XUNICEF News and Views

During the COVID 19 lockdown, Adrian, my spouse, has found an innovative way to expand on his creativity rather than a mundane to-do list ".  Doreen

   Dear Yukie, I hope that you and your family and staff are all safe and well. We , theXUNICEF members are all firmly in support of your efforts in this unprecedented emergency which you have to deal with.It may be belated but I attach a well documented and impressive assessment of the situation which you may have already seen as it refers in many cases to UNICEF information.No doubt , the challenges are enormous, both on the ground, but equally critical, on the political front. Your fifth Status Report is being circulated among our retiree and former staff network through our weekly Update. It is noteworthy that the UNICEF funding needs are far from being met, and we hope that more contributions will be forthcoming both from ODA sources as well as from private entities. With warm regards, Fouad

George Orwell must be stunned and turning on his grave watching how real-life competing "fake news" narratives and shenanigans as shown in the HBO film: @CNNFilms #AfterTruth surpasses his wildest nightmare of the dystopian future he predicted in his classic novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/after-truth-disinformation-and-the-cost-of-fake-news HBO After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News, investigates the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of “fake news” in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen, both in an election cycle and for years to come. Directed by Andrew Rossi (Page One: Inside the New York Times, Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven) and executive produced by CNN’s Brian Stelter, After Truth features exclusive access to the victims and perpetrators of false news stories as well as a variety of

**** PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR NETWORKS **** Virtual Townhall Meeting of Civil Society and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres 31 August 2020 10:00am – 11:15am EST Dear Friends, As in all crises, women’s civil society organizations have been at the front line of response to the COVID-19 pandemic, promoting life-saving information and public health messaging, building institutional trust and community resilience, and helping inform and engage marginalised communities. Hearing their perspectives is critical to informing effective response and recovery. Young women are particularly impacted – from education to job opportunities. They have also been those at the forefront of calling for a recovery that is more inclusive, equal, climate just, and resilient. Owing to the cancellation of the Commission on the Status of Women earlier this year, the Secretary-General’s annual consultation with women’s civil society was postponed. The virtual townhall will provide a

Click on the link below to browse all articles ---- xunicefnewsandviews.blogspot.com From the editors: Our XUNICEF Artist of the Week - Cecilia Lotse We presented some of Cecilia's lovely works in our special edition on the Arts and Artists edition last September. Now she has added two new paintings from a series inspired by her trip to Antarctica in January / February this year.   She tells us that this was a fabulous birthday present to herself, thankfully completed before the pandemic broke out.   Paintings of Cecilia Lotse Clusters The clusters called for in the Zoom 2 meeting are getting underway.  Even before Zoom 2 our Gender and COVID cluster led the way.  This week saw the first meeting of the cluster of "Academics, Teachers, and Social Activists".  Read the report of their first meeting and their plan for the next.   Academics Cluster - Report of the First Meeting Crossing a Milestone - 40,000 page views Since we began publishi

Each week we present the works of one of the XUNICEF photographers or artists represented in our galleries. This week we feature the works of Cecilia Lotse.  Cecilia presented some of her works in our September special edition on the Arts and Artists of XUNICEF.  Now she has added two paintings from a new series. "I’m very happy to share two paintings in a series I’m working on inspired by my trip to Antarctica this January-February. A fabulous 70th birthday present to myself, which thankfully was completed before the Corona virus broke out globally! The first one is Point Wild on Elephant Island where Shackleton’s crew were stuck for four and a half months after their ship “The Endurance” had been crushed in the Weddell Sea.  The second is a Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea)." To watch the slideshow of all the paintings - click on the first image in the slideshow below. Be patient - each slide takes about 10 seconds to load, but the first slide oft

Events of the Week - 30 August to 6 September Visit the XUNICEF Calendar anytime - on the menu in the upper right corner of our webpage or click here.    Please help us keep the calendar updated by informing us in advance of upcoming events, webinars, meetings, etc.  Write to us at xunicef.news.views@gmail.com Sunday, 30 August *   Memorial Service for Satish Khorana - 10 am NY time Zoom Link  -  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86758051521?pwd=VFBNZGFGUXpPQjVOZGh0L3ppTEd1UT09 *     International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances Thursday, 3 September  *    Shaping Policies for Child Well-being - Innocenti Webinar  - 3 pm Florence/ 9 am NY  Saturday, 5 September *  International Day of Charity

