UN mourns after Ethiopian crash kills 21 staff

Guterres lead delegates at the opening of the annual gathering on women's rights at the General Assembly in observing a moment of silence in honor of the victims.

"A global tragedy has hit close to home — and the United Nations is united in grief," he said at the Commission on the Status of Women.

UN ambassadors opened a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan by standing in silence for the victims of Flight ET302, which crashed Sunday shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa. All 157 people onboard were killed.

Among the dead were many traveling to a UN environment conference in Nairobi.

The World Food Programme, the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Environment agency all lost staff in the crash.