XUNICEF News and Views

Dear Colleagues, I had informed you in January that Shanelle Hall, our Deputy Executive Director for Field Results, will move to a new chapter in her career in May. As an interim measure, from 1 May 2019, Omar Abdi will oversee the work of Supply Division and Field Results Group, while Hannan Sulieman will oversee the Office of Innovation. The search and selection processes for the DED, Field Results and DED, Management are progressing as planned. I will keep you abreast of any further developments. Please join me once again in commending Shanelle’s leadership and her many achievements over her 20 years of service in UNICEF. We wish her the very best for her future endeavors. Best regards, Henrietta H. Fore

Margherita Amadeo: Any comments? Shall we appeal for LGBT rights in Armenia? Subject: Armenian MPs call for trans activist to be burned alive after historic speech Armenian MPs call for trans activist to be burned alive after historic speech https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/26/armenian-mps-call-for-trans-activist-to-be-burned-alive-after-historic-speech-lilit-martirosyan?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Gautam Banerji Yes we should. Despite the opinion of some lawmakers, there is a strong public opinion here for protection of rights, LGTB rights included. Looking forward to see you at the Reunion! G

Thank you so much for your kind email.  Yes, I am in the UK and was away on a retreat and did not access my emails.  Fortunately my family and friends and relatives in Sri Lanka are okay but  several  people who are known have lost their lives.  So sorry to hear of Nimal's relatives.  My sister's neighbour was also killed at the Shangrila, while having breakfast. He was a young Muslim business man with a family, who was well respected in the neighbourhood.  The loss of so many innocent lives is such a tragedy and this whole incident is a huge blow to the whole of Sri Lanka.  The country was just beginning to pick up after being ravaged by 30 years of war and now this is a set back from which it will take a very long time to recover.   Thanks again and kind wishes to you and your family,

“If you believe, as I do, that now is our moment to end extreme poverty and achieve seemingly impossible sustainable development goals, read  The Business of Changing the World . Raj Kumar persuasively argues that aid and philanthropy is entering a new era—one which we can and must shape to meet humanity’s greatest challenges in our time.” —Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland “At last we have a go-to primer that collects the many trends transforming the aid industry in one authoritative place! Raj Kumar is uniquely positioned to see how governments, nonprofits, businesses, and philanthropy are bringing new people and practices into the work of solving global problems. He also argues compellingly for ‘open-source aid’ and offers an invaluable guide to anyone considering a development career.” —Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America, and author of  Unfinished Business https://pages.devex.com/the-business-of-changing-the-world.html https://www.amazon.com/Business-Changing-World-Bil

Meeting with the ‘Network of UNICEF’s Former Staff’ 24 April 2019 3:00 to 4:00 pm UNICEF 6th floor conference room Participants: UNICEF: Nicolas Pron, Michelle Siegel, Ruthia Yi Former UNICEF Staff: Sheila Barry, Malika Abrous, Tom McDermott, Adhiratha Keefe, Mary Racelis, Jayhee Wilder, Alan Court, Tony Hewitt Discussion points Update on draft X-Unicef Network / UNICEF Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Mary presented the draft MOU, noting that while the substance will remain as it is a few editorial changes are to come before it is submitted to UNICEF for review. The MOU was informed by a survey of former UNICEF staff. The consensus as expressed in the MOU is a recognition of the value that former staff can  offer and a desire to have a more substantive relationship with the Organization. The MOU offers  recommendations for systematizing the relationship through communication and collaboration. As advised by Nicolas, the group agreed that the draft MOU will be reviewed by OED and the

We are pleased to reprint here in full Adam Fifield's excellent review of Kul Gautam's book, Global Citizen from Gulmi: My Journey from the Hills of Nepal to the Halls of the United Nations.  Note that Adam used the  opportunity to remind his readers that:  " As we see with the explosion of measles cases, progress can be lost, squandered, frittered away in a haze of complacency, indifference, and stupidity." https://medium.com/@adamfifield/want-to-change-the-world-read-kul-gautams-book-8103899218a4 Want to Change the World? Read Kul Gautam’s Book Adam Fifield Apr 26 Measles is making a comeback. Thanks to a range of factors — including poverty, weak health infrastructures, inadequate political will, and delusional anti-vaxxers — a deadly disease that should be consigned to history books is, preposterously, on the rise again all around the world. This is especially troubling news for someone like Kul Chandra Gautam. The humble, energetic, and brilliant Nepali man was

