its protective regime.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said that once the United Nations flag had been a shield, but today in too many countries the flag, and the Organization, needed protection.  The United Nations had become a target for terrorist groups and for those who benefited from violence.  Staff members were increasingly called upon to serve in dangerous areas, and it was necessary to strike a balance between ensuring staff security and fulfilling the mandates entrusted to the Organization.  “We cannot do the work of the United Nations behind the walls of a bunker, but we will not expose staff irresponsibly”, he said, adding that the senior United Nations leadership was reviewing proposals to address the changing security environment and help ensure that the utmost would be done for staff security.

Marilyn Manuel, of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, had been listed among the dead in the attack in Baghdad. She recalled walking in the darkened corridors of the United Nations building “soaked in blood”, and finally being able to call her family through a borrowed cell phone in a Baghdad hospital.  A veteran of United Nations missions who served in Somalia, Liberia, Baghdad, East Timor, and again in Baghdad, she “thought nothing could happen to me because I serve with the United Nations”.  The most important task now was to ensure protection for the staff, both national and international, around the world.  “All security measures must be taken before staff are deployed in the field”, she said, and while risks cannot be eliminated, they can be minimized.

According to United Nations data, the causes of death included road accidents and drowning accidents.  But many staff members were deliberately targeted -- such as police officer Satish Menon, killed by a sniper in Kosovo on
4 August 2003; Bettina Goislard, killed by gunmen in Afghanistan on 16 November 2003; military observer Peter Gathumbi Wachai, ambushed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on 12 February 2004; police officer Possible Koji Essuman, shot dead in Kosovo on 23 March 2004; and private Mothapo Alpheus Seakalala, shot dead in the DRC on 30 March 2004.

Twenty-seven staffers died while serving with the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), 25 with the United Nations Mission in the DRC (MONUC) and 16 with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).  Most of the fallen were from Bangladesh (23), followed by South Africa (11), Kenya (8), Iraq (6), and Ghana and the United States (5).

The observance, organized by the United Nations Staff Union on the occasion of Staff Day, was attended by hundreds of staff members, many of them in tears.

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