XUNICEF News and Views

Project Maven's Cheery Seal Features Smiling Robots of War* On 19 March I posted my article, How AI and Distance Killed the Children at Al Minab . My focus then was on the moral chasm that opens when killing is automated and carried out at a distance — the way technology allows those who give the orders, or push the button, to remain untouched by what happens at the other end.  I also wrote about the absence of the fail-safe systems of the past - human spotters who could halt attacks on civilians.

This project explores the tradition of Armenian carpet weaving as a living connection between past and future. In Armenian culture, carpets are far more than decorative objects. They represent continuity, memory, and identity, providing both spiritual meaning and material comfort across generations.

Here some pictures of trees which I've taken while golfing at the Qutab Golf Course in Delhi.  I have been fascinated by the vibrant colors of spring among these beautiful trees and wished to share some pictures with our readers. Regards

We talk constantly about decolonising aid. About moving away from Northern-led, extractive development models. About South-South solidarity. About trusting communities and shifting power. It fills our conferences, our theories of change, our funding frameworks.

An estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns, according to new estimates released today. Most of these deaths are preventable with proven, low-cost interventions and access to quality health care.

We recently had our tenth Reunion of UNICEF India Retirees at Udaipur, Rajasthan, from 8 to 12 February 2026. 

I want to thank you for the thoughtful contributions you’ve shared over the past month. From the burning humanitarian issues to your personal reflections on travel, art, and our reunions, the variety ensures there is something here for everyone.

Our goal of development has skyrocketed in recent decades contributing to the welfare of human beings globally. The outcomes can be seen in extending life expectancy at birth, minimising communicable diseases, and many more positive results.

Zimbabwe was nominated as the venue for the 2026 XUNICEF Annual Reunion at the April 2024 gathering in Malta and confirmed at the 2025 Reunion in Manila.

Slideshow We have received 514 photos for our album — a wonderful response! From this rich collection, we have curated a selection for the slideshow below.  Slideshows on Blogger can be unreliable and may not start automatically. If the slides do not move automatically, be sure to click the right arrow to browse through the collection. There are 54 slides in all.

Within the space of two days this week, US juries in two separate states delivered verdicts that together mark a watershed in the legal protection of children from social media harm. The New Mexico jury's $375 million ruling against Meta was followed within 24 hours by a California jury finding both Meta and Google's YouTube negligent.  With TikTok and Snap having already settled out of court, all four of the dominant social media platforms consumed by children now face legal accountability in the United States — a precedent with implications far beyond these cases.  Potentially hundreds more such cases may now go forward seeking huge settlements or fines against social media.  Tom

This verdict is more than a legal milestone for children and families in the US — it is the first formal acknowledgement by a US jury that a social media giant knowingly put profit ahead of child safety, and that such a choice carries consequences. With more than 40 state attorneys general pursuing similar claims, the New Mexico verdict transforms what was once a argument about the reputation of Meta and other online giants into a legal one: that tech platforms cannot hide behind Section 230 when their own algorithms are the instrument of harm.  Tom

    UNICEF staff – in former years – came with a range of skills befitting their respective roles.  Health staff often were recruited from the medical profession – or perhaps from the local barbers’ shop; nutrition staff sometimes had experience within their family’s kitchen.  Communication staff were normally good at writing fiction and, “Yes, you guessed it”: WASH staff knew something about how water behaves – like when you spill it, it takes forever to dry up.

A member shared a link to this report. As it was on LINKEDIN, we have had a look and have shared the direct link for XUNICEF staff not on LINKEDIN.  While Jeffrey Sachs can be controversial, it is worth the read.  This work of SDSN is the result of collaboration and research of 1000s of acadmic institutions and partnerships.

On Sunday, March 22nd, our former colleague Dorothy Schleimer celebrated her 97th birthday.

UNICEF report on the uneven progress made in the Region on children's social indicators: Link here.

