XUNICEF News and Views

 

“Why is Mr. Tim in a new world of his own?” Izara (my six year old granddaughter) asked.  She had picked up my conversation with her dad while we were driving her to school. In Izara’s presence, we try our best not to discuss things that could confuse her or make her stressed or sad. But we give her tiny, healthy slices of reality now and then to help her understand the universe around her. Tim and Grace are our neighbors, in their late seventies. Tim worked his entire life overseas under diplomatic cover (possibly as a CIA operative, I guess). They have been living here since he retired. He is a friendly, kind soul and befriended us right after we moved into this neighborhood. Our houses are separated by a by-lane. Often, he would cross over to our side to talk to me as I played with Izara in our front lawn. We spoke about the joys and challenges of living overseas, their three adult daughters living in three different states, and the grandkids. Izara was two-and-a-half-year-old...

A Chair and a Bench - At a place for dreams Probably everyone has a favorite seating arrangement, and I have two  at home

An Industry Faces Its Own Redundancy For those of us who have spent years in the aid business, often congratulating ourselves along the way, recent coverage in The Economist may make for rather uncomfortable reading. Three articles in its March 21 edition, “Open for Business,” “Get Paid, Not Aid,” and “Meet Africa’s Richest Man”, paint a picture of Africa as a continent which has fared rather well after significant aid cuts and whose future looks increasingly independent of us. One can almost hear the collective throat-clearing across conference rooms in Geneva, New York, and Nairobi. The implication, though, is difficult to ignore: Africa’s economic prospects may improve not because of aid, but despite it. This is awkward. Aid, after all, is not merely a policy tool; it is an industry, complete with career paths, reporting frameworks, and an ability to declare success regardless of outcomes. For decades, we have framed aid as indispensable. Without it, we implied, development would st...

The sun rises for all, at a glance, seemingly for ever, every day, no? for most, the sun even rises on tears and on smiles, again and again, no? when for many, the sun shall never rise again, We all saw it coming, and dared not believe,… cuz for some the thrill is to kill, with blasphemous will, with barberous whims, with bunker-blustering profanities, on tv, for each of us to see, instilling hatred where there exists love, inflicting injury where there belongs togetherness, A contagious disease then…? Yes, intentionally destroying integrity where values were built, socio-paths - on some continents more than on others - fabricating absurd misogyny and racist homophobia, - as if in competition! Or with some obnoxious orchestration? [ just imagine if this were true! ] Dismantling the Essence of Man, Deliberately. Extremes so extreme, humans shall not ever comprehend, obliterating elemental discernment, inventing new violence, fabricating treason where there is no Reason. An ugly, viciou...

Thank you to the many of you who have been in contact with the XUNICEF Blog over the last few weeks as some of us “new editors” (Joachim Theis, Rob Carr, Soji Adeniya and Tim Sutton) find our feet.

 From: AFICS Association of Former International Civil Servants < afics@un.org > Date: Thu, Apr 9, 2026, 07:16 Subject: UNJSPF: Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in April 2026 To: AFICS Association of Former International Civil Servants < afics@un.org > Dear AFICS/NY Members, I am pleased to inform you that the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) has announced that, in accordance with the provisions of the UNJSPF Pension Adjustment System and based on consumer price index data published by the UN Statistics Division, there will be a  2.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to the US dollar track  with respect to periodic benefits. The increase will be effective 1 April 2026, and the initial month’s COLA adjustment will be reflected in April pension benefits, payable in arrears at the end of the month. Further information is available on the UNJSPF’s website:  https://www.unjspf.org/newsroom/retirees-and-beneficiaries-cost-of-living-adjust...

Charity or a deal? A notion of helping the needy as a virtue based on the principle of humanism existed since ancient times across all religions.

1) What is your name and what was your last assignment with UNICEF?  Tim Sutton, Representative in Sri Lanka. 2) How old do you feel? Don‘t want to put a specific number on it – it varies a little day by day – but generally somewhere in the mid 30s.

April 4, 2026 Stephen Lewis Was a Singular Man on a Mission By Stephanie Nolen A few weeks ago in Lusaka, I spent some time with old friends: activists I met nearly 25 years ago, reporting on the H.I.V. epidemic. Back then, they were young people locked in a desperate fight for survival.

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF?   Ivan Yerovi, Representative in Angola How old do you feel?   48 Where do you live?   Quito, Ecuador

On the way to the gym I always walk by this view in Tirana and it really made me think about how we’re evolving (or should be) at UNICEF. It’s a cool spot where you see a tiny stone monument from the 1800s (the Kapllan Pasha Tomb) sitting right underneath a massive, modern skyscraper (the TID Tower/Maritim Plaza).

  Former ROSA team members (left to right) Frances Turner, Cecilia Lotse, Angela Kearney and Gillian Mellsop have been enjoying time together in New Zealand.

SHE-MAIL MEETS HE-MAIL What follows is about e-mail, e-mail addresses and common sense which need to work well together if one was working abroad as a consultant.

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Richard Morgan. Special Advisor to the Executive Director on the SDGs How old do you feel? As of today, around 60, although I am 70.

What has been your last assignment with UNICEF? Thomas Ekvall — Representative in Khartoum. How old do you feel? Older than I am, and less patient.

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Tony Bloomberg, Representative DRC. How old do you feel? I am 77 years old and don't kid myself that I'm younger.

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? SOLOFO RAMAROSON, Chief of Planning & Social Policy, Haiti How old do you feel? 70's Where do you live? Imerinafovoany - Talatamaty , Madagascar

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF?  Soma De Silva, Regional M&E Advisor, ROSA How old do you feel?  Sometimes 35, sometimes 85. Chronologically, 80. Where do you live? Colombo, Sri Lanka.

