Remarks Prepared for Delivery
by Antonio Maria Costa
Director-General, United Nations Office at Vienna
Vienna
October 18, 2004
This is a very special occasion, both sombre and happy. A day on which we look forward, but also look back. To remember what drew us to a life of service with the United Nations, and to reflect on what keeps us here.
Today the flags waving so proudly and for the first time - above this Plaza remind us that our mission is global.
Each flag represents the aspirations of a Member State. Together, this display assumes a much greater meaning - focused, not on what divides the human family, but on what unites us.
To be a member of this UN "family" is not an easy task.
The work is hard.
The challenges are huge.
The mission a dangerous one - a truth made even harder by the loss of fallen friends.
Since 1948, almost 2000 military and civilian personnel from more than 100 countries have died in U.N. operations.
Since 1992, 210 of our civilian employees have been the victims of malicious slayings; some 265 peacekeepers have been taken hostage.
Last year (2003) the number of UN staff killed in the line of duty reached new heights, with the tragic loss - in a single day - of 22 exceptional human beings . . . UN workers caught in the crossfire of ethnic warfare, terrorist violence, and misspent rage.
This Memorial Plaza is a small tribute to these men and women there is no monument, no ceremony, no words that can ever fully express our gratitude or our sorrow.
Human beings live in two orders of time. One is earthly, and finite. The other has no end, because it is composed - not of days and years - but of enduring acts of conscience and courage.
Our time on earth is propelled into the boundless dimension, by a shared belief the idea that we must be the symbol, as Gandhi said, of the change we wish to see in the world. This calls for heroes, and for the legacy they leave behind.
The UN colleagues who gave their lives in the line of duty would never have described themselves as "heroes." They were just ordinary people.
Perhaps a bit "romantic." Certainly "idealists." But above all hard-working men and women determined to change the world . . . even if they had to do it one life at a time.
The UN colleagues who gave their lives in the line of duty would never have described themselves as "heroes." They were just ordinary people.
Perhaps a bit "romantic." Certainly "idealists." But above all hard-working men and women determined to change the world . . . even if they had to do it one life at a time.
Administrators, negotiators, teachers, security officers, soldiers, technicians, economists, electricians, agricultural specialists their talents were very different. They had in common, besides family and friends, an extraordinary determination to make a difference.
(short pause)
And they did.
Their time on earth may have come to an end abruptly, but their influence on us all must continue. Their efforts to build a better world cascade through the lives of friends and strangers alike - a force no terrorist can stop, a presence no enemy can eliminate.
Why this memorial?
Dante said it best.
"Poca favilla gran fiamma seconda . . ."
"From a little spark," he said, "may burst a mighty flame."
Our fallen colleagues tell us Dante is right.
Often the actions of some shape the choices of an entire generation. Young people will visit this memorial in years to come in a quest to understand how our fallen friends shaped their future. And they will take away a powerful lesson.
Courage is contagious, not only over time but also over distance: across the planet, peoples lives have been transformed by the 2000 men and women we honour today.
They taught us how to promote peace, to bring about justice, and to assist suffering people in the darkest corners of the world.
One year ago, at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General Kofi Annan unveiled a memorial to our dead colleagues. On that occasion, he left us with a message I would like to share with you once more.
He said, "Today we salute the memory of the fallen, carry forward their legacy, continue their work, inspired by their example. "
It is an honour to dedicate this Memorial Plaza at the United Nations in Vienna to the same brave men and women, the same "comrades in peace" that the Secretary-General saluted so eloquently last year - the more than 2000 United Nations employees who have died in the performance of their duty.
Thank you.