I landed in Jakarta Indonesia, after almost 20 hours of flight from Lagos Nigeria, it was my first trip to the city of Jakarta and a very challenging trip as I barely had sufficient time to plan for the trip itself( that’s a story for another day). I had assumed my journey ends in the capital city, but I was wrong, Indeed it was only half  of the journey. I was met on arrival by the highly efficient UNICEF protocol team who handed me the local flight tickets for two more flights to Medan and finally a dingy once in a week flight to Banda Aceh.

The recent humanitarian publication addressed the contentious issue of UN salary differences between national and international staff. It would appear that the issue of displacement of international staff is overlooked in the analysis…..much of the past arguments have been overlooked in this article.  Sharing with my ex unicef colleagues as it further contributes to the discussion of UN reform. UN Pay Should Be Based on Merit, Not Passport Shivonne Logan  The New Humanitarian 19 March 2026  Click here for the article   Summary The author, a Yale public policy graduate student, argues that the UN and INGOs must use the current wave of institutional reform — including the UN80 initiative — to dismantle colonial-era salary structures that systematically undervalue national staff.  Drawing on her own experience in Amman, Logan describes a Jordanian colleague with superior qualifications who earned roughly half her remuneration package solely because she held the str...

From: Message from the Comptroller < MessagefromtheComptroller@unicef.org > Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:43 PM Subject: Co-location of United Nations Agencies at UNICEF House Dear Colleagues, I am pleased to share with you that UNICEF House ( 3 United Nations Plaza ) now hosts several United Nations agencies as part of the ongoing Headquarters Space Optimization initiative. This co-location is part of the DFAM Space Optimization Initiative, following the consolidation of all New York Headquarters staff into UNICEF House after the expiration of the 633 Third Avenue lease and the implementation of FFI. The approach enables cost-sharing with other UN agencies and supports greater operational efficiency. Co-located Agencies The following agencies have joined us through signed lease agreements: Co-located Agencies The following agencies have joined us through signed lease agreements: Agency Location No. of Staff Workplace ...

 

Stephanie Nolen, The New York Times , 16 March 2026 Click here for the article Additional analysis: Asia Russell, Health GAP (Global Access Project) , 16 March 2026 Click here for the Health GAP analysis Summary For  1.3 million people living with HIV in Zambia, the question of whether the United States will continue its PEPFAR-funded HIV treatment programme has become a matter of immediate survival. A leaked draft memorandum prepared by the US State Department's Africa Bureau for Secretary of State Marco Rubio reveals that the Trump administration is considering withholding lifesaving HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria assistance from Zambia as early as May 2026 unless the Zambian government signs a deal granting American companies preferential access to the country's copper, cobalt, and lithium deposits. The document states that the United States “will only secure our priorities by demonstrating willingness to publicly take support away from Zambia on a massive scale.” ...

With a new team of editors being formed, we would like to streamline how members can submit their own articles for posting. It is easier than you think. Here is what you need to do.

Note: This post expands on my previous article " Oil Crisis Today, Food Crisis Tomorrow "  See also ¨A War's Hidden Price" 'explainer video' at bottom of the article. A severely malnourished boy in Hajjah, Yemen. (Hani Mohammed/Associated Press) The Chain — gas, fertiliser, food prices, malnourished children The connection between a missile strike on a Qatari gas plant and a severely malnourished child may not be immediately obvious to many observers of the Iran war. Yet there is a direct chain of cause and effect that could lead, later this year, to a major crisis in child nutrition across Asia and Africa. To understand why the effective closure of a narrow strait threatens the food security of billions, it is necessary to understand the invisible architecture upon which modern agriculture depends — combining nitrogen from the atmosphere with hydrogen from natural gas to produce ammonia, the base from which all synthetic nitrogen fertilisers are created. Wit...

Known unknown Plastics, the evidence shows, are a threat to human health from womb to grave – The Lancet

Nowruz Message | پیام نوروز As Nowruz arrives and spring whispers across the land, our hearts turn to Iran. In the midst of hardship, the people of Iran stand with extraordinary courage for freedom and dignity.

