Fourth Quarter December 2018
Editors
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2018-09-14T10:39:00.001-07:00
2020-07-09T13:38:03.251-07:00
Third Quarter September 2018
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XUNICEF NEWS & VIEWS
A Quarterly Newsletter written by and for former UNICEF staff - September 2018
Note that this newsletter uses links and is intended for online reading. If you choose to print it for reading, the links will not work. In this issue: (Click on any line to go directly to that page).
In this edition - September 21, 2018
From the Editorial Team
This is our third issue of News & Views. The past quarter proved to be the opposite of what should have been the ‘lazy hazy days’ of a relaxed late summer. Instead, the period turned out to be filled with sad dramas, both political and military, affecting children. Yemen, Syria, and the Rohingya filled our news feeds with horrific stories of violence and lasting damage to young lives.
Life at the UN was hardly short of drama either - much of it thanks to recent US policy shifts. First came the long expected news that the US was eliminating all funding for UNFPA. This was followed with a series of unexpected decisions - withdrawing from the Human Rights Council, recognizing Jerusalem as capital of Israel, denying any right of return to their homelands for Palestinian refugees, and eliminating funding for UNRWA. Then we learned of US attempts to blackmail developing countries into withdrawing support for the longstanding International Code on Marketing of Breastmilk Supplements and to water down rights of developing countries to locally produce essential drugs.
All this was playing out against the background of a US policy of separating migrant and refugee children from their parents when families crossed the border. Even after a public outcry forced the Administration to drop the official policy, growing numbers of children remained in detention, some with their families, but many others separated - in many cases because the parents had been deported leaving their children stranded in the US. UN and UNICEF statements of concern were weak and long delayed, perhaps in view of threats to further cut funding. On the other hand, we were delighted to see a swift condemnation of an air attack on a bus carrying Yemeni children.
Also on the brighter side came news that the Executive Director has appointed a senior official charged among other duties with liaison with retirees. Even better, proposals were tabled to create formal links between UNICEF and XUNICEF. There were also positive developments on implementation of the new strategic plan and repositioning of UNICEF.
Kul Gautam and Karin Sham Poo added to our libraries with publication of wonderful new memoirs, and Kul was honored in a ceremony at UNICEF House. This event seems to have opened the possibility of having a regular series of events at UNICEF involving retirees.
In this quarter’s edition we have added a new section, called “Overheard on XUNICEF”. The idea is to pull together the most important bits of discussions we held on the XUNICEF email network during the quarter. As parts of “Overheard at….” Patrick Hennessy and Kristian Laubjerg contributed thoughtful articles to the discussion on “Anthropology and Cultural Sensitivity” and Carlos Santos Tejada has given us another good analysis of the debate over the audit of governance of the Pension Fund.
Kristian Laubjerg and Sree Gururaja have contributed stories to our “Life After UNICEF” section. Tom McDermott contributed our feature story for the edition, “So, You Don’t Know Jack?” - the story of the life both before and after UNICEF of an unsung UNICEF transport manager who somehow found time amidst his travels around Asia to write a classic novel.
We hope you will enjoy reading this edition of News & Views. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this quarter’s edition.
As always, we look forward to your comments and suggestions. Most of all we hope you will join us by contributing opinions, articles, stories, jokes, and whatever you would like to share. Remember please that News & Views is “written by and for former UNICEF Staff”. It can only be as good as we collectively make it. Please help us make News & Views even better.
Grim icon of the war in Yemen
August 23, 2018 - UNICEF school bags and coloring books left in the wreckage of a school bus targeted in an airstrike in Northern Yemen traveling on an end-of-summer field trip. At least 40 children were killed along with several teachers and other adults. Another 40 were wounded in the attack.
Recent News
We depend on members of XUNICEF to call attention to recent news items we may have missed. If you read or hear something of interest, please share on the XUNICEF email network and directly with the editorial team.
Nicolas Pron to Liaise with Retirees
Henrietta Fore has appointed Nicolas Pron, as Special Adviser, UN High Level Events, Initiatives & Partnerships. Among the initiatives to be managed by Nicolas is liaison with XUNICEF and all former staff. Before his recent appointment Nicolas served as Secretary of the Executive Board, and earlier as the head of Dev Pro. Even earlier he served in various countries in Africa and Asia.
We are exploring what an institutional framework of cooperation and support might look like, drawing on the examples of other UN agencies such as the World Food Programme that has such an association. We will keep you posted as work progresses and share the draft framework with you for your comments and suggestions.
