UN Staff Remember 2003 Baghdad Attack

UN Staff Around The World Gather In Remembrance Of 2003 Baghdad Attack

United Nations staff members across the globe today solemnly commemorated the fourth anniversary of the bombing at Baghdad’s Canal Hotel, where nearly two dozen people were killed and scores more injured in the deadliest attack against the world body’s civilian personnel in history.

In Addis Ababa, Baghdad, Bangkok, Geneva, Nairobi, New York, Santiago, Vienna and other locations, staff members gathered in remembrance of the 19 August 2003 truck bomb attack against the UN headquarters in Baghdad, which took the lives of 22 and wounded more than 150. Among those killed was Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Secretary-General™s Special Representative for Iraq and head of the UN mission in the country.

“This was the first time the United Nations was deliberately targeted on such a massive scale,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the UN Headquarters ceremony. “The bomb detonated at our Baghdad headquarters robbed us of our best and brightest and injured many more, but it also shattered any illusion that the UN™s ideals and impartiality permitted us to operate above the fray in Iraq.

The Security Council’s recent decision to strengthen the mandate of the UN mission in Iraq “is an opportunity to carry forward the work of Sergio Vieira de Mello and his colleagues,” the Secretary-General said, adding that he understood the “fears and concerns” of staff members about the move.

“Any such measure remains strictly subject to conditions on the ground,” he stressed. “Your safety is and always will be a paramount concern.”

“At the same time, the terrorists who struck so cruelly in Baghdad must, one day, be brought to justice,” he said, standing before a memorial to the victims and a frame holding the tattered UN flag which survived the bombing. “There can be no impunity for such murderers.”

The Secretary-General said his thoughts are with the survivors of the Baghdad bombing, and the families of those who died, and also paid tribute “to the brave men and women who continue to serve the United Nations, in Iraq and beyond.”

UN staff members around the world gathered and observed a minute of silence to honour the memory of the victims. Wreath-laying ceremonies were held in Geneva and New York, while staff in Santiago held a candle-lighting ceremony.

At the Geneva ceremony, the Director-General of the UN Office there, Sergei A. Ordzhonikidze, stressed that time only strengthens the resolve to ensure that the lives and contributions of those who perished were not forgotten. “We vow to take forward their quest for peace as the most appropriate tribute to their memory,” he said, adding that by œbuilding on their legacy, we continue to assist the Iraqi people.

Mr. Ordzhonikidze said the adoption last week of Security Council Resolution 1770 to renew and strengthen the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) “demonstrates the Organization’s unwavering commitment to helping the Iraqi people to shape a prosperous and peaceful future.”

He paid tribute to the victims’ deep sense of commitment to the noble cause of peace and to the service of who needed them the most. “Let us all be inspired – not just today, but every day – by their drive and dedication, by their sense of responsibility, by their steadfast belief in the values and principles of this Organization, and by their determination a΅d ability to act upon this belief.

In Nairobi, 100 staff members gathered outside the main entrance of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Library located in the UN headquarters complex for a commemorative ceremony.

Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and acting Director-General of the UN Office at Nairobi, read the Secretary-General’s message before the minute of silence was observed.

Following a speech by the President of the Staff Union, Michael Mwangi, Eric Falt, the Director of the UN Information Centre in Nairobi, which organized the ceremony, requested that staff who had been given single-stem flowers place them in the Pond of Remembrance located just off the main entrance of the library.

The Sergio Vieira de Mello Library is but one of several lasting tributes to the victims of the bombing. Officials from the American University in Cairo (AUC) set up the Nadia Younes Memorial Fund, which honours the legacy of the late Egyptian UN staffer who was killed in the attack by supporting education and opportunity for students.

Among its projects, the Fund has supported the Nadia Younes Conference and Meeting Room at AUC’s Model United Nations Centre, the Nadia Younes Annual Lecture, and the Nadia Younes Award for Public and Humanitarian Service.

Jean-Selim Kanaan, a national of Egypt and France who was among the victims, was awarded France’s Legion of Honour for his work in helping the world’s weak and oppressed, while the UN renamed annual training programme for young journalists in honour of Reham Al-Farra, the first female daily political columnist in her native Jordan who was also killed in the Baghdad blast.

In addition to these four individuals, various tributes have also been paid to each of the other victims: Emaad Ahmed Salman Al-Jobory, Raid Shaker Mustafa Al-Mahdawi
Leen Assad Al-Quadi, Ranilo Buenaventura, Rick Hooper, Reza Hosseini, Ihssan Taha Husain, Christopher Klein-Beekman, Martha Teas, Basim Mahmood Utaiwi, Fiona Watson, Saad Hermiz Abona, Omar Kahtan Mohamed Al-Orfali, Gillian Clark,
Arthur Helton, Manuel Martín-Oar, Khidir Saleem Sahir and Alya Ahmad Sousa.

ENDS

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