XUNICEF News and Views

MEXICO CITY, 30 January 2019 –  More than 12,000 people, including 3,000 children, have crossed from Tecun Uman, Guatemala, to Tapachula, Mexico, since January 17, UNICEF said today. It is critical to uphold special protection for these children, particularly those among them traveling alone, the children’s agency said.    “The Mexican government and people have been mostly welcoming towards the thousands of children and families crossing the border every day,” said Paloma Escudero, UNICEF Director of Communication at the end of a two-day visit to Tapachula. “Whether these children stay in Mexico or head further up north, it is crucial that they remain with their families, that they are kept out of detention centres and that their best interests are protected throughout the journey.” According to government statistics, more than 30,000 children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador were temporarily held in detention centres in 2018.   Although Mexico is increasingly implementing mea

Dear Colleagues, In early January, the Senior Leadership team and I held a planning meeting on a number of high-priority issues relating to our organization’s strategic agenda. As we continue our vital work to support children and young people in a changing world, I am sharing below the key takeaways from our discussions. Most of these takeaways will be referenced in some manner during the upcoming Global Management Team meeting on February 4 th . Last year, we set five key priorities: better integrating long-term development into our humanitarian work; expanding our efforts to deliver community-based primary health care; gathering the world around new efforts to support young people; pursuing innovation across our work; and building new partnerships with the private sector. As we continue these efforts, we must also ensure UNICEF is well-positioned to respond to global phenomena that are having a direct impact on children’s lives, like climate change, urbanization and enduring conflic

Click here:    LINK: January 2019

Dear Colleagues, Shanelle Hall, our Deputy Executive Director for Field Results, has informed me that, after 20 years of service to UNICEF, she will be moving to a new chapter in her career in May. Shanelle’s exceptional track record in developing strategic partnerships, significantly shifted our global supply function to align it with a rapidly changing world, and repositioned UNICEF as a major market player and shaper.  We are so pleased that she will continue to support us on  strategic business engagement and innovation, an area of work that has long been a passion for Shanelle. She will work with UNICEF, businesses and foundations to scale-up and accelerate innovations and new ideas which will make a positive impact on children and society. The recruitment of her replacement will commence shortly. In addition, as you know, Fatoumata Ndiaye, our Deputy Executive Director for Management, will retire on February 22. My sincerest thanks to  Fatoumata  for her  leadership and her many

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/an-asylum-seekers-quest-to-get-her-toddler-back?utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_013019&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9fa7a2ddf9c72dc88cb29&user_id=55076801&utm_term=TNY_Daily

https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2019/01/30/unicef-supports-efforts-to-prevent-lost-generation-of-refugee-children-turkey-representative-duamelle

Hello former UNICEF colleagues, My travel memoir on my first job after leaving university (1968-70), and long connection to Sabah, Malaysia through a second sojourn (1973-74) and many return visits, has been launched internationally. Seeretail outlets for paperback and ebook versions with reviews starting to come: https://www.neillmckeeauthor.com/buy-the-book The book is also accessible to many libraries and local bookstores if they order from Ingram Books. Readers are also beginning to post reviews on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43299122-finding-myself-in-borneo If you read the book and find it entertaining and educational, as intended, please consider reviewing it and also passing this message to your own networks. I have also attached an electronic flyerand you can follow progress on the book on my website and social media below, if you are so inclined. I'm in the process of writing more memoirs and creative non-fiction works on different experiences in my li

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/6-700-children-killed-injured-in-yemen-unicef/1379209

https://www.informador.mx/mexico/La-Unicef-reconoce-la-labor-de-Mexico-y-de-Guatemala-con-ninos-migrantes-20190130-0011.html

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/29/united-nations-guterres-feminist-campaign/

https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?e=cee91efe5f&u=5d5693a8f1af2d4b6cb3160e8&id=99956e4a2b

https://www.unicef.org/children-under-attack Children Under Attack Children are coming under attack in conflicts across the world. We can’t accept this as a ‘new normal.’ UNICEF/UN0243152/Morris VII Photo The number of countries with violent conflicts is the highest it has been in the last 30 years. One in four children live in countries affected by conflict or disaster. As of early 2018, nearly 31 million children have been forcibly displaced by violence and conflict, including 13 million child refugees and more than 17 million inside their own countries. Attacks on children continue unabated. From Afghanistan and the Central African Republic to South Sudan and Syria, warring parties are flouting one of the most basic rules of war: the protection of children. Children have become frontline targets. This is a moral crisis of our age: We must never accept this as the ‘new normal.’ UNICEF aims to assist 41 million children in emergencies Millions of children living in countries affected