On August 23rd Sheila Barry organized a teleconference to discuss initial steps towards strengthening cooperation between UNICEF and XUNICEF. In addition to Nicolas and Sheila, the call included Adhiratha Keefe, Malika Abrous, and Tom McDermott. Nicolas said that he looks forward to closer collaboration and proposed that XUNICEF should consider ‘formalizing’ its structure. He gave as examples the retiree associations of former WFP and World Bank staff.
Sheila adds this update, “ We began the discussion by reviewing our past activities, the reunions that brought alums together, the establishment of an institutional link and launch of our website, xunicef.org. The loss of that link two years later led to the current impasse. It was suggested and we agreed that establishing ourselves as an association was an essential first step.”
Once retirees agree on a formal structure for XUNICEF, UNICEF would be open to signing a formal agreement between UNICEF and XUNICEF. Nicolas provided a copy of the signed agreement between WFP and the WFP retiree association, which you can view HERE.
Such an agreement could then open to door for improved retiree access to UNICEF resources, including the intranet or a special extranet, better coverage of retiree stories by DOC, and closer coordination with DHR and with the Global Staff Association.
Some of these ideas may be discussed in the forthcoming reunion at Bangalore, as well as through circulation of proposals through the email network. The XUNICEF participants agreed that a first step would be to set up a small coordinating team to lay out and circulate proposals.
See also below in the Policy Corner a report by Leila Bisharat on her subsequent meeting with Nicolas to discuss the strategic plan.
UNICEF speaks out on Yemen
Henrietta Fore spoke out quickly and forcefully on August 24th a day after a Saudi airstrike on a school bus carrying children on a school field trip in northern Yemen. At least 40 children and some accompanying adults died in the attack. Following a public outcry and indications that the UN might bring war crimes charges against both sides of the fighting in Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition admitted its error and issued a rare apology. See more about our discussion on Yemen in “Overheard….” below
Positioning and repositioning
Thanks to Boudewijn Mohr for calling our attention to a recent announcement by the Executive Director that the re-positioning exercise she had announced back in February would now get underway under the leadership of Omar Abdi. This brings to four the number of retirees brought back to serve in senior roles in UNICEF. The ED has appointed Maria Calivis and Saad Houry to assist in the exercise. The exercise aims at bringing UNICEF’s work into closer sync with the SDGs, through a strengthening of partnerships including those with the private sector.
Good Days to Avoid NY - Trump at the UN
Mark your calendars ! The addresses of world leaders at the opening session of the General Assembly are always good days to avoid Turtle Bay, but this year may be something special.
In addition to addressing the GA on September 25th, Trump plans to hold a ‘high level meeting’ of heads of governments, and on September 26th will go on to chair a special session of the Security Council on Iran. Iran has also requested to speak that day, although there are indications that Trump will leave before the Iranian delegation speaks. Read more HERE and HERE
Coming (Very) Soon - the 2018 XUNICEF Reunion
Sree Gururaja write, “With less than two months to go, preparations for the Xunicefers Reunion 2018 in Bangalore/Mysore, 8-13 November are in full swing. The organizers, Padmini, Seenappa and Sree are pleased that 60 former colleagues and their families are participating in the Main Reunion and the Post- Reunion Tours to Kabini wildlife and Hampi Heritage site. The deadline for last minute registrations is extended to 5th October.” Contact Sree at grsrgr@gmail.com for information.
The Readers’ Corner
Fouad Kronfol edits Readers’ Corner. In each edition we try to keep you up to date on recent works by UNICEF authors or about subjects relevant to UNICEF. Have you recently written, read or viewed something of interest to your fellow retirees? If so, please let us know.
The Bibliography
An updated version of the XUNICEF Bibliography will be prepared for the end of the year issue of our Newsletter. In the meantime a number of new publications have come to our attention and are included in this fall issue.
New Additions
Kul Gautam
GLOBAL CITIZEN FROM GULMI was published by nepa~laya, Kalikasthan, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2018 This memoir was recently launched at Unicef HQ with a special ceremony attended by many current and past Unicef staff, as well as notables from the UN, the Nepalese Mission etc. The launch was preceded by a series of events including the presentation of Kul's book to the UN Secretary General. At the launch itself, Kul delivered an outstanding speech which can be read in the attached link.
Remarks by Kul Gautam
Foreword by Sir Richard Jolly
Review by David Bull
A Kid from Gulmi by Fouad Kronfol
Karin Sham Poo
ON MY TERMS has been published by Authorhouse, Bloomington, IN. USA. Our longest serving woman Deputy Executive Director has written a short but very interesting memoir about her personal life situation from childhood to her illustrious career with Unicef and beyond. It is simply written and candid in its approach, yet full of details about her family, her initial career in banking and finance in her native Norway and her effective endeavours for gender and social equity . Interspersed with these lifelong efforts are highlights of her career in Unicef from her appointment as Comptroller to the post of Deputy ExDir for Operations. A short review of the book by Fritz Lherisson is attached as a link.
