unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/19/89)
STATEMENT BY SECRETARY-GENERAL ON STAFF DAY
Posting Date: 09/18/89 Source: UNITEX Network, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Host: (201) 795-0733 ISSN: 1043-7932
Following is the text of the statement by Secretary-General
Javier Perez de Cuellar, delivered this morning to the United
Nations staff, in observance of "Staff Day":
Since we gathered for Staff Day last year, our hopes that the
United Nations would again assume an important role in the
pursuit of international peace and security have been realized.
The Organization is now at the forefront of international
efforts in a variety of areas. This has been widely recognized,
not least in the granting of the Nobel Peace Prize to our
peace-keeping forces. Yet we, the staff of the United Nations,
who are in this great enterprise together, know better than
anyone else what it has meant for the Organization and what it
has meant for our lives.
On the one hand, it has renewed our sense of mission and
commitment, our realization that we are doing something
important and, indeed, vital for the world.
On the other hand, it has placed on us heavy new demands and
greatly increased our workload, at a time when resources have
been stretched to the utmost. There are empty desks in many
offices and working hours are longer, as colleagues have gone on
missions and the workload has had to be distributed among all of
us who have remained behind.
I am proud of the way the staff as a whole has met this
challenge. It is largely as a result of your magnificent
performance that the Organization has been able to fulfil the
heavy demands that have been made on it. I wish to take this
opportunity to express my profound appreciation and gratitude to
all of you here and to all our colleagues in United Nations duty
stations far and wide.
Let me now focus on two issues which I know are vitally important
for all of us: safety and security of staff and conditions of
service.
As you know, one of my major preoccupations is that of respect
for the privileges and immunities of the international civil
service. At a time when
the Organization is being called upon to undertake greater
responsibilities in various parts of the world, it is imperative
that we, as international civil servants, are able to perform
our duties with a full assurance that our legal and human
rights, as well as those of the Organization, will be fully
respected. The dedication and impartiality of all staff members
is without question, and it is intolerable to me that some of
our colleagues remain under arrest or detention or, far worse,
have died while in captivity. Here I recall with deep sorrow
our former colleague, Lt. Col. William Higgins. You may be sure
that, in my capacity as Secretary-General of this noble
Organization, I shall do everything in my power to resolve all
instances of injustice to staff members. I will also urge
Member States to extend to staff members not only the protection
which they need, but also the treatment to which they are
entitled by virtue of being international civil servants.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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