Dear Tom, Thank you for your inquiry, through UNICEF Representative, on the safety of UNICEF retirees in Sri Lanka. Mercifully none of the retirees have been directly affected by the Easter Sunday bombings. But we are all shaken. The entire country. Understand you heard that Nimal Hettiarachy's sister-in-law and her daughter were sadly caught in one of the hotel blasts. Thanking you again for your concern. On behalf of the UNICEF Retirees in Sri Lanka, Kulangani Salgado (Former Regional Chairperson, UNICEF South Asia Region)

Apart from Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Health, UNICEF is also working with partners to identify remaining immediate gaps and medium-term requirements for support children's education and protection services in the flood-affected areas. Visits to collect urgent additional information on the situation of children and their families in the most affected provinces will take place this week. More supplies are also on their way to Iran. The UN Resident Coordinator in Iran, Ms Ugochi Daniels, had earlier said that: "Based on the situation, where help is needed the most and what the Government requests from us, our support and response for #IranFloods  focuses on 3 sectors: 1. WASH 2. Health 3. Shelter." 📷photos by Tasnim News Agency https://www.facebook.com/192232221503743/posts/380886045971692?sfns=mo https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna996766 https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2019-000022-irn TEHRAN, 19 April 2019 - Devastating flooding in three quarters of Iran’

1. Reunions - Many thanks to Jim Mayrides who has contributed digitized copies of the photo collection made over the years by Jose and Brenda Miranda. These include albums of reunions from 1990 through 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2004 through 2007. We have added all these to the Reunions collection. You can see the entire collection of 170 photos here . We have also divided the photos by year. As you can see from the list, thanks to this collection, we have now filled in most of the 'missing' years. Still missing are only 2002 in San Francisco, 2003 in New Orleans and 2012 in Jaipur. If you have photos of the reunions of the three 'still missing' years or for any reunions before 1990, please let us know. Ditto if you have additional photos for the years already included. 2. Faces of UNICEF's Past - we appealed for photos of 'us at work' during our UNICEF days. In response, Horst Cerni kindly contributed his wonderful collection of snapshots made during h

Pilot programmes are underway in three countries - Malawi, Kenya and Ghana.  They will be carefully watched, as the RTS,S vaccine is considered to be only about 39% effective in preventing malaria.  That said, any vaccine could prove a major step forward for children in malaria affected countries. https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/04/malaria-vaccine-rollout-is-a-gamble-an-imperfect-tool-used-imperfectly/

NEW YORK, 25 April 2019  – An estimated 169 million children missed out on the first dose of the measles vaccine between 2010 and 2017, or 21.1 million children a year on average, UNICEF said today. Widening pockets of unvaccinated children have created a pathway to the measles outbreaks hitting several countries around the world today. “The ground for the global measles outbreaks we are witnessing today was laid years ago,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “The measles virus will always find unvaccinated children. If we are serious about averting the spread of this dangerous but preventable disease, we need to vaccinate every child, in rich and poor countries alike.” In the first three months of 2019, more than 110,000 measles cases were reported worldwide – up nearly 300 per cent from the same period last year. An estimated 110,000 people, most of them children, died from measles in 2017, a 22 per cent increase from the year before. Two doses of the measles vaccine are

Amal Clooney made an impassioned speech to the Security Council calling for justice for the victims of sexual violence on behalf of several Yazidi women who suffered rape while captives of ISIS. Despite pleas by various sponsors of the draft resolution on sexual violence as a weapon of war, the US delegation was ultimately successful in gutting the resolution of any language calling for provision of comprehensive health care for victims - this out of concern that inclusion would imply support for abortion as a feature of post-rape health care. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryd4CaKj8xk

Human Rights Watch is deeply critical of the SG who in their view is fearful of powerful governments due to concerns over UN funding.  This includes not only the Trump Administration in the US, but also China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and others. https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/25/why-un-chiefs-silence-human-rights-deeply-troubling

Barely recovered from Hurricane Idai, southern Africa is again in the midst of a new storm likely to bring further flooding and devastation.  See the video at the bottom of the article for more on the aftermath of Idai. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/world/africa/cyclone-kenneth-mozambique.html

