NEW YORK, 30 October 2009: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon led United Nations staff Friday in remembering the colleagues who were killed in an attack on a guest house in Kabul earlier this week and hailing all the men and women working for the world body in Afghanistan.
Jossie Esto of the Philippines, who worked for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) election team; Louis Maxwell, a close protection officer from the United States; Lawrence Mefful, a UN security officer from Ghana; and Yah Lydia Wonyene, a UNDP elections officer from Liberia, were killed in Wednesday’s attack, while nine other UN staffers were wounded.
The identity of a fifth person, who worked for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), still needs to be confirmed.
– These women and men went to Afghanistan with many talents. But they shared a common goal, that is, to help the Afghan people. They went despite the risks. They went to support another election and the opportunity for the Afghan people to shape their destiny, Mr. Ban told the gathering at UN Headquarters.
The Secretary-General highlighted in particular the bravery of the UN security officers who fought the Taliban militants who attacked the guest house, where 34 UN staffers were staying.
Armed with only pistols against assailants carrying automatic weapons and grenades and wearing suicide vests, the officers held them off long enough for UN colleagues to escape, thereby saving many lives. “I am so grateful for their courage and bravery and sacrifice, he noted.
Mr. Ban said that the UN is urgently reviewing the security environment throughout Afghanistan, and is exploring the feasibility of bringing in additional security units to guard UN facilities and guest houses.
The UN will also be consolidating its staff now scattered among many different locations in Kabul and may suggest that personnel not directly engaged in critical duties be re-located over the coming weeks. In addition, Mr. Ban is dispatching a senior UN official to the Afghan capital to express sympathy and solidarity with the staff, as well as to assess first-hand the situation on the ground.
So far this year, he noted, 27 civilian personnel have lost their lives to violence, more than half of them in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But he stressed his determination to carry out the UN’s work.
Later in the day, the Secretary-General briefed the General Assembly, and appealed for rapid action on the UN security budget. Specifically, he asked for a supplementary 50 million US dollar – in addition to the proposed 5 billion regular budget for the 2010-2011 biennium – to better screen and protect access to vulnerable UN locations.
He also requested expanded authority to undertake new financial commitments in times of crisis, noting that the current level of authority of one million dollar is simply not enough.
Further, he proposed that an emergency fund be established with an initial ceiling of 25 million dollar to assist the Department of Safety and Security (DSS) “to meet the new demands upon it in an increasingly dangerous world.”
In addition, he said it is necessary to increase the hardship incentive for staff working in dangerous posts, as well as to set up a special fund to support victims and their families, both in immediate emergencies and in the longer term. While the size of the fund must be decided, initial estimates suggest that it should amount to approximately 10 million dollar.
Kilde: FNs nyhedstjeneste
