Filipino civil servants honored for contributions to UN

VIENNA – Around 40 Filipino civil servants who made contributions to the work of the United Nations (UN) were recently honored at an exhibition of artworks and in a commemorative publication that celebrated the Philippines’ role in the inter-governmental organization.

The “Hope & Endeavor” exhibition on December 12 launched “A Journey of Hope & Endeavor: 80 Years of the Philippines in the United Nations,” a chronicle of the Philippines’ longstanding presence in multilateral cooperation and its part in global peacekeeping, security, and development.

The event – which also served as a tribute to the UN on its 80th anniversary – was hosted by the Philippine Embassy and Permanent Mission in Vienna.

Philippine Ambassador to Austria Evangelina Bernas led the ceremony, attended by nearly 100 participants, including Filipino international civil servants, community representatives, and envoys from various diplomatic missions.

The commemorative book, “A Journey of Hope & Endeavor: 80 Years of the Philippines in the United Nations”, also features essays on human rights, disarmament and non-proliferation, environment and climate change, and other global topics with which the Philippines has played a crucial role. (Photo by Andy Peñafuerte III)

Bernas dedicated the event to the Philippines’ diplomatic partners in the country’s representation and leadership on key international issues, including sovereign equality at the IAEA, the international effort to recognize nuclear applications under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Cycle, and the successful adoption of the CTBTO budget.

“As the Philippines looks to deepen its contributions to global governance, we engage more actively in the shared responsibility of promoting international peace, security, and development – here in Vienna at the IAEA Board of Governors, UNIDO Industrial Development Board, CTBTO Working Group A, and with your support, at the UN Security Council,” Bernas said.

The occasion featured a slideshow of nearly 40 current and retired Filipino international civil servants in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and other constituent agencies headquartered in the UN Office at Vienna.

The event and publication titles were inspired by a statement from Filipino diplomat Carlos Romulo at the first plenary session of the UN General Assembly in London in January 1946.

Romulo said the Filipino stake in the UN was one of “an identical destiny, of shared anxiety, and of hope and endeavor.”

In addition to the book launch, the exhibition previewed paintings curated from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) collection and a set of commemorative Philippine Post Office stamps featuring the iconic three-stars-and-a-sun emblem and silhouettes of peacekeepers bearing the Philippine flag. — JMA, GMA Integrated News