2026 Secretary-General's Annual Memorial Service

That's fine.
Mr.
Secretary-General, President of the General Assembly, President of the Security Council, Excellency's, family members, colleagues.
Good morning, colleagues at headquarters.
Good afternoon, good evening to families and colleagues around the world who are attending this service via live webcast.
It is a solemn occasion that brings us again together this year.
It is my sincere hope that standing together in this time of remembrance provides us all with comfort and added strength in our respectfulness and convictions through unity and reflection.
We gather today and by webcast across the United Nations family around the world to remember and pay tribute to our fallen family members, friends and colleagues who gave their lives in the service of the United Nations Secretariat, as well as the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Office for Project Services, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees, and the World Food Program.
May I now invite the Secretary-General, accompanied by the president of the Security Council and the President of the General Assembly to light the candle representing an eternal flame.
Prog.
I'm trying to think Excellencies.
Thank you, Secretary-General, President of the Security Council, and President of the General Assembly.
I would now like to invite the Secretary-General to deliver his remarks, including a call for a minute of silence.
We request that no photographs are taken during the minute of silence, please.
Secretary-General.
Madam President of the General Assembly, Madam President of the Security Council, dear family and friends, dear colleagues.
Today, we pay tribute to 136 United Nations personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty last year.
We are deeply grateful to be joined by many of their family members, both here in New York and online around the world.
Your presence reminds us that for every life lost, there are people left behind bonds of love and friendship that endure.
Our thoughts are with you today and every day.
Please join me in a moment of silence to honor our fallen colleagues.
Thank you.
The women and men we commemorate today include 97 civilian personnel and 39 uniformed peacekeepers, military, and police.
They came from 32 countries, diverse in background, but united in purpose.
Among them, 80 served with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza.
More UN colleagues have been killed in Gaza than in any other conflict or disaster in the history of the United Nations.
Some died alongside their families in their homes, in the places they sought refuge.
Others were killed while carrying out their duties in offices, in shelters, and in communities they served.
These tragedies weighs heavily on us all and should be remembered by the entire world.
Let me be clear.
UN personnel must never be targeted.
Attacks on peacekeepers and humanitarian workers are in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law.
We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the security and safety of UN personnel everywhere, and we will never stop demanding accountability.
In keeping with longstanding practice, we have sought the consent of families to read aloud the names of those we honor.
Tragically, in the case of menu served with UR, we could not reach those families because they too have been killed or forced to flee.
Instead, we remember this staff through their work.
They were teachers educating children, medical workers healing the sick and injured, drivers delivering aid, and many more.
Dear friends, the United Nations was founded on a simple truth that working together to advance sustainable development, to promote human rights, to secure justice makes the world more peaceful and humane.
It's also a promise that when bombs fall or floods rise or children have nothing to eat, someone will reach out their hands.
It takes a special kind of person to uphold that promise.
The colleagues we mourn today chose to serve in some of the most difficult and dangerous places on Earth because they understood that the world does not improve unless someone strives to improve it.
It has been the privilege of my life to work alongside people like them and people like you.
Dear colleagues, this is my final annual staff memorial of Secretary-General.
For ten years, I've seen our organization face down challenge after challenge, the global pandemic, economic upheaval, climate chaos, and some of the most brutal conflicts in years.
But through it all, the consent the constant has been the women and men of the United Nations, people prepared with open eyes and open hearts to risk it all in the name of others.
We live in a moment when multilateralism is under attack, when powerful forces would have us believe that the United Nations, that unity itself is a pipe dream.
The people we commemorate today prove otherwise.
Amidst all the fear and the doubt, they knew exactly how to live.
We must be brave enough to take a stand, kind enough to care for others and dedicated enough to keep showing up.
Courage, compassion, and commitment.
These are the qualities that define your loved ones.
These are the highest instincts of humankind.
Today, we commit to carrying forward their work.
To our departed colleagues and friends, thank you.
You made our world a better place.
We will remember you now and always, and I thank you.
Thank you, Secretary-General.
I would now like to invite the President of the United Nations Staff Union to deliver her remarks.
Good morning, Excellencies, Secretary-General, President of the General Assembly, President of the Security Council, distinguished colleagues, families and friends.
As President of the United Nations Union in New York, Sf Union that is sorry, I stand before you with deep humility and unwavering resolve to honor the truth that lies at the very heart of this organization, its greatest asset is not its infrastructure, its mandates, or its treaties, but its people.
Every day across the globe, in most volatile, unpredictable, and hazardous environments, our staff translates ideals of this organization into action.
Today, we stand in sorrow, remembrance, and unwavering solidarity as we honor the lives of those colleagues who were lost in the line of service to the organization and to the people we were called to protect.
Those laws carried that mission with courage and selfishness.
Their service was more than duty.
It was a commitment to standing beside the most vulnerable when the world around them was marked by instability and harm.
Their lives and sacrifices will never be forgotten.
As a union, we mourn not only colleagues, we grieve the empty spaces left behind in our workspaces, in our communities, and in the hearts of all who served alongside them.
We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones, friends, and everyone affected by their loss.
We also make this promise.
We will continue to raise your names, honor your sacrifice, and keep your memory alive in the work we carry forward each day.