 See also article at:   https://freebeacon.com/national-security/attorneys-iranian-court-decision-on-u-s-hostages-imperils-many-americans/ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                          January 24, 2019 IRAN’S  SUPREME   COURT  REJECT THE APPEALS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS SIAMAK NAMAZI AND BAQUER NAMAZI   Documentary on Iranian National Television Airs New and Fabricated Charges Against Them Washington, D.C. – American citizens Siamak Namazi and Baquer Namazi were each unjustly convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran in October 2016.  There have been two recent developments in their cases, which reaffirm the arbitrary character of their detentions and the extraordinary lengths to which the Iranian Government will go to try and justify its actions. Supreme   Court  Rejects Appeals Today, it is being made public that Iran’s  Supreme   Court  has recently rejected both of the Namazis’ appeals.  By way of further background, both Namazis were unjust

Join us this week on Thursday, 31 January, at 7 am New York / 1 pm Geneva / 3 pm Nairobi/ 7 pm Bangkok Expanding access to good practices on Elimination of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV and Syphilis (EMTCT) through SSC The Community of Practice on South-South Cooperation for Children (CoP-SSC4C) , a joint initiative by UNICEF, UNOSSC and IPC-IG, is organizing its fourth thematic webinar. The objective of this event is to discuss and share ideas on how we can increase access to successful EMTCT practices through South-South Cooperation. As targets of SDG3, to end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 and the elimination of HIV and other communicable diseases should remain priorities on the agenda for global health development. Over 90% of new HIV infections among infants and young children occur through MTCT. Successful practices of EMTCT have managed to reduce the transmission risk from 20-45% to less than 2%. The aim of this webinar is to present and discuss ways t

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar, 28 January 2019 -  https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-henrietta-fores-remarks-high-level-event-realizing See also related article:  https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2019/01/28/unicef-boss-urges-myanmar-to-enact-kofi-annans-recommendations-on-rohingya/1717405 "Thank you for the opportunity to speak at this important event, and to learn more about Myanmar’s efforts to put children first in the country’s development agenda.  "As the first UNICEF Executive Director to visit your country in over 30 years, I look forward to seeing first-hand the challenges and opportunities of this country, which is at a turning point in its history.  "By working together for children, we can foster the prosperity, opportunity, social cohesion and peace that every country needs for a sustainable future.  "For Myanmar, these ingredients are critical, as this country takes new steps to build links to the global community and provide econo

Gautam Banerji 7:43 AM (4 hours ago) to  UNICEF ,  me ,  Stephen ,  Sree Dear All Here's the much awaited brochures with the final itinerary and costs for the 2019 exUNICEFers Reunion here in Armenia with an add-on in Georgia. There has been a slight increase in cost owing to a better choice of hotel in Yerevan (Radisson Blu) to get the best deal. It has taken some intense negotiation over the past weeks and since my return to Armenia and I think we have it all to satisfaction now.  In Dilijan, we have settled for Dilijan Resort and Spa, which is in close proximity to United World College, where Madhu (my wife) and I are presently based. The resort, besides standard double and single rooms, also has a choice of self-contained and detached cottages. In case some of you are travelling with your families and/or with close friends and do wish to avail the facility, please let me know. We have not however put this choice down in the brochure for the present. We have done the brochures a

Agop Kayayan 'agop kayayan' via xUNICEFers 12:28 PM (26 minutes ago) Nancy, I do not recall whether we have met while at UNICEF. In any case I want to thank  you and Juan Aguilar for the important reminder about Jim Grant. I am back in Brazil trying to restart my work there. Just checking the statistics I see that after a relatively good decline in infant mortality ( but not in maternal mortality) it has started getting worse. I believe UNICEF should have followed up its big push in infant and child mortality and should give more importance to maternal mortality reduction, after the great advance. We often criticise politicians for dropping their predecessors' good programs because it is not theirs. Unfortunately to some degree UNICEF did the same. We are now formulating a program to reduce infant/child/maternal mortality in two of the poorest States in Brazil, Piaui and Ceara. Prospects are not so favorable but Jim used to say rightly, the impossible takes a little longer.