The
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) confirmed last week the identity of
one of its staff members who was killed along with four other UN workers on 28
October when militants attacked a guest house in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Teshome
Mandefro Ergete of Ethiopia had worked for UNICEF
Afghanistan since September, serving as an expert in drilling wells for fresh
water.
In a
statement issued last week UNICEF’s Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said
it was with “great sadness” that the agency confirmed that Mr. Ergete had
been killed in the attack.
“His
remains have now been formally identified through genetic testing, and his
family has been informed,” Ms. Veneman said. “UNICEF extends its deepest
condolences to Teshome’s family and friends. He died in the service of
humanity.”
Mr.
Ergete was killed alongside UN security officers Lawrence Mefful and Louis
Maxwell and two volunteers with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Jossie
Esto and Yah Lydia Wonyene.
The
militants attacked the guest house, which was home to more than 30 UN staff
members, in the early hours of 28 October, armed with automatic weapons,
grenades and suicide bomb vests.
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon and other senior UN officials paid tribute to the victims of the
attack for their courage and their willingness to serve others.
~~~~~
UNICEF mourns as funeral is held
for Ethiopian engineer killed in Kabul attack
NEW YORK, USA, 7
December 2009 – The familiar blue flag flew at half mast in front of United
Nations headquarters a few weeks ago. Its emblem of peace – a global map
cradled by olive branches – flapped in a brisk autumn breeze. The flag had
been lowered in memory of the five UN staff and others killed in the 28
October attack on an international guest house in Kabul.
After confirming his
identity and notifying his family, UNICEF has now disclosed that one of the
fallen was Teshome Mandefro Egrete, 56, an Ethiopian engineer who was working
with the agency on an assignment that began in September.
Mr. Egrete’s
funeral was held in Addis Ababa this past weekend. He leaves behind a grieving
wife and teenage son, and an extended family in deep shock.
That shock extends to
all of Mr. Egrete’s colleagues at UNICEF and other UN agencies, and to the
entire humanitarian aid community. Although he had lived and worked in
Afghanistan for just a short time, he died there under the banner of peace and
human development.
For this, we honour
his memory and that of the others who were lost.
A life-saving
legacy
Mr. Egrete leaves
behind a legacy of saving and improving lives with his grit and intelligence,
and the sheer skill of his hands.
He was in the
drilling business by trade, starting out as a mechanic in the late 1970s and
honing his skills over three busy decades. Trained in his home country and the
United Kingdom, he became a drilling instructor and superintendent, and a
senior advisor on complex water-supply projects operated by the government and
private companies across Ethiopia.
Mr. Egrete had
travelled to Afghanistan to assist the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and
Development with the operation and maintenance of drilling rigs used to
construct wells for communities in need. It was not a political mission but a
practical one: to provide safe water for Afghan families – thereby saving
the lives of thousands of children under the age of five who could otherwise
die from diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases.
It was a worthy
mission that tragically became his last.
‘In service to
humanity’
Executive Director
Ann M. Veneman expressed outrage and grief over the human toll of the Kabul
attack. “UNICEF extends its deepest condolences to Teshome’s family and
friends,” she said on 30 November, after his remains had been formally
identified through genetic testing. “He died in the service of humanity.”
Despite such attacks,
UNICEF and its partners continue that service, not only in Afghanistan but
throughout the developing world.
By continuing our
work, we carry on the legacies of colleagues like Mr. Egrete and Perseveranda
So, the UNICEF educator who died in a bombing in Pakistan six months ago. By
looking ahead, we build on the achievements of at least two dozen other UN aid
workers who have been killed in violent attacks this year alone. By refusing
to yield, we hold high the ideal of peace symbolized by the familiar blue flag
flying outside the UN in New York.
Today, in memory of
Teshome Mandefro Egrete, we rededicate ourselves to that ideal.