Atrocity at Minab On a Saturday morning in Minab, Iran, parents had just said goodbye at the school gate when a US Tomahawk missile destroyed the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school. Between 175 and 180 people died — girls, teachers, and the principal. Aerial footage released by the WANA News Agency shows the scale of the task in Minab: excavators preparing rows of fresh graves for the victims of the February 28 strike ©credit: WANA News Agency / via Indian Express The intended target was a nearby naval base. The school had been physically separate from it for more than a decade. Its website, archived by Reuters, carried photographs of girls in pink and white uniforms at their desks and at play — along with their drawings, their messages of hope, and a motto that now reads as an epitaph: "Today I learn; tomorrow we build."  Vibrant drawings and messages of hope from the Shajareh Tayyebeh website. The school maintained a robust digital presence that made its purpose—and its...

MEMORY: I recall when the UNICEF Ethics Office was established around 2007.   There was a significant effort to sensitize country offices to the importance of all staff upholding ethical standards.

On 19 November 2025, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to honor the Olympic Truce, as proposed by the IOC President and the Milano Cortina Wintergames organizing committee. The objective was to build a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal. This Olympic Truce was to be enforced during the Olympics from 6 February through 15 March, 2026, the conclusion of the Paralympics.

While we go over the 100s of photos and videos from the recent XUNICEF reunion in Zimbabwe we just wanted to share a tiny sneak peak of how much fun it was.    

When we were in Albania (where I served as Deputy Representative from 2006 to 2011, and I believe Detlef Palm arrived around 2009 as my Representative), we were at the peak of a frenetic trend called Delivering as One (DAO). It was the latest attempt at UN Reform, and eight countries were selected to pilot what DAO should be. By some stroke of luck (or perhaps bad luck), I was posted in Tanzania, Albania, and Pakistan during this dizzying period. What are the chances of being assigned to three of the eight pilots in the world? Lightning striking my head twice seems more likely.

The Leadership UNICEF Needs Now: Systems. Integrity. Moral Courage.

Detlef recently reminded me that capitalism was not "invented." In his view, it is simply the default state of affairs: how people tend to organise economic life when they are free to trade, specialise, and improve their circumstances. That is probably correct. Capitalism may not have needed inventing. What Adam Smith did, when he published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776, was something far more useful: he explained how it works.

Gianni and Dina met in Bologna this week to participate at a workshop with Magnum photographer Richard Kalvar, mostly known for artistic and humorous street photography. Around ten participants (half professional photographers) came from all over the world, India, Turkey, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Canada and USA, and nice friendship ties were quickly developed.  We spent the week shooting in different settings, women's protests, markets, walking through the numerous 'porticis', 'piazzas', and small alleys. 

This week we introduced some subtle changes to our blog. Do not worry - you can still browse all that good stuff, as you did before. Scroll down and check out the articles that readers have contributed. Remember, this is YOUR blog and it lives from your contributions.

 

At the end of 2006, a near neighbour called June, died and it was her dying wish, so we were told, that she should be buried in her garden.  Quite apart from all the legal hoops through which her successors had to jump to accede to her wish, the owners of adjacent properties had to be informed. Luckily, our property lies at a higher elevation than where June was to be buried, but the immediate downstream neighbours were, understandably, rather concerned as to what the effects could be. Those neighbours are Mr and Mrs Windeler, now both deceased, themselves. Nevertheless, I felt the event should be celebrated in verse: ~ June ~ The summer season looms with the bounty it will bring The plants with pretty berries will soon themselves festoon, But in the Wind’ler garden, they will always ask themselves Whether June is full of berries or the berries, full of June.

An interesting and gripping analysis by Shahrzad Amoli of how the war in Iran is ignoring International Humanitarian Law and why should we be concerned.

