GUIDO GALLI,1967-2010

The earthquake that hit Haiti on 12 January 2010 was devastating in its effect; leaving in its wake a humanitarian catastrophe as well as countless stories of profound grief for those who lost loved ones in such tragic and unexpected circumstances.

LUCY MORGAN EDWARDS

One of those who was killed was Guido Galli who was known to UNOCHA staff here in Geneva, where he worked from late 2005 until Spring 2007.

The loss of Guido has brought sadness to the hundreds of people who had come to know him throughout his short career which spanned much of the globe. Among the tributes paid to Guido, many have commented on his ability to lighten up the most stressful of situations with laughter, fun and warmth. Guido’s strength was also his kindness and his interest in others. In this, Guido was an example to those of us working in the humanitarian field. It also explains why Guido had such a profound impact on people, even those whom he had not known for long. Yet there was another, more serious side to Guido, and that was his career with the UN and his concern for the war afflicted and vulnerable.

A native of Florence, Guido had begun his UN career at MINUGUA, Guatemala where he was based for six years as a Human Rights and Political Affairs Officer. Much of his focus there was advising on the inclusion of Human Rights and Peace Agreements into National Legislation. In the year 2000 he finally left MINUGUA to undertake a Masters in ‘Post War Recovery Studies’ at York. Over the following nine years Guido’s work covered pretty much every area of the UN Charter.

After September 11 he moved to Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan as a Protection Officer for UNOCHA. He then moved to Peacebuilding in Kabul where I met him. We worked together on the elections for the first Loya Jirga which took place in 2002. He was responsible for monitoring the implementation of the political and human rights aspects of the Bonn Agreement. Not one to stand still for long and with his recent experience of Afghanistan’s post-conflict democratization exercise, he moved to IDEA in Stockholm. He stayed there until late 2005, as Programme Manager, formulating policy recommendations on internal assistance programmes for democracy building.

Guido’s next job was with OCHA here in Geneva where, by a sad twist of fate he was Principal desk Officer on both the Pakistan and Indonesia earthquake responses. It seems a bitter irony now that Guido was giving support then from Geneva to relief and recovery operations in those areas whereas today he has become a victim of the next most catastrophic earthquake to hit the world.

From Geneva, Guido moved to OCHA New York where, still focusing on relief and recovery, he contributed to the Joint Initiative on recovery coordination.

It was in July 2008 that he went to Haiti as a P5 Senior Political Affairs Officer at the MINUSTAH Headquarters. There, he was involved again in Peacekeeping but his focus remained on the political side; providing recommendations on the country’s political situation and the Mission’s strategy to the SRSG. Many of those who knew him will recall how his warmth of spirit so often helped those he worked with get through the most difficult day.

Had he lived on, Guido’s career was likely to have reached significant heights at the UN. Yet he had already achieved so much. One colleague said that Guido believed change for one person – no matter how small or big – is as important as change for all people. It is hoped that his Legacy will live on in the “Guido Galli Association” which Guido’s partner Felipe Camargo, is setting up in his memory, to assist the families of earthquake victims.

Meanwhile on Friday, 12 February 2010, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, a memorial service and tree planting was held for Guido by former colleagues and friends. Three Indian lilas trees were planted close to the two cedars that were planted for other OCHA colleagues who died in Mongolia and close to Guido’s former office.

A friend who had known him from his early days at MINUGUA commented: “Guido so clearly made a profound impact on so many lives wherever he went, both professionally and in terms of who he was as a person. He was a very special soul indeed.”