UN officials pay tribute to Sergio Vieira de Mello at memorial symposium

Senior United Nations officials paid tribute to the late Sergio Vieira de Mello at a memorial symposium today, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan declaring that his former top envoy in Iraq, killed in a terrorist bombing on 19 August, “set a standard for all humanitarians, peacekeepers, peacemakers and peace-builders.”

Co-sponsored by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs at New York’s Fordham University, the day-long symposium was devoted to the theme of ‘Human Security for All.’

“Sergio would have been glad that you are addressing this simple but powerful theme: the notion that every man, woman and child must have clean water, enough food to eat, adequate shelter, basic health care, a decent education, protection from violence, and a popularly elected government,” Mr. Annan said in a message delivered by Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in charge of OCHA.

Referring to the bomb attack that killed Mr. Vieira de Mello, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and 21 others, Mr. Annan added: “Their deaths were a shock to us all – and a terrible illustration of the new dangers we face in seeking to bring relief to suffering populations.”

Fordham University posthumously bestowed an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters on Mr. Vieira de Mello, a degree that was accepted by his widow Annie and son Laurent.

Those scheduled to address the symposium included Mr. Egeland, Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).