Statement by Ms. Christine McNab
UN Resident Coordinator - Jordan

Your Excellency Dr. Marwan Muasher, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Deputy Special Representative for Iraq
Excellencies
UN staff and colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen

A year has passed since the first news of the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad reached Jordan, on global television and regional television networks. What many of us had feared, had happened.
The UN Country Team in Jordan had been working closely with colleagues going in and out of Baghdad. Many of the victims we knew well. Others were names on emails, faxes and letters. Others were unknown to us as individuals, but well known to us for their courage and dedication, for steadfastly working in difficult and dangerous conditions.
As the news came through of the bombing, we spent our time planning, and then implementing, the evacuation. With the substantial help of the Government of Jordan and our colleagues in many UN agencies, we were able to play a role in bringing people to safety. We also played a role, far more harrowing, in receiving the coffins of the deceased, and helping the colleagues, friends and families who came to Amman.
We will never, and should never, forget what happened on the 19th August, nor shall we ever forget the courage of the survivors and the dignity of the families of the deceased. Meeting the evacuees from Baghdad brought home to us the enormity of what had happened. The UN Country Team in Jordan was honoured to help our colleagues, and we are honoured to join the UN_Iraq team today in this commemoration service.