XUNICEF News and Views

The House That Cannot Unionize The United Nations asks the world to honor collective bargaining. It asks its suppliers to honor it. Then it goes home, closes the door, and tells its own staff: you do not get those rights here. Edgard Mounib Seikaly   May 04, 2026 I have spent over more than two decades inside that house. I know where the drafts come in. The architecture of managed dissent There are currently three federations serving staff associations and unions across the UN system. CCISUA, the Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations, FICSA, the Federation of International Civil Servants’ Associations, and UNISERV make up that triumvirate, collectively covering staff associations and unions across the common system. Each agency has i...

Stephen Lewis, who died March 31, age 88, was a Canadian political leader, an ambassador to the UN, and a weekly panellist on CBC Radio, but he’ll be remembered most for his efforts to bring international attention to the HIV pandemic in Africa. On this episode, we hear Lewis channeling the full force of his eloquence in service of that defining goal, in excerpts from his 2005 CBC Massey Lectures, titled “Race Against Time." Listen to the podcast here

I had always understood that bureaucracy in Spain could be, shall we say, a bit elaborate. Not inefficient, just fond of its own company. That is why an entire cadre of professionals exists here: the “fixers.” Mine is of Indian origin, arrived as a teenager, and never left. He now spends his days helping well-heeled Spaniards navigate their own administration, which they prefer not to engage with themselves. Even the natives, it seems, approach their bureaucracy the way one approaches a bull: with caution, respect, and ideally having someone else standing in front. My fixer is excellent. Calm, resourceful, and usually able to arrange anything. Which is why I became concerned when he began to look reflective. This happened when I started dealing with the inheritance of my beloved late wife. It was not a complicated case. We had a joint bank account. We owned our apartment fifty-fifty. Our will was beautifully symmetrical: if I died, everything would go to Linda; if she died, everything ...

Greetings.   I am posting this today, because 81 years ago, on May 3, 1945, Hamburg surrendered and avoided total destruction. For us in northern Germany it was the beginning of peace.

Ken in Bam In the latest New Scientist magazine, there was a lot of loose advertising material. Normally, I bin what I see as junk mail but this time, one item caught my eye.

Thinking about Tim's Article on becoming a driver for his teenage kids after retirement and his stories about UNICEF drivers - I thought of a driver I was very fond of - his name was Mohammed. 

Mr. Hatim George passed away on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Amman, Jordan after a life dedicated to humanitarian work and the service of children through his long career at UNICEF.

William Bligh and Loyalists You learn the darnedest things. . . .which had me gathering the history of ‘The Mutiny on the Bounty’ which readers might want to check before reading on from here,

  In case you missed it - here are the top 10 post viewed the past week- Moving home, Cilantro,and much much more.   Enjoy!

What to do la is an occasional musing on what one former staff member has and hasn’t been doing since leaving UNICEF. This week – Uber Driver.

Challenges we are facing Normal, a simple expression signifying a standard and a pattern across all fields in physical, behavioural and social sciences is losing its gist.

Title: Renewing the missing spirit of multilateralism Author: Stefan Priesner Publication: Hindustan Times Date: 23 April 2026 Click here for the article

Author: The New Humanitarian staff  Publication: The New Humanitarian 

Please click here Please find above the link to the recording of the recent memorial for Stephen Lewis.   If you wish to view, please copy and paste this link into your browser, or go to YouTube and search for Stephen Lewis Memorial.

This bench became my new favorite - for now - as we explored the Vrtba garden in Prague.

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Deputy Director DHR How old do you feel? Old - seriously not too bad.

In case you missed them, here are the top 10 posts from the last week. Budget Cuts and JPOs, a get together, favorite park benches, bush and flowers, senior staff movements and making a late run to near the top of the charts ... Cilantro?

  You are invoited to join online an event to Honour Stephen Lewis. Through the link below you can watch his memorial live online on April 26 at 11 a.m. (Eastern Time) / 6 p.m. (East Africa Time), from Toronto, Canada. https://lnkd.in/eMC2SQSr Stephen believed in the power of collective action and in the profound impact of standing together in solidarity. This gathering will be an opportunity to honour his extraordinary life, reflect on the lives he touched, and reaffirm the shared purpose that continues to guide us. The video will go live when the memorial begins. If you are not able to join live, a recording will be made available in due course and we will try and share this also through the blog.

