UNODC for Middle East & North Africa

During the Chief Executives Board Meeting, I had the distinguished honour of delivering a farewell toast to the @UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres on behalf of the UN family away from Headquarters: Vienna, Nairobi, Geneva and every other office where the UN flag flies outside of New York. Madam Deputy Secretary-General, @AminaJMohammed, thank you for being a shinning light and inspiration for women and girls especially in the African continent. Mr. Secretary-General,   Tonight, we - your UN family far from Headquarters - want you to hear us.   We are the offices you always remembered.   When the world looked to New York, you looked to us. You visited our duty stations not for ceremony, but to listen. You sat with our staff in Vienna fighting drug traffickers, in Nairobi protecting the environment, in Geneva defending human rights, in the field where there are no cameras.   You taught us that the UN is not a building in Manhattan. The UN is a promise that must be kept in the farthest village.   For ten years, you kept that promise with moral clarity. In a time of war, you spoke for peace. In a time of division, you spoke for unity. In a time of climate despair, you spoke for the planet when no one else would. You were the conscience of the world, even when the world did not want a conscience.   You told us: “We are not here to make reports. We are here to make a difference in people’s lives.”   We will carry that with us.   From the United Nations family at the Vienna International Centre, we say thank you. Thank you for trusting us. Thank you for believing that security and justice must reach everyone.   You leave as a moral leader of our generation.   This is not goodbye. As you said yourself - “Once UN, always UN.”   The blue flag will fly a little lower tomorrow, because you are leaving it. But it will fly with more pride, because you held it high.   Obrigado, António.