Editorial

Zorro ten years on

“On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Organization it seems rather difficult to recognize the staff member of the United Nations. For decades he has been seen as a mere bureaucrat tucked away behind his desk and all of a sudden he has started running around the world like a twenty-first century knight. A mixture of Don Quixote and Zorro, without the horse and the rapier, trying to make peace here, supervising elections there, trying to bring comfort all over the world…”
Since this editorial was written in December 1994, the image of the international civil servant has changed. Don Quixote has been replaced by a vulnerable James Bond who is at the centre of all conflicts and who pays the highest price to help whenever and wherever he or she is needed.
As for Zorro, some people would have us believe that his mask hides a bandit who takes advantage of his position to swindle the widow and the orphan. But we are used to this. These are the means that Captain Monastario always used to discredit Don Diego de la Vega.
One thing is sure: we are now far away from the image of the paper pusher. What is also certain is that as soon as the civil servant occupies the forefront of the international scene, he lays himself open to all sorts of criticism. It is up to us and to our administration to defend our image and to learn from the criticisms when they are justified.