Letter

For whom was the General Assembly Hall reserved

Dear UN Special,

I am writing to you because, if I am not the only staff member who had the following experience, perhaps you, through one of your brilliant editorials in the UN Special, for example, could speak out about the way UN staff are really treated and the priority they are accorded in reality. I came back from my « attempt » to attend the ceremony for the anniversary of the Baghdad tragedy this afternoon, completely disgusted. I joined the reasonably fast-moving queue on the third floor at about 14:10 this afternoon. However, access to an almost empty General Assembly Hall was denied this huge queue of people, and we were directed right up to the top floors. Once up there, we were informed that only the interpreters had access (which is fair enough, but why did Security not signpost this?). So everyone had to come back down and try to filter as best they could into the galleries of the General Assembly Hall. I found practically the last seat still available (and there were very many people still behind me) in the right-hand gallery looking towards the front of the Hall (it was by then 14:35 and the Hall was still practically empty), whereupon a Security Guard came and informed all of us that these seats (the entire gallery) were reserved for the Press, and that we should cross over to the gallery opposite which, incidentally, was already completely full. At this point, I decided that enough was enough and came back to my office. My questions would be: For who was the General Assembly Hall reserved (obviously not for the vast majority of the UN staff, in spite of the fact that Mr. Ordzhonikidze’s information circular no. 40 invited us all to that very room)?

Why did Security not put up appropriate signs informing us where we could and could not sit and, given that most access to the Hall seemed to me to be denied, where exactly were we supposed to sit or even stand? I find it very demoralising to be invited, as a UN staff member, to participate in such an occasion, only to be denied access to the very room in which it is taking place and to be herded all over the building, together with hundreds of other people, to never even see or hear what is taking place! I am sure that I am not the only staff member to feel this way, and I hope that somehow such a situation can be brought to the attention of those who organised this event. Mr. Annan himself tells us that, as staff members of the UN, we are the Organization’s most valuable asset – all I have to say is that the most valuable assets of the UN did not get too much of an opportunity to participate in an important ceremony this afternoon! Thank you for reading this, Jean Michel, and maybe something can be done so that such a situation does not arise in the future.

With best regards,