TRIBUTE TO A FOUNDING STAFF MEMBER OF THE UN: MARY TOM

Mary Tom, now in her ninetieth year , is a living
UN legend. She joined the advance United
Nations Secretariat on 15 August,1945 at Church
House London, a few days after Sir Brian
Urquhart. She is one of the earliest UN staff
members alive, probably the earliest living in
Geneva.
She served at UN Headquarters in New York and
at UNOG in Geneva. In New York she was a UN
editor and in Geneva she was chief of the
publications unit of the UN Division of Human
Rights which, today, has evolved into the Office
of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

BERTRAND RAMCHARAN

She served under Sir Gladwyn Jebb, the interim head of the UN Secretariat and went on to serve under Secretaries-General Lie, Hammarskjold, Waldheim, and Perez de Cuellar. She retired in 1979 but kept on contributing to the then Centre for Human Rights, assisting in the publication of the Selected Decisions of
the Human Rights Committee, which are the essence of international human rights law.
Mary Tom still has the metal identification badges used at the United Nations in Church House, London, and in the UN in New York in the early years. She wears them on special UN occasions. She was present at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. She is probably the only UN staff member alive who has this distinction.
Mary Tom’s credo was one of service: whoever you were, whatever you did, it was important for the United Nations and one should do it well, with professionalism and dedication. She feels that Dag Hammarskjold best exemplified this spirit. She speaks often of the sense of pride that every UN staff member had while serving Hammarskjold. Hammarskjold paid attention to every staff member and made each person feel that her or his contribution was appreciated, respected, and honoured.
On many occasions, on the commemoration of UN Human Rights Day on 10 December, Mary Tom has visited the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights and interacted with today’s generation of human rights officers. They have always come away inspired by the dedication, professionalism and serenity of this living legend.
Mary’s father was a British diplomat and she lived with her parents in different parts of the world, particularly Belgium. She is fully bi-lingual in French and English. She has a younger sister who is an attorney in Brussels.
Mary’s colleague and friend, Jakob Moller, of Iceland, former Chief of the Petitions Branch in the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights and International Judge on the Bosnia-Herzegovina Human Right Chamber, considers her a living inspiration to all UN staff members. Another colleague and friend, Enayat Houshmand, of Iran, former Chief of the Treaties Branch of the Office of High Commissioner has great respect for her professionalism. Another colleague and friend, Bertrand Ramcharan, with whom Mary served as representative on the UN Staff Council in Geneva sees her as representing the spirit of the international civil service as it was meant to be.
Mary Tom has memorabilia of her time at the UN going back to the very early days: telephone directories of Church House, London, early documents, and copies of famous speeches and statements.
UN Special celebrates the life and contribution of this “Mohican” of the UN who continues to inspire by her life and her example.
Well done, Mary.