More on the US threat to veto the rape in war resolution https://www.passblue.com/2019/04/23/at-the-un-the-us-darkens-womens-right-to-abortion/?utm_source=PassBlue+List&utm_campaign=80563426b8-PassBlue_Fordham_Nov18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4795f55662-80563426b8-55002829

Help support UNICEF's efforts to convince reluctant parents to vaccinate their children.   * Use the hashtag #VaccinesWork on social media.  (each post with the hashtag earns $1 for UNICEF). * Work through any community groups to which you belong. * Urge local media to carry the photos and videos you can find on the links below.  NEW YORK, 18 April 2019  – UNICEF is launching a  new global campaign  on 24 April to emphasize the power and safety of vaccines among parents and wider social media users. The campaign will run alongside World Immunization Week from 24 to 30 April to spread the message that together communities, including parents, can protect everyone through vaccines. #VaccinesWork has long been used to bring together immunization advocates online. This year, UNICEF is partnering with the  Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , the  World Health Organization  (WHO), and  Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance  to encourage even greater reach. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation w

First thank you very much for this update and thanks to you I was able to reach Nimal. I will go pay my respect tomorrow.  How horrible.While I tried to refuse the “easier way ISIS theory”.  Today ISIS actually confirmed their responsibility…how savage can a human being be?   The number of kids confirmed killed up till now is 45, demise toll is 320 and on the rise and injured in the 500 +….just savagery.

"Recognizing the importance of providing timely assistance to survivors of sexual violence, urges United Nations entities and donors to provide non-discriminatory and comprehensive health services, in line with Resolution 2106" After joining with China and Russia in opposing a Security Council resolution on rape as a weapon of war, the US succeeded in forcing sponsors to drop two of its elements: * a monitoring mechanism * the sentence quoted above on provision of 'comprehensive health services' The US viewed the sentence as endorsing provision of abortion services for rape victims.  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48028773

360,000 children in Kenya and Ghana are to be among the first recipients of the new malaria vaccine. https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/health/malaria-africa-worlds-first-vaccine-intl/index.html

The US Mission initially joined with the delegations of Russia and China to force drafters of the resolution to drop inclusion of a formal monitoring mechanism.  Now, even with that provision dropped, the US is threatening a veto since language remains mentioning the need to support victims through family planning and health clinics. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/22/us-un-resolution-rape-weapon-of-war-veto https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-threatening-to-veto-un-resolution-against-sexual-violence-over-reproductive-health-language

https://kstp.com/national/unicef-says-45-children-killed-in-easter-attacks/5326749/?cat=12678 April 23, 2019 10:30 AM The U.N. children's agency says at least 45 children were killed in the Sri Lanka Easter attacks. UNICEF said Tuesday that 27 children died and 10 were injured in the bombing of St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo. It said 13 children died in blasts in Batticaloa and 15 were injured. The agency says that among foreign victims, five were children. Twenty children have also been hospitalized in Colombo. UNICEF also says many children lost one or both parents in the attacks and would need psychological treatment. More than 320 people were killed and 500 injured in the bombings.

Dear XUNICEFERs,      I am happy to announce the publication of my memoirs "Journeying to Paradise". It is my story of fleeing the Russian army and adjusting to post-war conditions, living and travel adventures on several continents, working at the UN and UNICEF, especially with our Goodwill Ambassadors, and settling on the Caribbean island of St.Croix - our paradise. It is a story of many coincidences and historical links. The book is available at  Amazon.com  as a Kindle eBook or paperback. (The eBook is in color, while the paperback had to be printed in black and white, since otherwise the price per book would have been $ 40!). I'd love to get your feedback (to allow corrections in my German version).   Available on Amazon:   ebook:         Click here paperback: Click here