Review by Fritz Lherisson
Hans Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund
FACTFULNESS:TEN REASONS WE'RE WRONG ABOUT THE WORLD AND WHY THINGS ARE BETTER THAN YOU THINK, was published by Hodder & Stoughton, UK. You may recall that Leila Bisharat recommended this book to us in the last edition of News & Views as part of her ‘ Summer Reading List’.
Review by Adhiratha Keefe
SEE ALSO:
- the letter by Bill and Melinda Gates on the future of global poverty, We Were Making Headway on Global Poverty. What’s About to Change?, published in the NY Times on September 22nd,
- The World Bank’s recent press release on the Decline of Global Extreme Poverty and press coverage here.
Other Recent Additions to the UNICEF Bibliography
Jack Reynolds
A WOMAN OF BANGKOK was first published in 1957 and has been republished five times subsequently. Who was the mysterious UNICEF author of this classic of Asia? See Tom McDermott’s recounting of the story, “So, You Don’t Know Jack” in Feature Article below.
Renee Stauffer
THE ROGER FEDERER STORY: Quest for Perfection, was published by New Chapter Press,USA, back in 2006. This book recounts the tennis star's life from his early years to his attaining the pinnacle of professional world tennis championships, and the winner of more Grand Slams than any man to date. There is a very interesting and touching chapter about his relationships with Unicef as a Goodwill Ambassador, and his travels to Africa to promote children's education etc.
Donald Spoto
ENCHANTMENT; The Life of Audrey Hepburn, was published by Three Rivers Press, NY, also in 2006. One of many publications about this movie icon, who capped her life with a short but extraordinary association with Unicef as one of its most notable Good Will Ambassadors. While it relates her life story from her early years, it has extensive material about her travels to Afri8ca for Unicef and the causes she so ably supported.
Yann-Brice Dherbier
AUDREY HEPBURN: A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY OF A BEAUTIFUL STAR'S RISE TO SILVER-SCREEN ICON, was published by Parragon Books Ltd. NY, USA, 2014. This delightful album of photographs of Audrey Hepburn is a testament to her beauty, hard work and humanity and it shows her through all stages of her relatively short life, including the period when she was a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador.
Bobby Duffy
THE PERILS OF PERCEPTION is a recent publication by Atlantic Books, 2018. Duffy is the Director of the IPSOS Mori Social Research Institute. His book is drawn from ten major polling studies in 40 countries. Somewhat similar to the book mentioned above by Hans Rosling, the book asks why the public perception of important issues such as global poverty, immigration, religion, and public safety differ so strongly from the reality - often seeing social progress in the world in far more negative light than is actually the case. The book also notes the strong differences between public perceptions in the 40 countries and suggests ideas on why. See a slide presentation of some of the results HERE
Also recently Viewed and Recommended
Khadija el-Saalami
KIDS AND WAR IN YEMEN tells the story of the current conflict from the point of view of children themselves. The Director got three children to go around with a smartphone and conduct interviews about the war with educators, health workers, artists, writers and even Rap singers, each of whom was interviewed and asked by the kids to make a phone call sending the pictures they took to the EUROPEAN UNION...very original as a documentary, and quite touching.
The Policy Corner
The Policy Corner is edited by Leila Bisharat. This ‘corner’ is your space for discussing policy developments at UNICEF. With each issue we will offer links to recent papers on the table at UNICEF. We hope you will share your views on policies both on the XUNICEF email network and here in future editions of The Policy Corner. Do you have concerns about recent UNICEF policies or know of new ones in the works? If so, please contact Leila.
The Strategic Plan 2018-2021 - New Developments
There are new headlines for all of us as we look ahead with UNICEF. Whether you’ve recently left UNICEF, or been “away” for a long time, as I have, you will find the new Strategic Plan 2018-2021 worth reading. Then take a look at the actions now unfolding under the leadership of Henrietta Fore with her statement to the September Executive Board.
Seeing is believing, so off I went to UNICEF House to visit with Nicolas Pron in his office on the 9th floor, a welcoming spot for all XUNICEF. The Executive Director has asked Nicolas to be the “go-to” person for seeing that her commitment to formalize UNICEF’s relationship with retired staff has every opportunity to be turned into action.
No welcome could have been more genuine as we quickly moved into chatting about the opportunities and challenges ahead. It’s a heady period for all of us, where involving young people, or “Generation Unlimited”, innovation and new partnerships offer promise as the challenges of violence against children, income inequalities and unequal access to resources remain blatantly before us – civilians in Yemen, Syria, and among migrants, refugees and the displaced.