Your legacy lives on in every act of service, every life protected, and every moment hope is restored to those who need it most.
In your memory, we renew your commitment to serve with courage, integrity, and compassion.
We will continue to stand for peace, dignity, and justice, and to inspire hope for a better world, one free from conflict, fear, and needless loss of life.
May we never forget those who gave us so much in service to others.
May their light remain with us, guiding our mission and strengthening our resolve.
In remembrance always.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We will now listen to the reading of the names of our 136 colleagues who lost their lives in the line of duty between first January to 31 December 2025 while serving the organization.
As was explained by the Secretary-General, we commemorate only 27 UN Relief and Works Agency personnel by using their full name.
At the request of UNRWA, we pay tribute to the remaining 53 by individually recognizing them by their UNRWA professional titles in the order of the dates on which these personnel lost their lives.
Liz Danner, Ashraf Buda, Ahmed Brahim, Ahmed, Muhammad, Mustafa, Alik Banda, Bert, Larissa, Yagasu Myana.
Da Brack, is Gagabi, Herman Gildas Moku, Jamie Ape, Juul Matondo zana Samba.
Nelson, Silva, Pambina, Paula, Duo, oge, Kera, Daira, Van Su, Regis, Tsumu, Richard, Niorillo.
Saj, Divan, Mochii, Bazola, Sefidn Hamara, three, Widodo, Steve, Mulke, Skacha, Suraj Lam San, Favier Angesi, Z Adré Conte.
Andreas Cisido Mable, Echo, Cambodi Santoso, Arbajan Singh, Jawad Eriki.
Julio Cesar Alvarez Caceres, Leonidas, Mkingu Mochete Joseph Mode, Rodolfo Cipriani Alvarez Suarez.
Villame, Bali, Tkutaa, David Cole, Joseph Kony, Muhammad Af Sal, Shake, Simon, Ibane, George Aim, Yanir Alam, Masud Rana, Mou Islam, Soboju Mia, Santo Mono, Shamim Reza.
Paul William Harry Mecklenburg, Askar, Muhamed Grisui, Paul Rock Mayal W, Christopher, Jamie Markello Magali Dong.
Mouni Pat, Peter Both Muel Lang, Sujit Kumar Radan, Tesfai Bir Tegfar, Marin Valve Marov.
A total of 80 URA personnel have lost their lives in Gaza in 2025.
In each case, UNR seeks the consent of the family for inclusion of their names in the service.
In many cases, UNR has indicated that families could not be reached to provide this consent as many have been displaced and cannot be contacted or may themselves have also been killed.
As such, today, we commemorate only 27 UNDR personnel by using their full name.
At the request of UNR, we pay tribute to the remaining 53 by individually recognizing them by their Unra professional titles in the order of the dates on which these personnel lost their lives.
Iman Nasser Muhammad, Is Ali, Abuisa, Mustafa Rabbi Suhail, Yehya Abdel Baset Alaham, Mufd Muhammad.
Amal usuf Schwabe, Ibrahim, Ali Nassar, Hannah, Kafik, Habu Asanin, Husam, Hasan Altiti, Majida, Mohamed, Abukar, Ani, Ali Hair, Intisar, Muhammad, Tamraz, Kamal, Abdullah, Shatut, Shirin, Busra, Abu Saran, Ziyad, Rahman, Abu Salah.
A, Muhammad, Farid, El Tali, Nazia, Khalil, El Luka, Huda, Nayef, Salha, Ani, Ibraghim Matar, Faiza, Salmana, Abu Hindi, Hala, Muhammad, Nasa, Saar, Saed, Kuhail, Ahlam Hussein, Hader, Ilham, Shefda, Hader, Imad, Yousef, El Samudi.
Muhammad, Bakir Awadala, Muhammad, Kamer Dad.
Teacher, Teacher, social studies, Health Center receptionist, psychosocial counselor, Teacher.
Teacher.
Teacher.
Teacher mathematics.
Teacher, Deputy school principal.
Teacher Arabic religion.
Teacher.
Teacher mathematics.
Teacher English.
Teacher mathematics.
Psychosocial counselor, teacher English clerk, teacher Arabic, teacher.
Teacher.
Teacher.
Teacher, social studies, psychosocial counselor, relief worker.
Doorkeeper cleaner, school attendant, psychosocial counselor, teacher, mathematics, guard.
Teacher, teacher Arabic.
Teacher Arabic.
So attendant.
School attendant.
Teacher science, office facility attendant.
Teacher.
Teacher, physiotherapist.
Teacher driver.
Teacher, head guard.
Teacher science.
A Teacher Arabic, teacher mathematics, Senior staff nurse, Teacher science, medical officer.
Teacher English.
Teacher Arabic, driver.
Adam Ibrahim, Adam Abu Bakir.
Esa Krab Hasa, Sandhar La Chaudhry.
Thank you all for attending this service.
Each and every one of the colleagues we have recalled today has left us with sterling examples of their dedication and belief in the work of the United Nations.
Their memory will be a lasting inspiration to all of us.
Let us carry forward the noble work of the United Nations as a way to honor their memory.
Dear colleagues, please remain seated while the Secretary-General, the president of the General Assembly, and the president of the Security Council leave the room.
Thank you.
Thank you for your participation.
This concludes our ceremony.
Okay.