Statement on the First Anniversary of the Terrorist Attack on the United Nations Offices in Algiers

Distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends,

I stand in front of you today in my capacity as Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, who lost three national colleagues in the in the devastating bombing in Algiers. They lost their lives upholding the ideals of “We the Peoples” as expressed throughout the United Nations system—faith in the fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in peace and justice and in equal rights for men and women. Others survived physically, but live with their families and together are coping with their physical and mental pain. The grief affecting all of us is overwhelming and there continues to be a sense of vulnerability.

I also stand in front of you today in my capacity as the Chair of High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM), which has been working continuously through the Interagency Security Management Network and for a number of years to deal with gaps in our security system. I can firmly say that I have witnessed a real change expressed through a system-wide response to United Nations staff safety and security. I can say that all the principals of the United Nations system organizations, as represented by their managers in the HLCM, are fully backing a strong security system that protects the staff and a strong management system that supports the staff at the time of crisis. And we also agreed that our programmes should be security-informed and that we all recognize risk as part of our programme planning; this will require resources that we have to make available because the lives of our colleagues are priceless to the organization and to their families.

We members of the HLCM recognize the critical responsibility of the United Nations system to protect staff members who are exposed to extreme security threats and to take care of their families should they lose their lives in the service of the United Nations. We especially salute our national colleagues who are in the forefront, who live in their communities and who are often the only ones able to deliver assistance in severe conflict situations.

The United Nations is a multilateral organization that contains a beautiful mosaic of nationalities, cultures and religions and these reflect what can even be more beautiful in the real world outside the walls of the United Nations. This is the strength of the United Nations and that is what we should all protect. Today, we are reminded once again that the ideals on which the United Nations was founded remain our best hope for peace, justice, security and equality for all.