Many of us are asking about friends and family who may have been affected by yesterday morning' s attacks in Colombo. If you know of any current or former staff or families affected, please let us know. Here is what we know so far: 1. Nimal Hettiaratchy Thanks to Subhash Das Gupta who passed on a message from Nimal Hettiaratchy that Nimal and his wife Tilika are safe, but in mourning for the loss of their sister-in-law and her daughter. The two were sitting at breakfast in the Shangrila Hotel when one of the bombs went off. I have also heard subsequently from Nimal. 2. Ramesh Rajasingham and his wife Jasmin had arrived in Colombo only the day before the attacks. Thankfully, both are safe. 3. Rohini de Silva has written to say " Thank you Tom. It was frightening as most family and friends were in church for Easter but fortunately not in ones attacked. Retired Unicef Colombo staff all ok I was able to contact most of them. Did not know the lady wad related to nimal. How sa

This may be useful for the readers.  I always found getting to yes with dfid difficult, but we (while in Delhi) did have ongoing support.  Just with many questions and seminars to instruct us. John   https://www.thenewhumanitarian .org/analysis/2019/04/17/what- brexit-means-uk-ngos-and-forei gn-aid

Emmanuela* 36, met her children in Bentiu Protection of Civilian (POC) site after five years of separation on 16 April 2019. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/6000-children-reunited-families-after-years-separation-south-sudan JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN 17 April 2019  - Save the Children, UNICEF and partners have successfully reunited 6,000 children with their families after years of separation due to conflict. This is a milestone for the Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) programme in South Sudan since the first reunification of 420 children in 2014. Seventeen-year-old Nyandor* – together with her four sisters and brothers – was reunited with her parents in Bentiu yesterday. She was the 6000th child to be reunified. The five siblings were separated from their mother and father during an armed attack in Bor in 2014. In the middle of the chaos the family ran in different directions and hadn’t seen each other since. After intense family tracing by Save the Children case workers, the family

Good afternoon to all the XUnicef crew: David is feeling well enough to be released from the skilled nursing facility to his home where he will receive full time care.  Thank you very much for your kind words of support- it lifted him up in more ways than one. Elizabeth - daughter

Kadidia Daou, 7, Fatoumata Daou, 6, Fanta Daou, 4, Baba Daou, 3 were all victims of measles in February 2019. Thanks to the rapid case management of the Sofara community health center and UNICEF support, the children are all healed now. Mopti, March 2019. NEW YORK, 18 April 2019  – UNICEF is launching a  new global campaign  on 24 April to emphasize the power and safety of vaccines among parents and wider social media users. The campaign will run alongside World Immunization Week from 24 to 30 April to spread the message that together communities, including parents, can protect everyone through vaccines. #VaccinesWork has long been used to bring together immunization advocates online. This year, UNICEF is partnering with the  Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , the  World Health Organization  (WHO), and  Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance  to encourage even greater reach. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will contribute USD$ 1 to UNICEF for every like or share of social media posts us

Editor's Note:  This letter relates to Mariam's earlier post 'No Word Can Describe These Mass Killings", referring to the attacks in Mopti, Mali in late March. Dear Tom,  Thank your for sharing. Indeed there will be a « before » and a »after » Ogossango. The words « plus jamais ça » are said everywhere. We pray to be heard. We are anxious to see what « real investigations » will reveal as to the perpetrators and the causes behind. The  administrative and political decisions made immediately after the tragedy, under emotions and pressure will not bring us far. Tom, for at least three reasons I was hit by the Ogossango tragedy: 1)it brought me back to my own comments in 2009, when I watched on TV that big international event gathering the Peulhs and creating and an ethnic based association. This was before the crisis which exploded in 2012. i remember saying : «est il sage d’organiser un tel événement dans une nation en construction? Et si d’autres groupes ethniques déci

"Edmonston’s son did not respond to a request for comment." https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/04/16/first-measles-vaccine-was-named-after-him-he-didnt-vaccinate-his-son/

Spikes are showing up even in countries with high vaccination coverage. "Vaccine hesitancy" seen as major part of the problem. "With governments and partners such as the Measles & Rubella Initiative, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF and others, response operations are underway to bring country outbreaks under control, strengthen health services, and increase vaccine coverage. After conducting emergency vaccination campaigns targeting 7 million children from 6 months through 9 years of age, Madagascar is now seeing overall declines in measles cases and deaths. In the Philippines , over 3 890 000 doses of the measles and rubella vaccine have been given to children aged under 5 years. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the country is preparing to launch a combined response with polio vaccine. In collaboration with local health authorities, WHO and UNICEF conducted a nationwide measles and rubella vaccination campaign in Yemen reaching more than 11.6 million