The world is becoming ever more divided. The East and the West, the North and the South, children and adults, the big and the small, Trump supporters and Trump opponents, capitalists and communists, socialists and environmentalists, women and men, attackers and the attacked, thinkers and doers, believers and non-believers, the rulers and the ruled. Chasms everywhere. So where, exactly, is the fault line between good and evil?

Moving home after 50 years in 11 different countries It is a life that never settles. It stretches across borders, across decades, across versions of yourself that no longer recognise one another. From the outside, it can look like success: a career built and a materially good life assembled. From the inside, it can feel empty.

Ruins at Hatra, Iraq Recently, I remembered some ‘events’ at check points that we had to pass; a) To get from Amman to Baghdad and b) from Baghdad to Erbil and, of course, in the reverse direction, too Typically, to exit Erbil back to the real world (at that time), took the best part of a week – to get all the permits and so on. It meant that when my mother died in the UK, and I was in Erbil, I was unable to return to attend her funeral, which was sad for me but as all my four brothers were there, the family was well represented. With the distances that we were required to travel, it would have been easier and quicker had we been able to fly everywhere. However, the No-Fly-Zone put paid to air travel for most of the time. Only once during my time in Iraq, did I fly from Baghdad to Amman. It was on the day following the death of Princess Diana in Paris.   Given the situation, since the Check Points were manned by the Iraqis themselves, when UN staff came through, we were not...

Human beings have survived from many threats - from wild animals and numerous natural disasters from stone age all the way to modern days. But in the 21st century our survival is under threat

Malcolm Kennedy, 1933 - 2026 Malcolm Kennedy died on Saturday at his care home in Faro, Portugal.

Malcolm Kennedy interviewing Sir Edmond Hillary Kathmandu 1986 for the Bob Geldoff's SportAid event. I first met Malcolm Kennedy in Nairobi Kenya in 1976 when I was doing free-lance graphic design jobs for both UNICEF and UNEP. He was a distinguished, unpretentious New Zealander who was the UNICEF Representative in Somalia.

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player. That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more.

 Our host was Umberto Cancillieri, the sumptuous repast was Mediterranean,

I finish playing till the 4th hole.  And then it’s time for me to take a brief respite.

After five years in the making, the Graphix Project will officially launch in May 2026 with the release of our first graphic novel,

In case you missed it - here are the top 10 post viewed the past week- budgets cuts and the JPO experience, senior staff movements, more 10 questions, suggestions , flowers - enjoy!

We met by chance. And just like that we started talking . . . He was a young man––miles and miles away from home. We talked about our lives.

The India unicef retiree association, UPGI shared this: We are deeply saddened to inform you of the demise of Mrs Salma Akhter,

As a former international civil servant, I certainly do not want to comment on the politics or politicians of the host country.

Over the past weeks we have had several new entries to 10 QUESTIONS where we learn something about XUNICEF staff.

Q1. When the big budget cuts (the "Future Focus" plan) hit in 2025, how did it change your plans to stay with UNICEF or move to a new post?

“What to do la” is one of my favourite expressions. I heard it often in Bhutan when I worked there in the early part of this century.

Here is Gabi’s and my favorite bench. It was resting beside the Holderbach , not far from our home.

I am pleased to announce the following senior staff appointments.

Law of (in)convenience The Strait of Hormuz, despite many Iranian threats over the decades, has never been closed until now

What IS YOUR NAME and your last assignment with UNICEF? Elizabeth (Beth) Preble. Last full-time UNICEF assignment: Senior Advisor, AIDS Prevention Programme, NYHQ

BATHING THE BABY Every time I hear this ‘statement’, I always wonder who coined it first.

Hi - here are the details for the memorial. There is a link for people to RSVP to attend in person or virtually.  http://www.bit.ly/honouringste phenlewis

Top 10 posts on XUNICEF in the past week - hiking a volcano, more "10 Questions",  failure in Africa, Carol Bellamy on Stephen Lewis Passing... 

 I am delighted to announce the release of my book titled “The Power of Transformative Multisectoral Nutrition Programming: A Guide to its Science, Ethics and Practice”.

 

“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...

It bubbles and writhes, it hisses with toxic breath like something that refuses to sleep.     Every so often, it groans and squelches, with a guttural sound — the death rattle of a dragon, or the final gasp of a broken machine refusing to die.  Two meters from our tent, yellow, foul-smelling sulfuric fumes rise rhythmically from a fissure in the earth.  Now, sharp cracking sounds rip through the air —the unmistakable sound of stones being flung. For a breathless instant, we wonder: Perhaps… it’s not just the mountain exhaling. Perhaps the lava is moving toward us.

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...