Frank Field, former UNA-UK Director; 28/01/1929 - 19/05/2018
UNA-UK celebrates the life of Frank Field, a former Director of the United Nations Association – UK, following his passing on 19 May 2018. Frank devoted more than 50 years to the principles of the United Nations, during which he had a profound impact on the organisation itself, and on civil society in the UK, including our own people’s movement for the UN.
Frank was born in 1929, the third of four sons, and lived with his parents in a council house in Roehampton. In 1949 his working life with the United Nations Association began in earnest, first as a Volunteer Branch Officer, then, from 1955 (when he was awarded his first degree in Economics, with International Relations as a special subject, from London University) as Regional Officer for the South East Region of UNA. In 1956-7, he worked on projects to re-home displaced persons in Austria, supporting the UN Refugee Agency.
Back in the UK, he was appointed Director of the UNA-UK Disarmament Enquiry, founded by Lord Philip Noel-Baker, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, with whom he had a working relationship and friendship that lasted over twenty years. On the completion of the Disarmament Enquiry, Frank remained a member of UNA-UK Disarmament Committee. He returned to academic studies in 1966 and graduated with an MA in International Relations from the University of Sussex.
In 1972, he was invited to become Director of UNA-UK, on the recommendation of the retiring Director and distinguished humanitarian Donald Tweddle. Frank recalled how UNA-UK “made me aware of the outstanding and invaluable service of countless members, working at all levels, who remain an inspiration to those who cherish our great cause.”
In 1976 he was appointed as Secretary-General of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) in Geneva. While working for WFUNA he travelled extensively visiting many countries to promote the role of the United Nations.
In the late 1970s and 80s, he returned to the issue of disarmament. Frank attended public meetings of the UN Disarmament negotiating bodies, notably the historic first and second sessions of the UN General Assembly devoted to Disarmament (SSD-I and SSD-II), in 1978 and 1982. In 1981 he visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a UNA delegation headed by Lord Philip Noel-Baker, which joined a delegation from Gensuikyo on a Peace March to “Set the Date” for comprehensive disarmament.
Following retirement, Frank was invited by one of his successors, Sam Daws, to write a history of UNA-UK to mark the 60th anniversary of the Association and of the UN itself. The exercise sparked a collective gathering of stories, photos and archival material, by the UNA-UK staff and by members and local UNAs around the country. Published in 2006, “'60 Years of UNA-UK'” is a fascinating account not just of our Association, but of political and civil society life in the UK, and the work of the UN over six decades.
He later spent several years writing “Towards Peace – Thoughts and Memories of a Child of War” which was completed in 2016. He gave talks to many local groups on international relations and disarmament until he was over 80.
Natalie Samarasinghe, current Executive Director of UNA-UK, said:
I feel enormously privileged to have had the chance to meet Frank. His remarkable contribution to the UNA-UK story holds many lessons for us today, and we owe him a great debt of gratitude for capturing the richness of this story in what is still the definitive history of the organisation.
He epitomised the dedication, passion and idealism that I see in so many of our longstanding members, and which continue to be a source of inspiration to those of us trying hard to carry forward his legacy. At a time when the international system is under tremendous strain, when many are warning of a return to the Cold War, or even to the lead-up to the devastating wars that produced the United Nations, we must take seriously his call to action:
As never before in human history, the machinery for international co-operation is there, for the settlement of disputes, the fight against hunger, poverty and preventable disease, the protection of the environment and human rights. All of these could respond to the power of co-operation, if the machinery were fully utilised. It is our job to gain public support for this enterprise, for the sake of every one of “we the peoples of the United Nations.
Sam Daws, former Executive Director of UNA-UK, remembers Frank’s impact:
Frank Field was a constant source of encouragement and wise counsel when I assumed the position of UNA-UK Executive Director in 2004 - a post of course that he himself held many decades earlier. When we looked to celebrate 60 years of UNA-UK, Frank was the first person I turned to, and he did not disappoint, producing an invaluable record of the Association's then six decades of accomplishments. Frank drew insights and memories from our members especially those who had made exceptional contributions in our regions and branches, and then added his own vivid recollections from a lifetime of service to the UN cause and to UNA-UK. Frank will be greatly missed but his contribution to the Association endures as does his hope that UNA-UK would remains fit for purpose for new generations amidst a rapidly changing world, an ambition that is currently being realised under the brilliant leadership of Natalie Samarasinghe and her team.
Lord Frank Judd shared his memories of Frank Field with UNA-UK:
I have warm memories of Frank Field. He was a loyally committed and long serving friend of UNA. Selflessly hard working and tireless, he believed in UNA not as an end in itself but as mobilisation for constructively critical dynamic support for the UN system as a whole. He believed we must never forget that the UN was made up of its members. Therefore constant vigilance about the UK government’s policy towards the UN was vital.
Frank was a challenge to us all.
Photo credit: Frank Field, right, with (from L to R) Lord Philip Noel-Baker, Lord Gardiner (former Lord Chancellor) and an unknown delegate. From Frank Field's pamphlet on the history of UNA-UK.