This updates our earlier reports of 5, 7 and 9 March on the crisis for children in Lebanon. The death toll in Lebanon has risen to 687 since March 2, including 98 children and 52 women,

I received a stack of envelopes; each contains a challenge. I must only open a new envelope once the previous task is completed. This time I had to watch the sun rise.  Here we need to add meaning.  For a genuine experience, the sun has to rise above the horizon, and not simply peek over the roof of your neighbor's house. We had to get up in the dark, drive into the hills, take a brisk walk to a point with unobstructed views facing east. And then wait for the spectacle to unfold. Huge, reddish and covered in Sahara dust Unfortunately, I am one of those people who wake up long before the alarm rings because I worry of missing it. To fall back asleep, I started mentally calculating how far we would have to see to catch the sunrise over the horizon and not just over the trees of a nearby forest..

Thank you, dear Diane. What a lovely drawing you made of Steve and Kul in Tibet in 2015. I will treasure it forever. Kul Your tribute is wonderful. Of course my favorite Gautam moments are the Breckinridge excursion (and Binata breathing joyously the mountain air) and that trip to Tibet, which will forever remain a super highlight. I don't know whether you ever saw the drawing I made from a photo I took off the two of you, so I'm attaching it. Diane

We can welcome that this unethical vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau was paused thanks to the intervention of WHO and NGO groups like Stand up for Science.  But the threat of more such maneuvers by the current department of Health and Human Services may reappear elsewhere.  Tom  Author: Melody Schreiber Publication: The Guardian Date: 11 March 2026 Link: Click here for the article Summary: A suspended hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau is raising fears among experts that it represents a model for future US-funded research under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. The trial, led by Danish researchers from the Bandim Health Project, would have vaccinated only half of newborns at birth despite an 18% adult prevalence rate of hepatitis B — a disease with potentially fatal consequences.  Stand Up for Science, a US nonprofit, sent an investigator to Guinea-Bissau and shared findings with Congress warning of deep ethical concerns, includin...

Village or a theater? We are often reminded that we live in a global village and we are global citizens. People usually express this sentiment especially while referring to the United Nations and the global connectivity people enjoy through development works, communications, ease of international travel, trade and economy. The reality is that we do not live in a global village, we live in a global theater and we are actors in a global theater, not global citizens. In a village there are traditional rules, customs and systems with moral values, coexisting with civil legal systems which are applicable to all. In a village there is equal application of rule of law; there is respect for the village elders. Contrary to this, in a theater everyone acts at the direction of the Directors and Producers. In a theater there are rules too for everyone but the Directors and Producers and a select few who occupy the top tier of the theater's ecosystem are exempted from the rule. The rules are be...

“UNICEF is devastated and outraged that our colleague Karine Buisset was killed in a reported drone strike on a building housing aid workers in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. “Karine was a dedicated humanitarian who worked tirelessly to support children and families affected by conflict and crisis. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and colleagues during this extremely difficult time. “UNICEF is continuing to gather more details about this tragic event. This is a painful reminder that courageous humanitarian workers must always be protected.” French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed Buisset's death on social media, urging respect for humanitarian law and for workers "committed to saving lives." The attack, which occurred before dawn on Wednesday in the Himbi neighbourhood, also claimed two other lives. The M23 rebel group, which has occupied Goma since January 2025, blamed the Congolese government for the strike. No party has claimed responsibility. Drone...

With the end of March approaching and with that, the departure of some of our current editorial team at the xUnicef blog, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the extraordinary efforts and dedication of this group.

“The continuous escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and the devastating toll it is taking on children are gravely concerning.

Dear Friends, It is with profound sadness I hear from Mr Kul Gautam that Steve Umemoto passed away on 2 March after a long hospitalization. He served in India as Dy Director Programs in 90s during Haxton's period. He was a great admirer of UPGI and regularly attended Retirees retreat since 2012 till Hyderabad reunion in 2019. Last I contacted him for his article for the Compendium of UNICEF@75 years. He is survived by his wife Diane and two daughters.   Anyone wishing to send condolence to the following e mail: dumemoto@yahoo.com The attached photo is from our memorable visit of Hyderabad reunion 2019. Thanks & Regards S. Ramadass Secretary UPGI