Note to Correspondents

Ninth Anniversary of Attack against United Nations Office in Baghdad

 

to Be Observed at New York Headquarters, 17 August

The ninth anniversary of the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, and the fourth World Humanitarian Day, will be observed on Friday, 17 August, at a brief ceremony to be held at 10 a.m. in the public lobby of the General Assembly Building, in front of the memorial plaque located outside the Meditation Room.

On 19 August 2003, a truck-bomb attack destroyed the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, taking the lives of 22 and wounding more than 150 others.  Among the victims was Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq.

A wreath-laying ceremony will pay tribute to the staff members killed and injured in that attack, as well as in many other attacks against humanitarian workers around the world.  Colleagues who survived the Baghdad attack, and Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, have been invited to lay a wreath in front of the memorial plaque, and a moment of silence will follow.

Those killed in Baghdad were Saad Hermuz Abona, Reham al-Farra, Emaad Ahmed Salman al-Jobory, Raid Shaker Mustafa al-Mahdawi, Omar Kahtan Mohamed al-Orfali, Leen Assad al-Quadi, Ranilo Buenaventura, Gillian Clark, Arthur Helton, Manuel Martin-Oar Fernandez-Heredia, Richard Hooper, Reza Hosseini, Jean-Sélim Kanaan, Christopher Klein-Beekman, Ihssan Taha Hussein, Khidir Saleem Sahir, Alya Ahmad Sousa, Martha Teas, Basim Mahmood Utaiwi, Sergio Vieira de Mello, Fiona Watson and Nadia Younes.

World Humanitarian Day has been observed since 2009 on the anniversary of the attack to increase awareness of humanitarian assistance activities, and to honour all personnel who have worked in promoting the humanitarian cause and those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

The ceremony is organized by the United Nations Staff Union and its Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service.

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For information media • not an official record