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UN / UNRWA FLAG LOWERING MINUTE OF SILENCE
STORY: UN / UNRWA FLAG LOWERING MINUTE OF SILENCE
TRT: 6:54
SOURCE: UNIFEED / UNTV CH / UNIS VIENNA / UNIC NAIROBI
RESTRICTIONS : NONE
LANGUAGE : ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 13 NOVEMBER 2023, NEW YORK / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / VIENNA, AUSTRIA
13 NOVEMBER 2023, NEW YORK
1. Various shots, flag lowering in memory of the 101 staff members of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, killed in Gaza since 7 October
2. Various shots, UN flag at half-mast
3. Various shots, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, and President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis with colleagues observing a minute of silence at the ECOSOC Chamber
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Francisco Brito, Acting President, United Nations Staff Union NY:
“This minute of silence is a tribute and a collective acknowledgment of paying respect, and honor our UNRWA colleagues who pay the ultimate sacrifice while carrying out their job to help humanity. Let's honor with our thoughts, memories and in a unified spirit of respect. May this minute of silence serve as a testament to the strength of our shared humanity and enduring power of quiet reflection. Also serve these as an encouragement for those that is still on the frontlines, carrying with dignity, the job and fulfiling of their mandate of the Organization.”
5. Various shots, UN Staff observing a minute of silence at the visitor’s lobby
13 NOVEMBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. Wide shot, exterior, UN building with all flags down, UN Geneva.
7. Med shot, exterior, UN building with UN flag at half-mast, UN Geneva
8. Wide shot, ceremony with UN DG, UN Geneva
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva:
“Over the last months 101 of our colleagues have lost their lives in Gaza. This is the highest number of aid workers killed in the history of our organization in such a short time. And we are gathered here today, united in this very symbolic location to pay respect to our brave colleagues who sacrificed their lives while serving under the United Nations flag.”
10. Med shot, UN Geneva’s Chief Protocol lighting up a candle
11. Wide shot, UN staff gathering, UN Geneva
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva:
“Please join me for the minute of silence.”
13. Wide shot, UN staff gathering during the minute of silence, UN Geneva
14. Wide shot, Director- General Tatiana Valovaya with UN security saluting
15. Close up, UN security saluting
16. Close up, Director- General Tatiana Valovaya during minute of silence
17. Close up, UN security saluting
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva:
“Thousands of our colleagues continue to work under the U.N. flag in [the] most risky parts of the world. And let's pay tribute to their activities, to their work, to their devotion.”
19. Wide shot, UN staff gathering, UN Geneva
20. Close up, candle burning
13 NOVEMBER 2023, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
21. Various shots, flag lowering at UN office in Vienna
The UN flag flew at half-mast at the Organization’s offices around the world today (13 Nov) in memory of the 101 staff members of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s retaliation for Hamas’s massacres perpetrated in southern Israel on 7 October.
In UN New York Headquarter, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, and President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis observed a minute of silence at the ECOSOC Chamber.
At a ceremony held by the UN Staff Union in New York, the Union’s Acting President Francisco Brito said, “This minute of silence is a tribute and a collective acknowledgment of paying respect, and honor our UNRWA colleagues who pay the ultimate sacrifice while carrying out their job to help humanity.”
He continued, “Let's honor with our thoughts, memories and in a unified spirit of respect. May this minute of silence serve as a testament to the strength of our shared humanity and enduring power of quiet reflection. Also serve these as an encouragement for those that is still on the frontlines, carrying with dignity, the job and fulfiling of their mandate of the Organization.”
At a solemn ceremony at UN Geneva, Director-General Tatiana Valovaya thanked staff for their sacrifice, highlighting the importance of their work at a time when multilateralism was under threat.
“Over the last months, 101 of our colleagues have lost their lives in Gaza. This is the highest number of aid workers killed in the history of our organization in such a short time,” said Ms. Valovaya.
The ceremony was held at the Palace of Nations in front of the Human Rights Room where UN staff gather every August to commemorate World Humanitarian Day and UN colleagues who lost their lives while working for the United Nations.
“We are gathered here today, united in this very symbolic location to pay respect to our brave colleagues who sacrificed their lives while serving under the United Nations flag,” Valovaya said, after UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s invitation to all staff to observe a minute of silence to mourn and honour colleagues killed in Gaza.
“Thousands of our colleagues continue to work under the U.N. flag in [the] most risky parts of the world. Let's pay tribute to their activities, to their work, to their devotion,” Valovaya continued.
The UN flag was lowered to half-mast in all UN Secretariat office stations, as a mark of respect on this solemn occasion.
The ceremonies took place against a backdrop of a spiralling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where more patients, including premature babies, have reportedly died in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital.
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