A Model for today's international civil servant.

• Author: Jeffrey, David K.J.
• Position: Perspective

"I am a professional optimist", Ralph Bunche told journalists at Nicosia International Airport at the conclusion of a visit in July 1966 to view the peacekeeping operations in Cyprus. "If I were not a professional optimist through 21 years in the United Nations service, mainly in conflict areas--Palestine, Congo, here and in Kashmir--I would be crazy. You have to be optimistic in this work or get out of it.... That is, optimistic in the sense of assuming that there is no problem--Cyprus or any other--which cannot be solved, and that, therefore, you have to keep at it persistently and you have to have confidence that it can be solved." (1)

Widely hailed, among his many accomplishments, as a great international civil servant, American and citizen of the world, Ralph Johnson Bunche's life story is one full of inspiration to all engaged in the pursuit of peace. As a year-long programme marking the 100th anniversary of his birth in Detroit, Michigan, commences to celebrate and build upon the legacy of this diplomat, scholar and internationalist, it is timely for the current staff of the United Nations, to which Ralph Bunche devoted 25 years of his spectacular career, to reflect on one of its most famous and optimistic alumni. A visible reminder of the esteem with which he is regarded within the United Nations and the City of New York is the Ralph Bunche Park located directly opposite the UN Secretariat building.

Many staff members who pass this memorial, however, may not be fully aware of his great legacy. Such reflection is timely because in 2003, when the Iraq crisis was added to the long list of conflicts with which the Organization has been confronted, the relevance and even future of the United Nations has again been scrutinized and questioned However, within the Organization, while the mood may have at times been troubled, the outlook was much more positive. An unofficial survey of stall members revealed that 80 per cent did not see the crisis as making the United Nations irrelevant. Further, 60 per cent felt optimistic about its future, while only 20 per cent were decidedly pessimistic. So, during these challenging times, what can be gleaned from Ralph Bunche's views on the meaning of being an international civil servant and how can they be pursued by his current successors?

Staff members today are required to make the same commitment to the United Nations, as did all their predecessors. As international civil servants, they are charged with translating into reality the ideals of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as enshrined in the UN Charter. UN staff are part of the international civil service which "relies on the great traditions of public administration that have grown up in Member States: competence, integrity, impartiality, independence and discretion. But over and above this, international civil servants have a special calling: to serve the ideals...