Twenty-two senior officials of the United Nations have condemned
the “pervasive and systemic racism” in the United States and beyond.
The officials, who are Africans or of African descent, in a
statement urged authorities and the international community to “go beyond and
do more” than just condemning the act.
The senior officials who signed the statement include the
Director-General, World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, and the
Executive-Director, Joint UN AIDS Programme, Winnia Byanyima, the UN said in a
report on Sunday.
The statement comes amid massive protests in major cities
across the U.S. and around the against racism.
The protests were sparked by the death of an African
American, George Floyd, after a white police officer knelt on his neck in the
U.S. city of Minneapolis on May 25.
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The UN officials’s position came a few days after the
Secretary-General, António Guterres, said employees of the organisation were
free to protest in private capacity.
Guterres’ clarification was in response to complaints by
staff over a guidance issued earlier by the UN Ethics Office that warned them against
demonstrations.
“I also want to be clear about the recent guidance issued by
the Ethics Office and relevant departments,” he said in an internal memo.
“It does not in any way indicate that staff are to remain
neutral or impartial in the face of racism.
“To the contrary, there is no ban on personal expressions of
solidarity or acts of peaceful civic engagement, provided they are carried out
in an entirely private capacity.”
The UN officials said their expression of solidarity with
the peaceful demonstrations was in line with their “responsibilities and
obligations as international civil servants to stand up and speak out against
oppression”.
“As leaders we share the core beliefs and the values and
principles enshrined in the Charter of the UN that do not leave us the option
to keep silent,” they said.
Referencing Floyd’s last words while pleading for breathing
space, the UN officials said they conveyed the “deep trauma and
inter-generational suffering” from racial injustice, particularly against
people of African descent
“A desperate yearning for a long-departed mother,” the said
in reference to Floyd’s cry to his late mother for help.
“Reaching deep from the bowels of fragile humanity. Grasping
for breath. Begging for mercy. The entire world heard the tragic cry”.
They said it was time for authorities to go beyond simply
condemning acts of racism, which they described as a “global scourge that has
been perpetuated over centuries”.
The officials also called on the UN to “step up and act
decisively to help end systemic racism against people of African descent and
other minority groups”, according to to the report.
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