Concerned By Growing Threats Facing Staff of United Nations, Associated Entities,Secretary-General Urges Support for Security Services
NEW YORK, 20 October (Department of Safety and Security) — The United Nations was now continuously engaged in an increasingly complex, dangerous and unpredictable world security environment, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the General Assembly released today.
Conflict and violence remained the primary cause of increased chaos and human suffering, which called for sustained United Nations interventions,” he said in the report “Safety and Security of Humanitarian Personnel and Protection of United Nations Personnel” (document A/71/395). “The Organization has been called to deliver mandates and programmes across the globe including in highly dangerous areas where security and protection for personnel are required more than ever,” the Secretary-General states.
The annual report to the Assembly gathers data and analysis relating to security incidents involving United Nations personnel in 2015 and the first six months of 2016. It notes that direct attacks against United Nations personnel and premises increased three-fold from 2014 to 2015, a result directly related to the rapid growth of complex conflicts and acts of violence in areas where the Organization is active. Despite those dangers, personnel continue to deliver critical services to those in need, it adds.
According to the report, 23 personnel lost their lives in 2015, and 99 more were injured due to direct acts of violence, an increase of 30 per cent from 2014 levels. Overall, criminal activities were responsible for the majority of deaths due to violent acts, with terrorist acts constituting the second largest cause. Incidents involving abduction, intimidation and harassment have all increased, but instances of arrest and detention have continually decreased since 2010. The majority of all personnel affected by security incidents, 64 per cent, were recruited locally. The number of fatalities due to road traffic accidents remained unchanged from 2014 to 2015, but the number of personnel injured rose from 91 to 124. The number of casualties involving non-governmental organization (NGO) partners of the United Nations has decreased by 50 per cent since 2014, but NGO personnel constitute a greater number of casualties relative to United Nations staff.
Despite those challenges and the human toll, United Nations personnel continue to operate and deliver critical programmes in conflict areas and other dangerous places around the world, the report states. The Organization, through the United Nations Security Management System and the Department of Safety and Security, continues to make progress in managing security risks to enable its personnel to operate in that environment. The report provides an update on measures and initiatives taken by the United Nations to enhance the safety and security of personnel, through security risk management, support to field operations and security decision-makers, collaboration with host Governments, enhancements to the policy framework, and internal coordination regarding duty of care, gender, road safety, and air safety strategies. Highlighting the increasingly stressed capacities of the Department of Safety and Security to meet security demands, the report underlines efforts to address the strategic challenges faced by the United Nations and the need for the Department — established in 2015 — to remain flexible and responsive in staying ahead of fast-paced changes in the increasingly complex global security environment.
According to the report, the Secretary-General “expresses deep condolences to the families of United Nations personnel and humanitarian personnel, as well as humanitarian aid workers, who lost their lives while delivering life-saving operations to people who are vulnerable and in danger”. He further states that the safety and security of the Organization’s personnel remains a central priority of the United Nations and calls on Member States and host countries to take robust actions to protect the Organization’s staff as well as non-affiliated humanitarian personnel. Further, the Secretary-General reminds Member States that their “continued support is most needed, particularly through providing sufficient funding to ensure that the Organization has the capacity to meet the increased security demands”.
The report was requested by the General Assembly in December 2015, to be presented at its seventy-first session.
For further information, please contact Suchada Kulawat, Policy Officer, Department of Safety and Security, tel.: +1 917 367 9349, e-mail: kulawat@un.org.