The recent shooting down of two UN aircraft in Angola has brought this issue home to us even more starkly. I welcome the fact that the Convention on the Safety of United Nations personnel of 1994 entered into force last week, on 15 January 1999. The Convention relates to personnel serving in operations specifically authorized by the General Assembly or the Security Council and is only binding on States parties. It thus does not apply to most of the situations in which humanitarian personnel work. Ways of extending the Convention to cover all situations in which UN and associated personnel, including national staff, are deployed, and of insuring its implementation by non-State actors, need to be further explored.
Humanitarian operations see high turn-overs of staff, security training is essential.
A Trust Fund for Security was established. So far only three States have contributed while one other has pledged. This is an extraordinarily disappointing response. Conversely, the inclusion of attacks against humanitarian personnel as a crime falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC is a very positive development. Humanitarian workers appear to be seen as dispensable.