[Rev. 1]

Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We meet today on a matter of highest importance: the security of our staff – your nationals - those who carry out the mandates and duties decided upon by you, the Member States.

As you know, five UN staffers were killed Wednesday morning in a terrorist attack on one of our facilities in Kabul. This follows other attacks, in other places. I have condemned them all, in the strongest terms.

But here is the fact of the matter. The United Nations, increasingly, has become a target – all too “soft” a target.

Here is the latest on what we know.

Three militants attacked a UN guest house where 34 members of the UN mission were staying.

Two Afghan security guards outside appear to have been killed immediately.

Five staff members were then killed. Two worked for the UNDP election team, two were security officers with DSS, and one was a member of UNICEF, though we are still awaiting official identification of remains.

Nine were wounded.

For at least an hour, and perhaps more, those two security officers held off the attackers. They fought through the corridors of the building and from the rooftop. They held off the attackers long enough for their colleagues to escape, armed only with pistols against assailants carrying automatic weapons and grenades and wearing suicide vests.

The UN security team repeatedly called for help from both Afghanistan government forces and other international partners. We are still sorting out the facts, but initial reports suggest that it was approximately an hour, if not longer, before Afghan police or others arrived on the scene.

Staff who survived the attack have now been flown out of the country.

Movement of all UN staff remains restricted.

Yesterday I spoke with President Karzai. He assured me that he will undertake every effort to assure the security of UN staff. Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has also assured me, in a recent letter, of his full support for UNAMA.

My Special Representative, Kai Eide, will follow through on the tangible specifics of these assurances.

Meanwhile, I have asked the Security Council to ask the international community to step up its support, with a special emphasis on areas outside Kabul. I am also exploring the feasibility of bringing in additional security units to guard UN facilities and guest houses.

The Designated Official and the Security Management Team are urgently reviewing security measures and our overall exposure.

Staff not directly engaged in critical, election-related duties are being encouraged to take leave during the period leading up to and immediately following the second round of voting on November 7th.

We are exploring the possibility of consolidating staff in guest houses, and the pooling of armored vehicles.

Yesterday I convened an emergency meeting of the heads of UN departments, agencies, funds and programmes. This morning I also discussed this matter in depth with heads of all UN specialized agencies and funds and programmes during our Chief Executives Board meeting. I asked them, as soon as possible, to assess their security needs and reassess their staffing needs for current programmes though the end of November 2009. We shall decide whether staff who are not critically needed in-country should leave.

I am sending a senior official to Kabul to express our sympathy and solidarity with the staff, as well as to assess first-hand the situation on the ground.

UN staff continue to help Afghans prepare for the run-off election. That includes pre-positioning election materials in the provinces.

Concerned as they may be for their safety, and for that of colleagues, they remain determined to do their job. Indeed, their resolve may be all the stronger.

I want to express my gratitude and admiration. By their actions, daily, they represent the best of the United Nations.

We owe it to them, here today, to back them up. Our people on the ground and in harm's way deserve our fullest support -- in Afghanistan, and everywhere the UN flag flies.

We need your full political, material and financial support.

So, here is some of what we are doing -- and what we need from you to do it better.

First, I presented to you my proposed regular budget for the next biennium, 2010-2011, yesterday, which includes new money needed to meet the threats of an era where the UN is increasingly a target – too soft a target, as I said a moment ago.

In addition, I will ask a supplementary $50 million to finance Part II of the Access Control Projects. In plain English, this will help us to better screen and protect access to vulnerable UN locations.

Second, I will also be asking for expanded authority to undertake new financial commitments in times of crisis. The current level of authority -- $1 million – is simply not enough.

Third, I further propose that an emergency fund be established with an initial ceiling of $25 million to assist the Department of Safety and Security to meet the new demands upon it in an increasingly dangerous world.

Fourth, we must increase the hardship incentive for staff working in dangerous posts. I will suggest a figure shortly.

Fifth, and finally, we must support victims and their families. That is why I will propose to establish a special fund to meet their needs, both in immediate emergencies and longer term. The size of this fund must be decided, but initial estimates suggest that it should amount to approximately $10 million.

Excellencies,

This is not the first time we have lost UN staff, nor will it be the last.

Also this month, five people working for the World Food Programme in Pakistan were killed in a suicide bomb attack on the agency's offices in Islamabad.

As with the attack on the UN election team in Kabul, the UN was targeted specifically for its good works. WFP provides vital food assistance to as many as 10 million Pakistanis, including to 2 million people displaced by fighting in the Swat Valley. When you attack people who are trying to feed the hungry, you are attacking the very foundations of our common humanity. This goes beyond mere terrorism.

As we mourn the loss of our colleagues and friends, we remain dedicated to our mission.

My Special Representative and I have said so clearly. We are in Afghanistan to help its people rebuild their lives, and we will continue to do so.

Most immediately, that means carrying on our work in support of the upcoming elections, scheduled for November 7.

Beyond that, we will work to build the institutions of government and civil society essential to the country's future.

We have a moral duty to protect the brave men and women of the United Nations who are carrying out that mission

After all, we sent them. They are there on our orders, doing the vital work that we all agree must be done.

Thank you very much for your support.

[Interventions by Member States]

I welcome the decision of the Government of the Republic of Korea to augment its contribution in supporting Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions as well as the request of the Afghan Government. I hope this decision will be followed by increasing commitment of the international community to reconstruction and stability in Afghanistan.