At least a third of the world’s schoolchildren – 463 million children globally – were unable to access remote learning when COVID-19 shuttered their schools, according to a new UNICEF report released today as countries across the world grapple with their ‘back-to-school’ plans.  “For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, there was no such a thing as remote learning,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “The sheer number of children whose education was completely disrupted for months on end is a global education emergency. The repercussions could be felt in economies and societies for decades to come.”  At the height of nationwide and local lockdowns, around 1.5 billion schoolchildren were affected by school closures. The report outlines the limitations of remote learning and exposes deep inequalities in access. The report uses a globally representative analysis on the availability of home-based technology and tools needed for r

Any botanists out there?  Avid gardeners?  How many of these beauties can you name? Click here for the answers - no cheating please.

THE BRAND-NEW GLASS WALKWAY ON Yuntai Mountain in China, which just opened last month, looks terrifying—it’s transparent, so you can see all the way down to the foot of the mountain 3,543 feet below.  But don’t worry: the glass is bulletproof! It could never crack! It’s perfectly safe! And if you believe that, we’ve got a (slightly damaged) bridge to sell you.  Yesterday, a tourist dropped a stainless steel travel mug on one of the bridge’s glass panels, which cracked across. Another tourist reported on Chinese social media that he felt the bridge shake under his feet, and looked down to notice a fracture in the glass. His panicked shouts started a stampede of sightseers furiously trying to get onto solid ground.  Of course, nobody would build a glass bridge that was actually likely to dump people to their deaths. Like bulletproof glass, the Yuntai walkway is built of several layers, some of which are softer and more flexible to resist shattering. A bridge spokespe

Reminder folks!! There’s still time to send in your story!! We are receiving interestingly unique and some funny anecdotes/ stories on childhood with some incredibly cute pictures that we are  having fun reading and compiling! Don’t miss out sharing as the deadline is still two weeks away (6 September) ! Take an hour to type and hit Send! We look forward to your 300 words and pictures soonest. We thank the following for sending their beautiful memories and pictures to us over the past week: 1. Juan Aguilar  2. Geeta Athreya  3. Maggie Black 4. Leila Bisharat 5. Doreen Lobo  6. Jim Mayrides  7. Ronald Van Dijk  8. Maggie Chand  9. Eimi Watanabe 10. Kul Gautam 11. Shahida Azfar 12. Misrak Elias 13. Nilofar Pourzand  14. Esther Guluma 15. Margherita Amadeo 16. George McNabb 17. Horst Cerni 18. Tom McDermott  19. Karin Sham Poo 20. Fouad Kronfol 21. Neena Gupta We would to remind the following to send us their write-ups with pictu

COVID-19: UN urges ramping up social protection programmes to safeguard those most vulnerable By news.un.org 2 min View Original Countries need to live up to their commitment for social protection for everyone who needs it -- UNICEF chief School closures, which have affected more than 90 per cent of the world’s student population, have not only interrupted education but also pupils’ access to crucial social services, such as school meals. “Children and young people are suffering disproportionately from the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF. “Before the outbreak, two-out-of-three children had no or inadequate social protection fund.” Moreover, the socio-economic crash caused by the pandemic is placing an entire generation of young people at risk. “Countries need to live up to their commitment for social protection for everyone who needs it,” she added. COVID-19 is posing potential

Coronavirus Cases In U.S. Children Rose 21% In August, Study Finds By Forbes Editors' Picks forbes.com 1 min View Original Note: This is a short excerpt. Please read the full article by clicking the link above. More than 74,000 American children were diagnosed with coronavirus over two weeks in August, a 21% increase over the previous two weeks, a concerning trend as kids across the nation begin to strap on their backpacks and return to school. A report from The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association states that There were 74,160 new coronavirus infections detected in children between Aug. 6 and Aug. 21 according to a study based on public state data from The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. Coronavirus infections in children are still relatively rare, with roughly 440,000 cases detected in the U.S., according to the report. According to the Centers for Disease Control, children wi