Henrietta Fore intends to have UNICEF exercise leadership at a large scale, and to draw fully on all its potential resources.
Your editorial group hopes to have this policy corner in our newsletter be a place to go for updates on recent developments and hear from the staff who are at the center of the action. You also don’t have to wait to hear directly from young people themselves. Browse U-Report for real-time insights from young people as they use social messaging about issues that matter to them. (http://www.ureport.in). See more about U-Report in Bits and Pieces below.
LIFE AFTER UNICEF
Life After UNICEF is edited by Nuzhat Shahzadi. Share with your colleagues something interesting about your life and work after leaving UNICEF. Just contact Nuzhat who will be most willing to help you in editing and finalizing the story.
Being on the Other Side - Sree Gururaja
Sree Gururaja lives with her husband in Bangalore, India. She joined UNICEF in New Delhi in 1982 and moved to Programme Division, HQ in 1994. From 1987- 2001 she was responsible for equality and ending discrimination against girls, women’s development and rights, gender and development in New Delhi and New York offices. From 2004-2005, Sree was in charge of child labour in the Programme Division. She held the post of Representative in Guyana from 2001-2003 and returned to Programme Division in 2004. She retired in 2005.
Though her exciting career is over, Sree still continues to be engaged with social policy, equality and disparity issues. Decentralized governance, rights of women and girls are also of interest to her. She actively supports NGOs, namely, Karnataka Child Rights Observatory and Indian Alliance for Child Rights based in New Delhi that plays a major role in CRC monitoring and reporting in India. Last year she also provided professional leadership to the preparation of the Karnataka State Policy for children, and State Policy for the girl child.
Sree loves reading fun stuff, especially works of women authors; is working on nostalgic writing about her childhood for her grandchildren. She enjoys Indian classical music, music in general and theatre as well as organizing discussions on contemporary social issues at the Bangalore International Centre. Her three grandchildren keep her lively and young in spirit, her social circle adds colour to her life. Not the least, Sree is also an active member of the UN pensioners family in the Association of Former United Nations Persons in India (AFUNPI) which meets monthly in Bangalore.
Read Sree’s fascinating story HERE. In this lively narration she walks us through an experience after retiring from UNICEF.
From Children to People of Old Age - Kristian Laubjerg
Kristan Laubjerg worked with DANIDA in 1983 in Bangladesh. For three years he was seconded to UNICEF-Bangladesh to assist in its community focused Watsan programme and was charmed by the agency’s undeniable, die-hard commitment to the cause of the most underprivileged. This stint with UNICEF prepared him for his next move as the SPO in Nigeria in 1990. After that there was no looking back. He worked successfully in different UNICEF duty stations including Guinea Bissau, New York, Sao Tome and Principé, Guinea Equatorial and for UNICEF’s assistance to Gabon. Finally, he retired as the Representative in Libreville in 2008.
In his long career, he invested 25 years in Africa. He understood the desperation of disempowered communities created by indignities of disease burdens. So, after retirement he decided to do something exceptionally innovative and necessary for the most vulnerable as that’s where his passion lies. At present he has two homes- Copenhagen and Dakar- enjoying his life in the company of his wonderful, loving family. Read Kristian´s post- UNICEF story by clicking HERE
FEATURE ARTICLES
Tom McDermott edits the Features section of News & Views. This quarter we are short of articles to include. If you have an important topic for UNICEF or for XUNICEF and are willing to contribute an article, please let us know.
So, You Don’t Know Jack?
Like me perhaps you often think back on your career and recall some of wonderful, but occasionally odd, strange or even weird, characters that made life so interesting. But what do you know of their lives before they came to an international career? Or after? Where did they come from and where did they go? What else were they doing in their time outside the office in their private lives.
Or you sometimes ask yourself about the unknown and unsung heroes and heroines who worked in the shadows of better-known ‘giants’, all the while contributing as much or more to the work of UNICEF.
This is a story of one those often quiet folks who worked in the shadows. In his life outside UNICEF, he authored a classic novel and went on to write an important anthropological study. Yet few know his name today, and few of those who knew him then knew the life he led before and after UNICEF.
This story also provides a glimpse of one of UNICEF’s great ‘nurseries’ - one which in the crucible of war formed some of those we count today as among our ‘ giants ‘.
Read the story of Jack HERE
Overheard on the XUNICEF Channel
‘Overheard’ is a new section of News and Views. In each edition we hope to cover a few of the issues discussed on the XUNICEF email network. We need an editor for this section, someone able to capture and summarize discussions, and able to recruit those who make the best contributions to write short articles. Are you willing?
