Hundreds of UN staff worldwide have lost their jobs due to cuts in aid from the United States and other donors. Hundreds of staff of the global organization protested in front of the UN’s European headquarters in Geneva on Thursday in protest.
Geneva, Switzerland, known as the ‘City of Peace’, is the humanitarian and diplomatic center of Europe.
Witnesses said that the workers who joined the protest in front of the UN’s European headquarters appeared with banners reading ‘Stop laying off UN staff now’. They were chanting slogans like ‘UN staff are not commodities’. The protesting workers said that there were also small-scale protests in Thailand and Myanmar on May 1.
Short-term contractors and staff of some organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have already been informed of the layoffs. However, thousands more workers are at risk of being laid off in the future.
The biggest layoffs are expected at agencies that rely on international aid, such as the World Food Program or the UN Refugee Agency. The United States was the largest donor to these agencies.
“They tried to keep me, but it was impossible,” said human rights lawyer Anne Kuipers.
Kuipers’ temporary contract at the UN human rights office was not renewed. “That’s why we are in this situation: recruitment suspended, no budget,” she said.
Severin Debuse, chairwoman of the International Labor Organization’s staff union, said at least 250 ILO staff have been laid off since January.
“We don’t know how to deal with this situation. The most complicated and stressful thing is that there is no real safety net here,” she said.
Some workers will not receive Swiss unemployment benefits and their visas are expiring. An ILO spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.
Grace, a UN worker who has worked to help people affected by conflict, said it was important to speak out on behalf of those who have risked their lives to help. Source: Reuters