UNICEF Education COVID-19 Case Study: China – Supporting the school reopening for 241 million children 4 min View Original China was the first country to face the COVID-19 pandemic. To mitigate the effects of the crisis, the country postponed the start of the new school term usually scheduled for mid-February. The extended closure of over 600,000 kindergartens and schools (including teaching sites) and strict quarantine abruptly changed the lives of over 241 million children in the country. To minimize the disruption and ensure the continuity of learning, the government quickly moved to launch the ‘Home Study Initiative’ establishing distance learning, primarily through online and TV programming . In March, schools started to gradually reopen in a few provinces, with the majority of provinces following suit by May. UNICEF supported the reopening efforts with a comprehensive ‘Safe School’ communication campaign developed in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education (M

©Town of Islip How to recognize COVID-19 symptoms in children By whsv.com 1 min View Original Note: This is a short excerpt. Please read the full article by clicking the link above. (CNN) - As children head back to school, new coronavirus numbers are causing concern for parents. There has been a 90% increase in the number of COVID-19 among children in the United States in the last several weeks, according to data released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. “We’ve had 90 deaths in children in the United States already, in just a few months,” Dr. Sean O’Leary,Vice Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infection Diseases, said. The American Academy of Pediatrics says it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children, but O’Leary says it is still important to take the virus seriously. The symptoms of COVID-19 are the same in children as they are in everyone else -- cough, shortne

First Meeting of XUNICEF Academics, Teachers and Social Policy Activists Zoom - 24 August 2020 - 9:00 – 10.40 a.m. NY/Ontario time The meeting was facilitated by Mary Racelis, while Marta Mauras volunteered to act as rapporteur. They suggested that these roles be done on a rotating basis for future meetings. A first round of introductions was conducted for participants, most of them teaching at universities, to indicate their particular interests. We heard from Susan Bissell, Ian Hopwood Richard Jolly, Victor Karunan, Jun Kukita, Erma Manoncourt, Boudewijn Mohr, Marta Maurás, Baquer Namazi, Niloufar Pourzand, Mary Racelis and Ronald Van Dijk. , and. The background data, which are they submitting, are being collated. The question guiding us for the meeting was posed by Mary: What are we interested in obtaining from this effort to exchange experiences in university teaching or related activities on issues related to children and young people, social theory and development

LOVE CONQUERS COVID! This journey began with Andrea’s (Dre) surprise proposal to Rachael (our daughter) on February 10, 2019 at Beneduce Vineyards, New Jersey. Immediately thereafter, we were all running on adrenalin - checking out and finally reserving a wedding venue, trying and ordering the bride’s wedding attire, bridesmaids’ gowns; the shell shock of wedding related costs. The accompanying stress of planning and attempting to do things in our traditional way made us finally realize that we must give up control because our children are totally capable of planning everything themselves, including their social priorities; the patience of having to hear the same good-natured advice repeatedly. It was an experience of mixed emotions and joy-filled anticipation leading to a June 19, 2020 wedding. And then COVID-19 erected a bold STOP sign on the highway of life, and the Scout's motto “Be Prepared” went into action globally. Hope and positive thinking dominated panic and fu

Hi  Friends All, Old is gold-- its valuable, not only because it rhymes well.   Also, because a "family-fold" is best where human nature remains supreme, not an elderly peoples' home. Also, during the current Covid era the world has rarely seen. Reflect. Please read -  Dev Chopra This article first appeared in the print edition on August 26, 2020 under the title ‘Let’s not shut out the old’. Arun Maira is Chairman, HelpAge International and author of Transforming Systems: Why the World Needs a New Ethical Toolkit The most vulnerable persons during the COVID pandemic are the elderly. If infected, their odds of survival are the lowest. When shut away to save them from infection, they are likely to suffer from neglect — from lack of care for other ailments, and loneliness. The pandemic has highlighted humanity’s dilemma of what to do with older people. Globally, the population aged 65 and over is growing faster than other age groups. Life spans are increasi

Elizabeth Broderick, UN Special Rapporteur US rejects UN panel's accusation that states restricted abortion access By Nathaniel Weixel thehill.com 3 min View Original Note: This is a short excerpt. Please read the full article by clicking the link above. The U.S. government on Wednesday denied a United Nations panel's accusation that states have restricted abortion access during the COVID-19 pandemic, and rejected the notion that there is an assumed “right to abortion.” “The United States is disappointed by and categorically rejects this transparent attempt to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to assert the existence of such a right,” the U.S. mission in Geneva said in a letter to the U.N. Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls. The mission was responding to a letter the working group sent in May regarding alleged undue “restrictions taken in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic impeding access to abortion services” in the United