Our discussion on Anthropology and Cultural Sensitivity
We also had a lively discussion of an internal issue of UNICEF - the lack of skills in anthropology and sociology at all levels in UNICEF, and in particular in country offices. This led to a wider discussion of how well or poorly our agency does in developing cultural sensitivity to the many different national and sub-national cultures in which we serve. This topic attracted so many comments that we formed an ‘Anthropology’ sub-group of the network to discuss the issue question and come back to the wider XUNICEF community with recommendations.
As so often happens in these discussions, we reached no solid conclusions about what we as retirees could do to help (though of course many ideas about what UNICEF offices should do). There was even a suggestion that we should assemble a book of members’ experiences of cultural sensitivity and insensitivity in UNICEF and UN agencies. Sadly, no authors stepped forward. As always, our challenge remains to bridge the gap between our ideas and our actions.
In the hope of further ‘stirring the pot’, we asked two of those who expressed interesting views, Patrick Hennessy and Ronald van Dijk, to sum up their thoughts on the discussion so far.
Patrick Hennessy
Many thought provoking comments were circulated in the group. In very broad terms one set of comments focused on the possibility of using more anthropological research and applied anthropology within UNICEF programmes. Another set of comments urged a greater focus on enhancing cultural awareness among UNICEF staff. Related to this were comments on how HR policy makers could factor in cultural differences and awareness when designing organizational structures and staff mixes at RO/CO level, and policy on staff development, staff orientation, etc. I volunteered to write a few words on this latter “HR” area, and I understand another retiree will write a note on the former “substantive” anthropological stuff. Continue reading Patrick’s article HERE
Ronald van Dijk
UNICEF is powerful, it does a lot, it can move massive campaigns, but it is blind to what is happening in the field. Every couple of years it reports how far it has come towards the Goals, but it never achieves them, and it never will unless the arsenal of program tools is expanded. The question is what tools should be added and how they should be integrated in UNICEF. The attached article explains how anthropology should become part of UNICEF’s program tools and how anthropological skills can provide knowledge of what is actually going on in rural, urban, and semi-urban communities where the millions of children who are the “raison d’être” of the organization live. Continue reading Ronald’s article HERE.
See also the 1951 message sent by Sam Keeny, the then EAPRO Regional Director, to Headquarters on the sort of staff needed in UNICEF below under “Bits….”.
Our discussion on the war affected children of Yemen and Syria
As of the end of July the war in Yemen had resulted in the deaths of at least 5,000 children and left at least 400,000 malnourished according to the UNICEF Representative, Meritxell Relano. Then in late August we learned the news of a Saudi airstrike on a school bus carrying children on an end-of-summer field trip. At least another 40 children died in that attack. The bomb used in the attack was a US made laser bomb. Although the Saudi-led coalition later admitted that they had made a mistake and apologized, the size and poignancy of this particular tragedy kicked off a lively discussion on XUNICEF about what retirees could do to help end the madness. 
At the same time the war in Syria has resulted in the deaths of at least another 20,616 children (out of 522,000 total deaths) and displaced millions of civilians. The siege of Idlib Province by Syrian, Iranian and Russian forces might indicate that the war is nearing its end, but at the same time raised the specter of a new massacre and a greater-than-ever humanitarian catastrophe for the 2.9 million civilians living in the area. Earlier this week, however, the leaders of Turkey and Russia agreed to establish a demilitarized zone around Idlib, somewhat relieving the threat of an immediate attack. There is some doubt as to what this zone would entail and whether it could allow for civilians to escape the worst of the fighting.
Henrietta Fore issued a statement on behalf of UNICEF, reminding the Security Council and the warring parties of their obligations under international law and saying simply, “Our request is simple: Protect children. Give us safe, sustained and unconditional access to them. Allow and enable those who want to leave to do so safely and voluntarily,”
While many XUNICEF members discussed what UNICEF should do about the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, Steve Umemoto offered several proposals for practical action by retirees, including the establishment of a ‘ Commission for the Children of Yemen and Syria”. Several members wrote letters to influential figures. Steve wrote to Archbishop Desmond Tuto, Gautam Banerji wrote to the Chair of the Institute of World Politics and International Relations at the Russian Armenian University, and Moncef Bouhafa wrote to Senator Ben Cardin, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Marty Rajandran, who has long been involved in vigils and demonstrations against the war in Yemen, called for retirees to become more involved in political action and most importantly, to vote in the coming elections. Marty also circulated an important report by Human Rights Watch and an article by the NGO Common Dreams.
Our discussion on the UN Pension Fund - the Never-Ending Saga - Carlos Santos-Tejada
This last quarter saw continuing concerns raised among XUNICEF members over the state of the UN Pension Fund. These concerns were heightened in light of the OIOS audit report on Governance and the Board’s decision to reject the findings of the audit and refer the report to the General Assembly’s Independent Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC). Given all these confusing developments, we asked Carlos Santos-Tejada once again to give us an informed view of how our Pension Fund is doing.
