XUNICEF News and Views

Gertrud Frankhauser In 1948, Gertrud Lutz-Frankhauser became UNICEF's first woman to head a country office—in today's terms, the first woman Representative. She had already led a life of humanitarian service during the war and would now go on to new challenges with UNICEF. One reader of the 2021 version of this article commented: "This story should be a documentary. There are heroes. Give them what they deserve: recognition. This woman deserves it." In previous articles, we explored the post-WWII political currents that shaped UNICEF's birth. Here we turn to the people who built it—starting with a woman whose humanitarian conviction, field commitment, and quiet resilience became the organisation's defining values. Note: The historical sources use variant spellings of both names—Carl (Karl) and Gertrud (Gertrude). This article follows the most...

This article presents an overview of the early career of Dr. Marcel Junod in the ICRC and how his experiences in World War II led to his appointment as UNICEF's first representative in China. An earlier version of this article, "The Doctor from Neuchâtel," appeared in March 2021 as the first in a four-part series on UNICEF's early years in China. Lake Success, New York 1947 In late 1947, as civil war raged across China, Maurice Pate, UNICEF's first Executive Director, faced a major challenge. He needed to establish an operation, but he had no representative and only a few temporary staff in China. UNRRA was collapsing and its departing personnel were clear in saying that "now is not the time to come to China." The huge UNRRA programme budget for China had been depleted through corruption and mismanagement, leaving UNICEF little cash and few supplies. Pate needed a representative who would put things in order, build a team and establish credibility...

Some 40 years ago, I was working as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Liberia. One of the first surprises I came across was huge piles of discarded, used, "donated" clothes from America

  In a world debating whether smartphones are "electronic drugs" or a teenager's last refuge for freedom, how can families navigate the digital invasion?

In August of 2003, the XUNICEF - WAWIG - Group met in Edinburgh, organized by Paul and Katherine Ignatieff. It was the time of the famous International Festival, so in addition to pleasant get togethers with former colleagues

Our friend and colleague Leo Goulet has just sent in a detailed sitrep on the actual situation in one of the affected areas of Nepal:

A few months ago Nadia and I had dinner at the Cafe de Paris in Geneva. This venerable establishment has been in operation from the 1930's

Have you ever been in a pickle where you had to "steal" information to correct a wrong?

Dear Fouad & colleagues, The apocalyptic deluge in Nepal has many of us stunned, dazed and incredibly dismayed.

  Dear Colleagues, As you have heard there has been a disaster in the northern part of Nepal bordering China with a torrent of rain and debris which has swept thousands of houses, schools, health posts and the Hydropower.

A torrent of water, mud and debris swept away entire communities in Nepal on 26 August 2026, killing hundreds and leaving hundreds more missing.

The story of UNICEF's first Executive Director tells us much about the origins from which the organization was born and the atmosphere established by two terrible world wars.

Some useful information related to our diets. And my Ditty to go with…. Is it lettuce or lentil ? And don’t forget the dill,

GAUNT BEAST The time - 1986/87, and a trip on home leave from Quetta.

Technology taking over cognition? Outsourcing is a common practice in manufacturing. Thousands of industries have been outsourcing production of their goods

  "The UNICEF statute was drawn up with great foresight. From the beginning the Charter's text contained not only the word 'aid' - essentially an emergency measure - but also 'development',

Recently I saw a photo of a beach in Maine covered completely by - it looked like copper plates. I then remembered, “Donkey years ago” (as they say here in the Virgin Islands),

"We went into an improvised hospital somewhere in Italy where ill children were being treated. The stench was so terrible in the children's ward that we had to cover our mouths and noses while we filmed. We took turns going outside to vomit. (While we filmed) three children died. We found conditions like this in many countries. This was a heartbreaking film to make." — Captain David Miller As the war in Europe drew to a close in the spring of 1945, the U.S. Army produced one final documentary. Unlike earlier wartime productions designed to rally support for the troops, this film aimed to make the case for sustained U.S. engagement in war-ravaged nations and generate support for UNRRA. Like earlier propaganda, the film highlighted Axis tyranny, but unlike others, it turned its lens on the human aftermath of conflict—specifically the plight of millions of destitute children. Seeds of Destiny was released in July 1946 with a special screening at the Whit...

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Remember when we were working how important was the two day weekend when we could unwind from the rigors of our responsibilities and enjoy down time with family and friends?

The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 ended the Thirty Years war in Europe by establishing the founding principles of a modern world order based on state sovereignty and relations among states.

Dear XUNICEF: Yesterday, we posted an article shared by an XUNICEF member entitled: "Secretary-General Antonio Guterres: Don’t hand our UN pension fund to Wall Street" This was posted in error - the article is 4 years old and the threat on pension fund was mitigated at that time.  The article has been taken down.

The sudden death of FDR on April 12, 1945 makes Truman an unexpected president In the last article in this series, A Little History #3, we explored the collapse of UNRRA. This came about both through the agency's internal failings and growing Republican opposition to continued U.S. foreign aid—in particular opposition to aid reaching former "enemy" nations and countries falling under communist influence. In this article, I focus on the efforts made to preserve relief by centering on one specific category of war victims: children. As WWII ended, three converging forces led to UNICEF's creation The collapse of UNRRA, paired with the determination of key relief figures to find new avenues for aid. President Truman's decision to establish a global famine commission led by former President Herbert Hoover, whose findings placed children at the absolute center of global recovery. A wave of grassroots support among the American and Canadian public, helped in ...

As UNRRA closed, many of its staff joined UNICEF, just as they had earlier shifted from work with NGOs or mission organizations to UNRRA.  For them it was not so much a career change as a continuation of the same humanitarian mission.  In UNICEF they often took up key positions.  One key figure who did not come directly, but returned later was Jim Grant who along with his first wife, Ethel, worked for UNRRA when she joined him in China after he left the army.  You can read more of their story in "Jim - Before We Met"  which I wrote for this series I wrote in June 2021.   The list below is in alphabetic order by surname.  Each made important contributions to UNICEF.  The stories of some of those listed will appear later in this series. If you spot missing names, please let me know.   UNRRA Staff Who Joined UNICEF Dr. Berislav Borcic Newton Bowles Alfred Davidson Helen Drummond Dr. Leo Eloesser Dr. Martha May Eliot Jim Grant...

Related to a recent ReformWorks analysis the 2025 UN staffing cuts this article probes the institutional shocks across the system, driven by sudden donor funding crises rather than strategic planning. As retirees, we know that cutting headcount is not the same as cutting bureaucracy.

  The article argues that extreme weather events are not just natural disasters, but structural crises that expose deep-seated institutional fragility, corruption, and inequality. For the XUNICEF community, this perspective reinforces a familiar truth: when systems fail, children pay the heaviest price. The "Trojan Horse" and Its Impact on Children The author uses the metaphor of a Trojan horse to describe how climate events sneak past defenses to expose hidden structural failures. While the text focuses on governance, these failures directly jeopardize child well-being: Government Inaction & Malnutrition: A previous Super El Niño pushed 60 million people into acute food insecurity. For children, this institutional failure manifests as severe acute malnutrition, wasting, and lifelong stunting. Systemic Corruption & Lost Education: The article notes that human tragedy often becomes fertile ground for corruption. When emergency funds are siphoned away, critical child in...

Despite intensifying his attacks on the United Nations, Donald Trump will not withdraw the United States from the world body because he secretly recognizes that he needs it . Writing an analysis for the independent UN-monitoring outlet PassBlue , essayist Stephen Schlesinger argues that while President Trump has taken a "veritable pickaxe" to the institution during the first 18 months of his second term, he has simultaneously formulated a private rationale to stay. For the XUNICEF, this piece offers a crucial lens into how the current administration intends to aggressively exploit, rather than abandon, the multilateral landscape. Read the full article  here Shared by Kul Chandra Gautam www.kulgautam.org twitter.com/kulcgautam kulgautam@hotmail.com https://amazon.com/author/kulgautam

The Afghan people are trapped in a "double jeopardy" caused by Taliban repression and punitive international economic policies.

I just discovered that a new cruise ship for the rivers in Europe will be launched in 2027.

ACRONYMS+ GALORE   As with almost anything related to UNICEF, an essential is an understanding of the acronyms (and other terms) used.  Thus, to be able to understand what follows, the reader will need to know: BBC = British Broadcasting Company nearest equivalent to ‘Truth Social’ DB5 = David Brown 5, a model of the elegant Aston Martin stable of sports cars DVLA = Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, a branch of British bureaucracy HMRC = His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, another branch of British bureaucracy, dealing with the UK’s (bleep !) tax man Ed Sheeran = Well known British singer, song-writer and musician ***** Today, 4th August, 2026, I read on the BBC News website, that Ed Sheeran has been accused by DVLA of failing to insure his Aston Martin DB5 which has been off-road since 2021.  All this time, it was held in the restoration workshop as part of the work was to convert it to an electric vehicle, so presumably it didn’t even...

A long journey Universal sharing of information and messages evolved with the innovation of woodblock print in China during the Tang dynasty in the 6th century AD to Gutenberg’s mechanical printing press in 1440.

A preliminary analysis by Reform Works reveals that a historic 27% decline in core voluntary funding from overseas development assistance (ODA) triggered severe downsizing across the UN system in 2025. 

This article continues the Little History series I am updating for UNICEF’s 80th anniversary and launches a three-part look into the events and personalities that led to UNICEF’s founding.

Please read the posts below on increases in our health insurance premiums, share widely, and take the suggested action of sending emails to the heads of HLIS and FAFICS:

My father was born in Spain in 1910. He came from a large family of thirteen children.

This week's top ten posts  In case you missed it - here are the top 10 posts viewed the past week

Title: "For Your Eyes Only": Israel’s Mole Inside the United NationsAuthor: Murtaza Hussain Publication: Drop Site News Date: August 4, 2026

The Promise of Freedom in the Platform Economy Caught between the demand for instant services and precarious working conditions, millions of Latin Americans sustain a socioeconomic model without basic protections. Manuel Manrique Castro Aug 05, 2026

We must never become comfortably numb!

Title: The Future of Work in 9 Charts Author: Diana Elliott Publication: Population Reference Bureau (PRB) Date: July 20, 2026

UN system staffing dropped 9% in 2025 (130,948 to 120,176), but the cuts are strategically blind.

The 56th Session of the Council of the Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants (FAFICS) was held in Vienna, Austria, from 20 to 24 July 2026.

We recently did some housesitting for a UNICEF colleague in Budapest (a retiree bonus is knowing people around the world to visit and support if needed). As many of you know, Budapest is the UNICEF hub for a number of functions that serve all offices and staff in all locations. 

Driving these days along the roads of St.Croix, one can’t help but marvel at the variety of trees along the road. There are massive Mahogany trees and then flaming red Flamboyants, We are fortunate to have some on our property, which make our garden look very colorful between April and August. We have red and orange Flamboyants, yellow Ginger Thomas (the national flower of the Virgin Islands), red Bougainvilla and a white flower tree. And we have an African Tulip tree, which had planted itself and now is the tallest tree in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, due to a severe drought, many trees are losing their leaves and the flowers are not as vibrant as usual.

This week's top ten posts - Joachim Theis In case you missed it - here are the top 10 posts viewed the past week. Enjoy! A few more ... TREES! by Myra Rudin Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 134  The Bottom Billion: Review by Thomas Ekvall Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 51  What to do la #6 - Democracy? by Tim Sutton Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 50  My favourite bench: Stonehaven Manor by Fouad Kronfol Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 49  Tackling dementia, shared by Niloufar Pourzand Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 46  Football World Cup 2026: Some Final Thoughts, by Fouad Kronfol Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 46  Trump nominating Gianni Infantino for UN Secretary-General? (shared by Kul Gautam) Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 46  A New Favourite Park Bench - from Detlef Palm Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 45  Good-bye World Cup from Horst Cerni Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 43  UNICEF on Birth Registration: shared by Niloufar Posted by XUNICEF News and Vie...