Purpose and Scope

UN Staff for Gaza, also referred to as the UN4Gaza initiative, is a recently established private association of current and former members of United Nations Staff and related personnel. The initiative serves as a channel for colleagues around the world, regardless of their areas of work, to speak out against the perpetration of mass atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and help defend the UN Charter.

We believe that the situation in Gaza concerns the whole of the international civil service as it constitutes an assault on our common humanity, threatens the foundational principles of the United Nations, and endangers the legacy of the Charter. As committed current and former international civil servants, who adhere to the oath of office to fulfil our responsibilities with loyalty and conscience, we believe it is our duty to speak out. We moreover take great care always to abide by UN Staff Rules and Regulations, which requires us to observe independence, integrity, and impartiality. We participate in this initiative in our private, unofficial capacities, and we underline that this initiative is neither formally affiliated with, nor endorsed, by the United Nations.

UN Staff for Gaza was created on 26 July through the circulation of an Open Letter to United Nations Staff. We have since mobilized nearly two thousand members of Staff and related personnel in New York, Geneva and other duty stations around the world, including from the Secretariat and Agencies, Funds and Programmes. Our numbers keep on growing every day still. There is significant appetite within the international civil service to stand up for UN values and make our voices heard.

Our coming together was inspired by Secretary-General Guterres, who said, in reference to the horrors in Gaza, that "we [the United Nations] will continue to speak out at every opportunity," and by Commissioner-General Lazzarini of UNRWA, who has stressed that "no one should stay silent."

Objectives and Methods

UN Staff for Gaza has four strategic objectives:

1. Provide a channel for colleagues to be kept updated about information pertaining to the UN and the situation in Gaza. We provide colleagues with texts of statements by the Secretary-General and other high-level officials, organize screenings of short films and documentaries by UN agencies, host webinars with high-level officials, and share other related information, including relevant activities and events. In this way, we build a common situational picture and shared resolve within the international civil service.

2. Express solidarity with our colleagues in the Gaza Strip, who work in unspeakable conditions, and pay tribute to the hundreds of colleagues who have been killed in Gaza, thereby promoting unity and solidarity across the international civil service.

3. Amplify calls by the Secretary-General and wider UN leadership, such as calls for unobstructed humanitarian access and an immediate ceasefire. This enables and empowers every colleague, no matter where they work and what they do, to contribute.

4. Help promote a positive organizational culture where colleagues feel empowered to speak up and defend the values of the UN.

UN Staff for Gaza advances these objectives through a variety of methods, such as:

• Gatherings, such as observances of international days and vigils for victims.

• The distribution of pertinent information, through a multitude of media.

• The issuance of open letters, petitions, messages from the Chair, and related forms of communication.

• Screenings of short films and documentaries produced by UN entities.

• Organizing seminars and webinars with high-level officials and expert colleagues.

Sample of Activities

The following is a sample of activities undertaken by UN Staff for Gaza, by way of illustration. Visit this page for more information.

• On 19 August, UN Staff for Gaza held its first public gathering, in observance of World Humanitarian Day. This event served to pay tribute to colleagues killed in Gaza and express solidarity with those on the ground. It also demonstrated to the international civil service that they can voice their convictions without fear of backlash. The event was covered by Al Jazeera — please see here.

• On 28 August, UN Staff for Gaza hosted a screening of Gaza’s Silent Threat, a new short documentary produced by UNICEF, which follows colleagues in Gaza as they strive to vaccinate children against polio amid conflict and carnage. It is a deeply inspiring story that helps strengthen one’s resolve to act in service of humanity. The screening was followed by an interactive questions-and-answers session by our UNICEF colleague who directed the film. A photo gallery of the event is available here.

• On 29 August, UN Staff for Gaza issued a press release applauding the OHCHR Staff Committee for exercising courage and conscience, in their having sent a letter, with endorsements from more than 517 members of OHCHR personnel, to the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing profound concern about what they assessed to be the commission of genocide in Gaza. This action served to provide support to the OHCHR Staff Committee, and encourage the rest of the international civil service to exercise similar courage. The press release is available here.

Internal Structure

UN Staff for Gaza is supported by an Honorary Chair, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, former United Nations Secretary-General, and by a Chair, Mr. Andrew Gilmour, former Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights. The initiative is further guided and supported by Senior Advisers, which currently include Mr. Maher Nasser, Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Global Communications; Mr. Martin Kobler, former Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Libya; Ms. Laura Londen, former Deputy Executive Director for Management of UNFPA; and Ms. Susana Malcorra, former Foreign Minister of Argentina and Chef de Cabinet under Secretary-General Ban. The executive leadership of the initiative consists of the Core Group, a small number of current and former members of Staff and personnel, which is further supported by the Operations Team, a larger constellation of colleagues who assist with events and activities, and by Units that lead on specific workstreams.

Terms of Reference