Our discussions on recent US Policy Issues
This past three months saw many issues arise over recent US policies on children and on the UN. XUNICEF members were deeply concerned and voiced those concerns in exchanges on the network. Issues included separation and detention of children on the US border with Mexico, efforts to water down UN policies on breastmilk substitutes, efforts to restrict the rights of developing countries to produce generic versions of drugs for TB, HIV, and other local public health concerns, withdrawal of the US from the Human Rights Council, a cut off in US funding of programs for Palestinians, and US continued support to the Saudi / UAE air campaign in the war in Yemen. See our brief updates on these issues below.
Child detention and border separation of families
In the last quarterly edition of News & Views we reported on the hot discussion which blew up in response to changes in US policy regarding detention of child migrants at the US / Mexico border and separation of children from their parents. Equally hot in our discussion was the delayed response of UNICEF and the UN Secretary-General in condemning separation of families.
President Trump eventually announced an end to the policy of separating children on June 20th. At that point we reported that some 2,300 children had been detained separately from their families. While the policy of separation is no longer enforced, today the total numbers of detained children in federal custody have grown substantially. Today over 12,800 migrant children are in detention, in most cases with one or more of their parents, but in at least another 500 cases other cases the children remain separately detained - often because their parents have already been deported. A rising number of sexual and physical assaults on detained children have been reported. Moreover, the authorities admit that they have lost track of another 1,500 children supposedly in their custody. 
No further statements of concern from UNICEF or other UN agencies have appeared, despite a clearly worsening situation.
Breastmilk Substitutes
Although the actual controversy erupted at the World Health Assembly in May, most of us only learned of US attempts to torpedo a reaffirmation of the long-standing WHO and UNICEF position on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes when the NY Times reported the story on July 8th. The same report shows how the US tried to use foreign aid blackmail Ecuador and other developing countries who had sponsored the original resolution into withdrawing it. In the end it was Russia which sponsored a somewhat watered down version of the resolution. There followed a long discussion on the XUNICEF network over what role UNICEF should play and what role if any retirees could take in condemning such a power-play.
You can read more about the dispute and its aftermath in a list of sources we circulated a short time later.
A further discussion followed news that in the face of declining sales of infant foods in some countries marketers of substitutes were shifting to advertise their products as “good for both infants and toddlers”.
The last week of May was World Breastfeeding Week. So far as we understand, UNICEF did not this year issue a statement for the week, nor did it officially comment on the controversy over the US position. However, UNICEF’s Chief of Nutrition, Victor Aguayo, circulated the The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018 on behalf of the joint sponsors, IFAD, FAO, UNICEF, WHO and WFP. You can read the full report HERE. As you will see, the report focuses on the impact of climate change on food availability, but makes no specific mention of breastfeeding or the marketing breastmilk substitutes.
In the US breastmilk substitutes are not only widely marketed, but also heavily substituted. According to Wikipedia government subsidies support up to one-third of the price of substitutes and around 70% of US hospitals provide free formula to mothers of newborns.
One wonders whether the position of UNICEF and other international organizations on marketing of breastmilk substitutes is weakening in response to pressure by governments of countries in which companies like Nestle are based. Added to this is the fact that UNICEF’s former Executive Director, Ann Veneman, remains a member of Nestle’s Board.
Production of essential drugs in developing countries
Yet another controversy erupted when India and South Africa raised concerns over US moves by use next week’s General Assembly high-level meeting (September 26th - the same day on which President Trump is due to chair the Security Council Session on Iran) to curtail the so-called TRIPS agreement of 2001 under which developing countries are permitted to manufacture essential drugs needed to protect public health. Although the immediate concern was over patent rights being applied to production of drugs for TB, the same issue could apply for drugs for treatment of HIV and other diseases.
We were relieved to learn recently from Sree Gururaja that, “..the earlier draft of the Political Declaration of July 2018 which had the contentious paragraphs ongoing back on WTO agreements (TRIPS) was openly challenged - first by South Africa breaking the silence on the earlier draft. There is now a revision and as of 11 September the co-facilitators have circulated a new draft Political Declaration. So it seems that the views of G77 led by South Africa and EU prevailed. (Medicins Sans Frontiers , MSF, had also been critical and widely advocated for revisions). “
Alan Court added, “This turns out to be a good compromise, basically leaving TRIPS as it was. The US wasn't successful in undoing compulsory licensing (the way a country could appropriate intellectual property in an emergency) and MSF, OXFAM, and some countries (led by India and Brazil) could not further undermine IP laws. Apparently the key was, surprisingly, the position taken by some major Pharma companies, mainly GSK, Sanofi and Pfizer, strongly telling US trade representatives that it was against Pharma interests to undo TRIPS and the option of compulsory licensing.
