Dear Secretary-General,
The Federation of International Civil Servants’ Associations (FICSA) and the United Nations International Civil Servants Federation (UNISERV) grieve the thousands of lives that have been lost in armed conflict zones across the globe.
As representatives of more than fifty thousand UN staff across the common system, we particularly grieve the deaths of scores of aid workers, who have been killed since 7 October 2023 in the Israeli Gaza conflict. As of 13 November 2023, this includes 101 UNRWA colleagues: more than in any comparable period in the history of the United Nations. We mourn the children and families of UN personnel, who have been killed, injured, or displaced in airstrikes in recent weeks.
In full solidarity with and support for all personnel who continue to serve in the region during this devastating crisis, our Federations support the tremendous humanitarian efforts underway to safeguard civilians. We fully support all efforts by the leadership of the United Nations to resolve this crisis and place our hopes in your appeals to bring about an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to ease the epic levels of human suffering.
FICSA and UNISERV appreciate that you invited personnel from all duty stations to observe a minute of silence on 13 November 2023, to mourn and honor our colleagues, and that the flag was lowered to half-mast.
At this critical crossroads, both FICSA and UNISERV trust that you will continue to convey strong messages that civilians on all sides must be protected and that the safeguarding of our personnel is paramount to the organization’s duty of care and to the performance of its mandate.
