Remembering 19 UN workers - Ethiopia plane crash March 2019

The plane leaving the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, bound for the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, took off at 8:44 am local time on Sunday 10 March, losing contact with air traffic control at Bole International Airport just six minutes later. The plane had crashed, killing passengers from more than 35 different countries.

I am in Paris, working for the United Nations, specifically with UNESCO, and their flag flew at half-mast today in remembrance of 19 UN staff that were killed in the plane crash.

According to the UN Department of Safety and Security in Kenya, 19 UN staff died in the crash. The World Food Programme (WFP) lost seven staff, the Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) lost two, as did the International Telecommunications Union. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Sudan, World Bank and UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) each lost one staff member. Six staff from the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON) were also killed.

The cause of the plane crashing in a field near Bishoftu, around 35 miles southeast of Addis Ababa, is not yet known.

The disaster happened on the eve of the UN Environment Assembly when Heads of State, environment ministers, and thousands of others, will convene for five days in Nairobi.

As a mark of respect, the UNESCO office, where I was working today, flew its flag at half-mast at its offices today.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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