The United Nations is in contact with the Ethiopian authorities and working closely with them to establish the details of United Nations personnel who lost their lives in this tragedy.
I’m so excited to share that I’ve been selected to attend and am currently en route to the @UNEnvironment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya with @UNACanada and #CanadaServiceCorps / #LeadersToday! I can’t wait to share what I’m learning along the way.— Danielle Moore (@danimoos) March 9, 2019
According to the organisation, Numerous staff members from at least five UN and affiliated organisations are understood to have also perished.
Along with the IOM, the World Food Program, UN Refugee Agency, World Bank, UN Environment Agency and others lost colleagues.
“Early indications are that 19 staff members of UN affiliated organizations perished,” said International Organization for Migration head Antonio Vitorino.
I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in today’s Ethiopian Airlines accident, including a young IOM staff member: https://t.co/N39o4rNAOq pic.twitter.com/chdfisEOHN— António Vitorino (@IOMchief) March 10, 2019
“Numerous other staff members from at least five UN and affiliated organizations are understood to have also perished,” he said. Along with the IOM, the World Food Program, UN Refugee Agency, World Bank, UN Environment Agency and others lost colleagues, he said.
Among the IOM staff on the plane was Anne Feigl, who worked for the agency’s mission in Sudan.
In a statement, Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, did not confirm the number of colleagues among the dead — but said his agency had suffered a “huge loss.”
People from 35 nationalities lost their lives, with Kenyans being the majority at 32.
The flight also had 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians and eight Americans.
The UN added in the statement that the disaster happened on the eve of the UN Environment Assembly when Heads of State, environment ministers and thousands of others will convene for five days at Gigiri Nairobi.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent sympathies to and expressed solidarity with the victims’ families and loved ones, including those of United Nations staff members.
“He conveys his heartfelt sympathies and solidarity to the victims’ families and loved ones, including those of United Nations staff members, as well as sincere condolences to the government and people of Ethiopia,” the statement said.