It will not stop US bullying, of course, nor will it stop some emerging economies trying to get greater market share for their own generic companies. It is, however, the least disruptive route to getting more affordable medicines out to the TB patients who need them.
The one word that went missing in the wordsmithing around the resolution appears to be "quality." An early draft spoke of "affordable quality medicines" and now that has ended up as "affordable medicines." In the bigger scheme of things it is not so important. However, with the abundant supply of affordable (cheaper) fake or substandard medicines available in many markets it would have been wiser not to take quality for granted. The text relating to upgrading national capacity will hopefully compensate if it will improve national regulatory capacities.”
Many thanks to Sree and Alan for following this issue closely. Read the revised agreement following negotiations between the US and South Africa HERE. Let’s hope the draft survives next week’s meeting.
Funding of UN Programs for Palestinian Children
Following the US Administration declaration that it recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Palestinian National Authority refused further negotiations with Israel and the US over any peace deal. The US then seized the opportunity of this refusal to announce the ending of all funding for Palestinian aid programmes, including all US funding of UNRWA (normally about one-fourth of the agency’s budget). It also threatened funding of all other forms of aid. It remains unclear at this point whether the ban on funding extends to assistance through UNICEF and other UN agencies both in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and for refugee populations in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
XUNICEF members expressed alarm at this development and its possible consequences throughout the region.
Bits and Pieces
Share something light, funny, or irreverent. With all the glum news around us these days, we all will welcome a moment to laugh and smile.
UN Superhero - the Musical
(Many of us have been fortunate enough to work with Jan Egeland whose last positions at the UN included serving as Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General for conflict prevention and resolution and as head of OCHA. He now heads the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and is the Director of the Norwegian Council of Foreign Affairs.)
Okay, so you had a great career in UN / UNICEF. But did anyone ever call you a ‘UN Superhero’ or make your story into a music video? No? Well someone did set Jan Egeland’s story to music. View the Jan Egeland - UN Superhero video HERE.
On Motherhood and Breastfeeding - as a Limerick - contributed by Fouad Kronfol
THERE WAS A YOUNG GIRL WHO BEGAT
THREE BRATS, NAMED NAT, PAT AND TAT.
IT WAS FUN IN THE BREEDING,
BUT HELLISH IN THE FEEDING,
WHEN SHE FOUND THERE WAS NO TIT FOR TAT !!
U-Report Nears 6 Million
Don’t know what U-Report is? U-Report has become UNICEF’s main social media platform for youth and today has over 5,877,000 members. The system was first launched in Uganda in 2011 in response to concerns that government leaders and parliamentarians were not hearing from a wide enough range of opinions by young people.
The idea was to sign up as many young people as possible as ‘U-Reporters’. Each country then maintains its own U-Report website on which managers pose questions, reporters reply, and poll results and relevant stories are presented in response. Managers then pull together the results for concerned officials. All that is required for U-reporters is a mobile phone able to send and receive SMS messages.
One innovative feature is the use of a ‘chatbot’ to receive and respond to reports. Never heard of a ‘chat-bot’? At the moment the U-Report chatbot only simplifies the counting of responses and sorting of comments, but in future such ‘bots’ may offer the same functions you sometimes see on commercial websites - the ability to dialogue with a user, or answer questions in a human-like manner.
In Nigeria alone over one million reporters had signed up by 2015. In 2017 the number reached over two million. Sample question in Nigeria - “Do you know that there is a cholera outbreak in Borno?” Follow up question - “ Do you know how to prevent cholera?” (67% answered ‘yes’ to the first question; only 45% answered ‘yes’ to the second).
See the Nigeria site HERE. You can google other national sites, as well. Also see the global page HERE and an evaluation by the Centre of Public Impact HERE.
The Staff Member I Want - ‘Sam’ Spurgeon Keeny
Apropos of our recent discussion on UNICEF’s lack of of staff skills in anthropology and cultural sensitivity, one wonders what we lost along the way. Especially so when reading what EAPRO Regional Director ‘Sam’ Keeny in 1951 sent to Hq at a time when the office was desperately in need of field officers.
“ Out of our experience to date in WHO / UNICEF projects, plus observations of the work of other agencies with similar problems, we tentatively offer the following tests of a good man (or woman) for the job out here:
- He is free from color prejudice - not only in words, but in the way he lives...Putting this principle into practice means getting to know people in their homes, as well as in business and associating with them socially as well as officially.
