UN Worker Casualties

Biographies of those lost in the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad August 19, 2003
Courtesy of http://www.un.org/staff/condolence/inmemoriam.html
More information is coming on Khidir Saleem Sahir.

The following link provides a bibliography of news articles on the attack
http://www.un.org/events/memorial/19august/links.html

1. Sergio VIEIRA DE MELLO
Sergio Vieira de Mello (Brazil), 55, was Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Iraq, taking a four-month leave of absence from his post as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR). Prior to his appointment in 2002 as High Commissioner, Mr. Vieira de Mello served as the head of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), helping to shepherd the tiny Pacific nation to independence, and briefly held the position of Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo.

Mr. Vieira de Mello joined the UN in 1969, spending the majority of his career with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, and serving in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations in Bangladesh, Sudan, Cyprus, Mozambique and Peru. He also served at UN Headquarters in New York as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

2. Reham AL-FARRA
Reham Al-Farra (Jordan), 29, travelled to Baghdad from New York - where she worked in the United Nations Department of Public Information - to take up temporary duties in the Office of the Spokesman for the Special Representative. Before joining the UN nine months ago, Ms. Al-Farra was the first female daily political columnist writing for Al Arab Al Yawm, a prominent newspaper in Amman. She had also been active at the Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists.

3. Raid Shaker Mustafa AL-MAHDAWI
Raid Shaker Mustafa Al-Mahdawi (Iraq), 32, was working as Electrician with the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).

4. Leen Assad AL-QADI
Leen Assad Al-Qadi (Iraq), 32, worked with the United Nations Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (UNOHCI).

5. Ranillo BUENAVENTURA
Ranillo Buenaventura (Philippines), 47, was serving with the United Nations Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (UNOCHI). He began his career in 1989 with the UN Disaster Relief Organization, and subsequently joined the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which seconded him to the UN Oil-for-Food programme, the sole source of rations for 60 per cent of the Iraq's 27 million people.

6. Richard HOOPER
Richard Hooper (United States), 40, was on a short-term special assignment to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq. He was a Senior Adviser in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Political Affairs in New York. He previously served as Special Assistant to the Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

7. Reza HOSSEINI
Reza Hosseini (Iran), 43, had worked for the United Nations Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (UNOHCI) since April. His previous experience included a stint as the Chief of Operations for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in East Timor and as a Repatriation Officer with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Indonesia.

8. Ihssan Taha HUSAIN
Ihssan Taha Husain (Iraq), 26, was a Driver for the United Nations Office for Project Services / Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

9. Jean-Selim KANAAN
Jean-Selim Kanaan (Egypt/France), 33, was a Project Officer in the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq. He previously served as a Civil Affairs Officer for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Mr. Kanaan authored a book entitled Ma guerre à l'indifférence (My War Against Indifference).

10. Christopher KLEIN-BEEKMAN
Christopher Klein-Beekman (Canada), 32, worked for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) as the Programme Coordinator for Iraq. He took up this post in May 2002, working on a large operation that helped protect millions of Iraqi children. Mr. Klein-Beekman was previously a UNICEF Programme Officer in Kosovo and Ethiopia.

11. Emaad Ahmed SALMAN AL-JOBORY
Emaad Ahmed Salman Al-Jobory (Iraq), 45, was working as Electrician with the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).

12. Martha TEAS
Martha Teas (United States), 47, worked in Baghdad for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as Manager of the Humanitarian Information Centre. Before working in Iraq, she held numerous positions with various UN agencies, serving in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia, and also worked for the German Technical Cooperation Agency, the Mekong River Commission, International Rescue Committee and Partners for Development.

13. Basim Mahmood UTAIWI
Basim Mahmood Utaiwi (Iraq), 40, served with the United Nations Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (UNOHCI) as Security Guard.

14. Fiona WATSON
Fiona Watson (United Kingdom), 35, was a Political Affairs Officer for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). Previously, she held the same position at the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Ms. Watson had also served as the head of political reporting for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Kosovo, and was also posted in the former Yugoslavia.

15. Nadia YOUNES
Nadia Younes (Egypt), 57, was the Chief of Staff for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Younes was the Executive Director for External Relations and Governing Bodies at the World Health Organization (WHO). She was also a former UN Chief of Protocol, a job she assumed in 1998 but left briefly to serve with the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), where she was in charge of the information and communication office in the cabinet of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General.

Ms. Younes began her UN career in 1970 in the Office of General Services and served with the Department of Public Information in various capacities, including as head of the Media Division, as spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly, and as deputy spokeswoman for the Secretary-General.

The following were listed separately perhaps because they were not technically employees of the UN rather they are with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or contractors. More information is pending regarding Khidir Saleem SAHIR

16. Saad Hermiz ABONA
Saad Hermiz Abona (Iraq), 45. Staff of United Nations contractor.

17. Gillian CLARK
Gillian Clark (Canada), 48. Senior child protection specialist, Christian Children's Fund.

18. Omar Kahtan Mohamed AL-ORFALI
Omar Kahtan Mohamed Al-Orfali (Iraq), 34. Driver/interpreter, Christian Children's Fund.

19. Arthur HELTON
Arthur Helton (United States of America), 54. Director of Peace and Conflict Studies, The Council on Foreign Relations.

20. Manuel Martín-Oar Fernández-Heredia
Manuel Martín-Oar Fernández-Heredia (Spain), 56. Assistant to the Coalition Provisional Authority, Coordinator with United Nations specialized agencies.

21. Khidir Saleem SAHIR
Khidir Saleem Sahir (Iraq). Status unknown.

22. Alya Ahmad SOUSA
Alya Ahmad Sousa (Iraq), 54. Former translator, United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission.