XUNICEF News and Views

You may or may not have heard the news that the 80th UN General Assembly, currently in session under the motto “Better Together” and under the presidency of Ms. A. Baerbock of Germany, has decided to admit a 16th member to the Security Council.

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In case you missed it - here are the top 10 posts viewed the past week - Photography festival in Kyoto; USAID in the wood chipper; UN Reform; Strength of a refugee woman and much more. Enjoy!   Three Days at the Kyotographie Festival, by Joachim Theis Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 143  This Is What Happened After We Gutted U.S.A.I.D. by Nicholas Kristof (shared by Kul Gautam) Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 113  UN Reform: Missing the Point? By Jan Vandemoortele Posted by Detlef Palm 89  The Strength of a Refugee Woman - by Rob Carr Posted by Rob Carr 83  This week's top ten posts - Joachim Theis Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 73  DOORS (by Myra Rudin) Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 63  What to do la #3 Friends? Posted by Tim Sutton 59  Gaza - No Place is Safe for Children in Gaza : Steve Umemoto Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 56  Comments by our readers, 9-15 May 2026 Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 53  More boys and their toys : Ken Gibbs Posted ...

This coming Monday, 25 May, is Memorial Day in the United States. It is observed to honor and mourn military personnel who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Originally, the day commemorated soldiers who died in the Civil War, but over time it was expanded to honor all American military personnel who died in service. It is now a federal holiday observed nationwide.

In 2018 I sat down to write an autobiographical reflection that was also a cookbook. I thought I knew what the book was about. I was wrong.

I received this interesting article by Dr. Firas Abiad about working in the public sector. Since almost all of us have dealt with governmental officials during our UNICEF careers it is certain that we rarely thought about how and in what circumstances our “counterparts” worked.

The war in the Middle East has increased prices for critical elements like fuel. The article reports how the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and cuts in humanitarian funding have severely reduced aid to vulnerable countries like Somalia at the very moment global crises are intensifying.

Title: From My University in Lebanon, I See a Society Under Fire That Refuses to Quit Author: Fadlo R. Khuri Publication: The National Date: 17 April 2026 UNICEF/UNI356240/Baz/AFP Summary: Fadlo Khuri, President of the American University of Beirut, describes the impact of the widening regional war on Lebanon, where over one million people — including 300,000 children — have been displaced, and more than 2,100 killed. On 8 April, Israeli forces fired over 100 missiles across Lebanon within ten minutes; the AUB Medical Centre received 68 casualties within the hour, many of them children. Despite the devastation, AUB is mobilising volunteers to support displaced families, maintaining academic programmes, and pressing towards a June graduation. Click here for the article Quote: "Yet again, a people who have learnt to live with disaster and uncertainty look to the American University of Beirut for hope, for excellence and for certainty amid the uncertain. No matter the challenges, the...

In 2015, I was working in Tanzania when violence erupted in neighboring Burundi, triggering a massive wave of refugees. (this happens every few years - it was my 3rd refugee influx/outflux I had seen in 15 years at this border.)

A Danish Couple's Maverick African Research Finds Its Moment in RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Policy. Arthur Allen, KFF Health News, May 18, 2026 An elementary school student in Indonesia receives a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, or DTP, shot in 2018. (Aditya Irawan/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Renk transit center that is hosting hundreds of thousand of people fleeing the conflict in Sudan. Photo: Herison Philip Osfaldo/Oxfam The article recounts Oxfam Humanitarian Program Officer Waeil Musa’s experience of living and working through the conflict in Sudan, including the loss of his home, separation from his family, and eventual displacement. 

In case you missed it - here are the top 10 posts viewed the past week: Failing to learn from mistakes in humanitarian work; The fallout from feeding USAID into the wood chipper; Measuring progress for humanity; and more.

G ALS for the World’s Children Players , Clubs and Benefit Matches

BEWARE:  AN ARIAL, MECHANICAL TARANTULA Recently, an XUNICEF member (I checked), who will remain nameless, wrote to me in some excitement because his son had given him a very expensive drone which he was busy trying to understand so he could ‘fly’ it.  The fact that he had, in the past, trained pilots to fly, seemed not to provide him with the necessary intelligence. . . .

Is the debate on UN Reform missing the point? The multilateral system is no longer fit for purpose. This is most visible in the handling of climate disruption. While the World keeps on disrupting the Earth; and the Earth is starting to hit back, humans keep on waging war. Humanity’s inability to address global challenges was on full display when the passengers of the virus-hit cruise schip were sent to 20+ countries, due to the deep-seated national reflex. Instead of treating them in one place, the repatriation of the passengers greatly increased the risk of widening the spread of the virus; not to mention the considerable costs involved and the extra greenhouse gas emitted. 

What to do la is an occasional musing on what one former staff member has and hasn’t done since leaving UNICEF. This week – Friends?

"We are missing out by not having more young people in positions of leadership and decision-making today."

I just spent three days at Kyotographie, an annual photography festival held in Kyoto between mid-April and Mid-May.

Gaza remains the primary epicenter of risks for children. by Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEF Director for European Public Partnerships

Title: Opinion | This Is What Happened After We Gutted U.S.A.I.D. Author: Nicholas Kristof Publication: The New York Times Date: May 9, 2026

Dr Jeutner invited me to meet his Faculty colleagues and students to tell my story of: The White Busses. A rescue mission by the Swedish Red Cross, early 1945

UNICEF education Director, Pia Britto, is interviewed.

There are some things we take for granted in life like birth, death and taxes, and I would add to this list, the UNICEF driver. 

Dear All : I am deeply saddened to inform you that a very senior member of UPGI, Dr. Sindhu Phadke passed away on 8th May at her residence in Pune. She would have turned 99 this October.

To all XUNICEF moms and all those moms we aspired to uplift in our work…

A fascinating report by a panel of distinguished economists including Kausik Basu, Joseph Stiglitz, et al, that builds on what former UNICEF ED Jim Grant championed as PQLI (Physical Quality of Life Index)

Sometimes, I must sheepishly admit, I sneak a glance at LinkedIn . It is a minor addiction. Similar, but not quite on par with the people who cannot look away from a motorway pile-up.  

 

Hearing Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Sudan's Representative, speak at the United Nations Palais last week was a sobering reminder of how history is repeating itself for children in Darfur.

In case you missed it - here are the top 10 posts viewed the past week -Hiking Bryce Canyon; UNICEF drivers; Spain's legal system. Enjoy!     A (slow) Hike in Bryce Canyon National Park (by Myra Rudin) Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 108  Drivers of UNICEF - Keeping Us Safe and Shaping the CPD? By Rob Carr Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 107  If You Love Your Next of Kin, Don’t Die in Spain: Thomas Ekvall Posted by Detlef Palm 92  This week's top ten posts - Joachim Theis Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 87  Missing You - Hatim George by Mary Sidawi Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 83  10 Questions by Venetia De Silva (Rohini) Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 79  What to do la #2 - Uber driver? by Tim Sutton Posted by Tim Sutton 76  Missing You - Reem Najjar - by Mary Sidawi Posted by Tom McDermott 71  Mutiny on the Bounty : Ken Gibbs Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 50  Rubbish - absolute rubbish : Ken Gibbs Posted by XUNICEF News and Views 50 