UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (C) speaks at an annual memorial service for UN personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty last year, at UN Headquarters in New York on July 19, 2023. (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
UNITED NATIONS, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) on Wednesday paid tribute to its 77 personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty last year.
"We come together to honor the memory of the United Nations personnel who lost their lives over the last year, serving our organization. We are here to mourn together, remember together, and to pay our respects together," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an annual memorial service at the UN Headquarters in New York.
The 77 personnel, military, police and civilian, came from 36 countries.
"Their service embodied the principle and the promise of the United Nations -- the principle of our common humanity and the promise to act on it -- to work together to solve shared challenges and build a world of peace, prosperity and human rights for all. Mission by mission, program by program, day by day, members of the United Nations family breathe life into that noble vision," he said.
UN personnel frequently work amid jeopardy and difficulty. Peacekeepers are increasingly protecting civilians in places where there is no peace to keep. Humanitarian aid workers are venturing deeper into disaster-stricken regions, and closer to the front lines of conflict, he noted.
In a divided and dangerous world, the vision and values that the blue flag of the United Nations represents are more important than ever, said Guterres. "In the name of those we have lost, we resolve to continue our essential mission. We pledge to keep supporting families. We commit to continually review and improve the safety, care and well-being of our staff. And we vow to keep the memories of our fallen colleagues alive -- in our thoughts, in our hearts, and in our work to build a life of dignity and hope for all." ■