- He knows that one of the most important know-hows is how to get along with people of different background from his own.
- He acts on the basis that whatever the custom is, it is the custom, and that local people do not like to have it laughed at.
- He learns to enjoy food like the kind somebody else’s mother maks. It is monotonous and costly to live on imported tinned foods.
- He recognizes that we work mostly in countries that are independent - sometimes fiercely so - and that we are their guests.
- He accepts the fact that out here hot water is for making tea, not for bathing. He learns that one can wash under a shower, or with a dipper, as well as in an enamel tub.
- He considers it bad form to discuss his financial difficulties with people who are earning perhaps a quarter as much as he is.
- He represents not only the agency that employs him, but the United Nations as a whole. He knows that he has the privacy of a goldfish in a bowl, and acts accordingly.”
Crypto - A New Frontier for UNICEF?
Do you while away your retirement evenings ‘mining’ bitcoin? Or do you invest in other ‘crypto´ currencies? If so, UNICEF France wants your money - yes, any sort of money. According to the Executive Director of the Natcom, Sebastian Lyon, this new window for contributions follows an earlier successful initiative of the French Natcom in February called “Game Changers” . Funds collected were dedicated to programs for children in Syria.
According to Sebastian Lyon, “Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have offered the humanitarian world an opportunity that shouldn’t be passed as they are “an innovation in terms of solidarity and fundraising”
Not to be outdone by the French, the Australian Natcom in April took up an initiative called the Hope Page, which has so far convinced some 2,000 computer users to donate time on their CPUs for bitcoin mining.
Wordability - Ten Phrases to Understand - contributed by Fouad Kronfol
Ten Phrases and Their Origins
1. Cat Got Your Tongue
What it means: This phrase is said to someone who remains silent when they are expected to speak.
Where it originated from: This saying is based on two stories. In the first one, it says that one could have come from a whip called 'cat-o'-nine-tails' that was used by the English Navy for flogging, which left victims speechless. In the second story, this idiom is believed to have originated from Egypt at a time when liars' tongues were cut out as a punishment and fed to the cats.
2. The Walls Have Ears
What it means: Take care of what you say as people may be eavesdropping,
Where it originated from: The Louvre in France was believed to have a network of listening tubes so that it would be possible to hear everything that was said in different rooms. It was believed that this is how the Queen Catherine de Medici discovered political secrets and plots.
3. Bury The Hatchet
What it means: To end a quarrel or a conflict and become friendly.
Where it originated from: During negotiations between Puritans and Native Americans, men would bury all of their weapons, making them inaccessible.
4. Cold Feet
What it means: A loss of nerve or confidence.
Where it originated from: This idiom stems from a military term where warriors who had frozen feet were unable to rush into battle.
5. Big Wig
What it means: This idiom refers to an important person, especially in a particular sphere.
Where it originated from: Back in the 18th century, the most important political figures would wear the biggest wigs, which is why today influential people are called bigwigs.
6. Caught Red-Handed
What it means: This idiom is used to indicate that a person has been discovered in or just after the act of doing something wrong or illegal.
Where it originated from: An old law stated that if someone butchered an animal that didn't belong to him, he would only be punished if he was caught with blood on his hands. But if he was caught with the meat but with clean hands, he would not be punished.
7. Raining Cats And Dogs
What it means: Raining very hard.
Where it originated from: This idiom has two stories attached to it. The first says that the phrase comes from Norse mythology, where cats would symbolize heavy rains and dogs were associated with the God of storms, Odin. According to the second story, it says that in the 16th century England, houses had thatched roofs which were one of the dew places where animals were able to get warm. On days where it would rain heavily the roofs would get slippery and cats and dogs will fall off, making it look like it's raining cats and dogs.
8. Barking Up The Wrong Tree
What it means: To a pursue a mistaken or misguided line of thought or course of action.
Where it originated from: This phrase refers to hunting dogs who chase their prey up a tree. Once it climbed the tree, the dogs bark at them, though sometimes, the dogs would continue to bark even if the prey was no longer there.
9. Don't Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth
What it means: To find a fault with something that has been received as a gift or favor.
Where it originated from: When buying a horse, people would determine the horse's age and condition based on its teeth, and then decide whether they want to buy it or not. Consequently, this is why this idiom is used to imply that it is rude to look for flaws in a thing that was given to you as a gift.
10. Blood Is Thicker Than Water
What it means: The most important relationships and loyalties are the strongest.
Where it originated from: While this saying means that we should put family ahead of friends, it originally meant the complete opposite. The full phrase initially was 'the blood covenant is thicker than the water of the womb', which referred to warriors who shared the blood the shed in battles together. These 'blood brothers' were said to have stronger bonds than their biological brothers.
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