  Warm greetings to our colleagues celebrating Easter and Passover. As we observe these traditions of renewal and hope, let us reaffirm our shared commitment to a peaceful world.

What is your name and your last assignment with UNICEF? Sikander Khan, Principal Advisor, PFP

Realistic optimism  A distinguishing characteristic of human beings is to remain optimistic even during the direst times.

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Milada Pejovic, Administrative Assistant, EMOPS, NYHQ

As our University academic year here in Toronto is coming to an end and my students (of 3 courses at York University and the University of Toronto - Munk School of Global Affairs) and I celebrated the successful culmination of our classes with reflections/feedback and drinks/snacks together and some quality/special moments together - the US/Israel have struck over 30 Iranian universities during this tragic/illegal war of aggression against Iranians and Iran.

What is your name and your last assignment with UNICEF? Rob Carr - Chief of Planning, Monitoring and Reporting, UNICEF Pacific (multi-country office based in Suva, Fiji)

Dear XUNICEF team, March 2026 rapidly is coming to an end. End of tenure. With my latest effort in painting flowers in oil on canvas I wish to thank you for msny years of your immensely appreciated devotion to keep us XUNICEF readers abreast of those events that are locked closest in our hearts.

Life after UNICEF can be pretty sweet. If you happened to be traveling or hiking or visiting grandkids or just tuned out of XUNICEF in March - there was alot going on.

Everyone was excited as we reconnect ourselves through a get-together with UNICEF retirees in Japan. Where have they been hiding? Even cherry blossoms agreed to full blossoming to celebrate the reunion

Dear colleagues: UPDATE :  At the end of March we sent out an email request to XUNICEF members to share your response to 10 QUESTIONS.

What is your last assignment with UNICEF? Chief of supply and Logistics Nigeria

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Blanca Luz Gomez Diaz (ex Blanca San German) - Supplies & Logistics Officer in UNICEF Lifeline for Haiti (major earthquake), based in the Dominican Republic in 2010.

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Ramesh Shrestha Representative, Myanmar (Burma)

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Suresh Kishanrao, Program Officer -Health, UNICEF India Country Office

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Aboubacry Tall

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Niloufar Pourzand, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Uttar Pradesh, India

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Marta Maurás Regional Director TACRO

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF?    Saman Al Rasheed

Dear colleagues, Stephen’s passing brought to mind our conversations in the early 1990s when I was drafting the Executive Director‘s speeches and Stephen was preparing his own speeches as UNICEF Special Representative.

In the mid-1990s, while I was working for EMOPS, the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia were raging. A cholera outbreak had hit a refugee camp in Sierra Leone, and I was dispatched to Freetown to support the office, conduct field missions to "hot spots," and coordinate with government and donors. After a series of bush flights and helicopter hops, I found myself in Kenema—a diamond-mining town where rebels and government forces fought bitterly for control of the mines. Just outside town was a camp holding thousands of Liberians who had fled their own civil war, only to find themselves trapped in a new one. I was there with a senior EMOPS colleague and a cholera expert from the CDC. As we met with the camp leaders to discuss the outbreak, the atmosphere was chaotic. Suddenly, one of the elder leaders froze, looked at me, and shouted,   "Robert Carr! Robert Carr!" He made a distinct Liberian gesture—pointing his index finger at his eye and then at me:   “I wanna s...

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Olalekan Ajia. Communication for Development Specialist, UNICEF Nigeria

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Nuzhat Shahzadi I was heading UNICEF-Kiribati and the UN Joint Presence Office, UNICEF Pacific (under EAPRO). I was based in Tarawa, Kiribati for almost 4 years. The isolation was too much so I decided to quit. HR termed it as "early retirement."

UNICEF Representative in Zimbabwe, Etona Ekole, posted this about XUNICEF reunion on LINKED IN (reproduced here for those not on LINKEDIN):

This in my view, is a perfect park bench. Look at that view!   A favorite spot to pause when walking our dog, this park bench is in Queen Elizabeth Park just north of Wellington in New Zealand. Hard to imagine that more than 80 years ago this area was the home to more than 16,000 United States Marines training to retake Islands across the Pacific in the Second World War. Sadly 10 Marines died on the beach in front of this bench during a beach landing drill. Ten of the more than 7500 Marines who were killed in the Pacific during that War.

So it was that following some work in Nepal in 1979, where I ran into a number of VSO volunteers, that I felt compelled to visit the Head Office of VSO in London on my return to discuss my observations.

I join many former UNICEF staff members in expressing profound sorrow at the passing of Stephen Lewis - a friend, colleague, mentor, and fellow Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. I first learned about Stephen Lewis in the 1980s when he was the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. He was a fervent multilateralist and a staunch believer in the principles and ideals of the United Nations. I recall reading a memorable speech he delivered in defense of the UN, in which he said that even if the rest of the UN were useless - which, of course, it was not - the actions and achievements of UNICEF alone would justify its raison d'être.   There was tremendous mutual admiration between Lewis and the then UNICEF Executive Director, James Grant, and Deputy Executive Director, Richard Jolly. Whenever UNICEF needed an inspiring speaker to support its advocacy for child survival and development, Grant and Jolly often turned to Ambassador Lewis. Jolly once remarked that Stephen Lewis was po...

(dp/New York/Bonn) 1 April 2026 . In a landmark decision, the UN General Assembly has determined that the next Secretary-General shall be a non-binary person, thereby stepping around a long-standing stalemate.

  What is your last assignment with UNICEF? Horst Max Cerni, Senior Public Affairs Officer, NY HQ

One year ago today, I retired. At least, that is what the paperwork said.

“Today, I join Canadians in mourning the loss of Stephen Lewis, a pillar of compassionate leadership in Canadian democracy and a renowned global champion for human rights and multilateralism."