Remarks by the President of the General Assembly
H.E Ms. Annalena Baerbock
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Staff Day
Friday 24 October, 12 PM ECOSOC
?
[As Delivered]
Eighty years ago, as we all know, the world stood in ash and silence.
And yet, in that moment of despair, something extraordinary happened.
Delegates from across the world gathered in San Francisco, not to divide the spoils of war, but to build the promise of peace.
They signed, as we all know, the Charter.
Not because they believed themselves more enlightened, nor more self-sacrificing.
But because they were afraid of what humanity could do to itself in an otherwise lawless world.
And because they were hopeful.
They were hopeful that the flicker of faith in humanity could be reignited.
Those founders were not only founding fathers but also founding mothers.
Among them Bertha Lutz of Brazil, Minerva Bernardino of the Dominican Republic, Virginia Gildersleeve of the United States, and Wu Yi-Fang of China.
Today, as we can see in this hall here, there are way more than four.
And as we are luckily seeing there are more and more women in leadership positions.
But we also we saw back then, it was not only the achievement of Heads of State and Government alone – even though they are always being praised as founding fathers and mothers of this institute.
They were standing there alongside interpreters, conference officers, and security personnel.
The staff whose unseen labour made the United Nations actually possible, even before it formally came into being.
Eighty years ago, on 24 October 1945, the Charter of the United Nations entered into force.
And even back then it was the same story.
It was not the story of the Secretary General or the PGA or the Deputy Secretary General or the Undersecretaries. It is the story of people. It is the story of you.
The staff of the United Nations, still carry the principles of that Charter, our North Star, every day, and probably every minute in your work, to every corner of the world.
And therefore, I would also like to thank you for representing the staff union Ms. Narda Cupidore, President of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Staff Union, as well as Deputy Secretary General, Dear Amina. and Undersecretary General Catherine Pollard.
That we are celebrating here together.
We are celebrating you.
Dear colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Because you are a success story.
We also know that there is a story of failure and struggle.
And this is the story of Member states not living up to our charter,
As I said, this is not a day for a big anniversary.
But it¡¯s a day for a small anniversary.
The anniversary of those who are the staff of this United Nations.
Not only here in this room but especially of those out there in the field.
The peacekeepers who sleeps in a tent on the frontlines of war so that a child may sleep in a bed one day.
The humanitarian field officer who delivers right now food into Gaza but has driven these trucks all the 700 days, when not every country was ready to do so, even under bombardment.
The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF workers reopening the classrooms after an earthquake, and thinking of schools for the girls in Afghanistan, even though they cannot go to school today.
The interpreter, the security guard, the conference clerk, the logistical officer ¡ª who may be invisible to the world but are indispensable to the work of the United Nations.
And, tragically, as we have stood here in silence, many Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ staff have lost their lives in service to this Organization, including the more than one hundred and fifty who were killed in 2024 alone.
And as we could see you, while you stood up, I could also see some of the tears, in honour of your friends and family members who were lost while serving out there.
Whatever achievements history attributes to the United Nations, they belong to you.
And especially to those who paid for it with their lives.
You are the ones who keep this institution alive.
Not only in New York, Vienna, Geneva and Nairobi.
But also in the broken streets of Port-au-Prince, the refugee settlements of Cox¡¯s Bazar, the deserts of the Sahel, and all over the world.
And today when the United Nations faces its most severe fiscal strain in decades ¨C we all know this reform is hard and tough.
And again, it is hardest for some of the staff members.
But we need this reform to survive; to deliver on the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ¡¯s mission.
And we must be clear at the same time as well:
Reform cannot come at the expense of the purpose of this institution.
Efficiency cannot come at the expense of our principles.
And no reform will ever succeed without the people who carry this house on their backs: again you, the staff of the United Nations.
So, as we mark this eightieth anniversary, let us recommit.
Not only to the Charter, but to those who give it life daily, who keep the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ alive.
Let us ensure that the institution built from the ashes of war does not dim for lack of investment, or lack of imagination, or lack of belief in the people who we serve.
For eighty years, this Organization has been humanity¡¯s source of hope for a better future.
And this is the reason to celebrate every single day.
Let us make sure that it remains so for the next eighty and beyond.
Together: as Member States, as Secretariat, as agencies, as funds, as programmes, As Deputy Secretary Generals, as PGAs, as humanitarian field workers, as interpreters, as security guards, conference clerks, logistic officers.
All together.? Because we, the United Nations, are not only better together – but we are also stronger – together.
?