The Soliloquy of a Postage Stamp #8: Fouad Kronfol

"The Roaring Twenties !"

Celebrating UNICEF's 20th Anniversary, 1966

By the mid-1960's UNICEF had become a household name not only in industrial nations but increasingly in the newly independent and other developing countries. A spate of new policy and programme orientations was changing UNICEF and its operations globally, exemplified by the 1964 Bellagio Conference, the holding of Executive Board meetings in programme countries (1964 Bangkok, 1966 Addis Ababa, 1969 Santiago); and the receipt of the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize.

In contrast to the tenth anniversary an increasing number of countries issued stamps commemorating UNICEF on its 20th anniversary, and often in-between years like the 17th 18th, 22nd. We showcase a selection of the more interesting ones among the many that were issued by many countries.

Although it was promulgated in 1959 the UN Declaration on Child Rights did not elicit much philatelic interest. Still, a couple of countries did issue stamps later on. Here are two stamps from Monaco and Algeria, issued on 3 May 1963 and 13 December 1964 respectively. Both depict children holding hands or at play with the inscription "Charte des enfants".

A crowning event for UNICEF was the receipt of the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize. Surprisingly, very few countries issued stamps on that notable occasion. The Federal Republic of Germany was one of the countries to do so with this simple but striking stamp, with the UNICEF logo inside a white circle. This First Day Cover has the photo of a mother and child as a cachet. The two cancellations from Bonn, show the date of issue as 24 October 1966 (ie. on (UN Day) with a UNICEF logo . Some time later, in May 1970, the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) issued a series of 5 stamps to commemorate various Nobel Prize laureates, including this stamp for UNICEF.It shows a group of six children from different continents as well as the UNICEF logo and the inscription "Prix Nobel de la Paix 1965".

Almost 20 years before GOBI entered the UNICEF terminology this First Day Cover from Laos has a stamp that portrays a mother breastfeeding a child. It was issued on 1 September 1965 in Vientiane. It commemorates UNICEF and WHO cooperation in six years of MCH work in the Kingdom. The cachet and both post marks reproduce the stamp's attractive design.

The UN Postal Administration issued a set of 3 stamps for UNICEF's 20th anniversary. The stamps depict a locomotive and two wagons with UNICEF inscribed on them. each with a different set of children riding inside. This FDC was issued at the UN in New York on 28 November 1966.The stamps were designed by Kurt Plowitz, USA while the cachet shows a child facing a pigeon by the artist Hans Erni.

One of my most prized possessions is the 4 cent stamp of the UN set celebrating UNICEF at 20. This is considered a genuine misprint or "error", hence a rare collector's item.The Gaines certificate dated 16 October 1991 attests to this error. Look closely... you will see that two of the children in the wagon are slightly offset; the one on the left has the turban above, not on, the head; while the other has his tall hat protruding above the roof of the wagon. In philately any error in printing makes the stamp much more valuable.

An interesting development in philately has been the increasing number of newly independent countries in Africa which began issuing stamps commemorating the UN and its agencies, including especially UNICEF. Here we have a stamp from the Cameroun for UNICEF's 20th anniversary depicting a group of seven youngsters beside the logo. Below is a FDC from the Republic of Haute-Volta (later re-named Burkina-Faso) with a cachet prominently showing the UNICEF logo. The two postmarks show the date of issue as 10 December 1966, the birth date of UNICEF, and was sent from Ouagadougou.

Other examples of African countries celebrating UNICEF's 20th anniversary is the stamp from the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) showing a nurse distributing food to a group of 7 children in a rural setting. Also this FDC from Niger with a cachet reproducing the stamp that shows a girl and boy; she appears to be reading while he is showing alphabet blocks. The two postmarks show that the cover was issued from Niamey on 11 December 1967, ie. actually on UNICEF's 21st anniversary. To note that the FDC was a limited edition of 3000 copies and this example is number 1212 in the series.

The government of Guinea(Conakry) issued a set of seven stamps depicting children's drawings on the occasion of UNICEF's 20th anniversary. Here we have the "mini sheet" of the colorful 3 Franc stamp with ten stamps and two other spaces, one showing the UNICEF logo and the other the inscription of the 20th anniversary.

What were they thinking of? The republic of Togo issued a set of 7 stamps to commemorate UNICEF's 20th Anniversary. These three stamps show each a child and a different breed of dogs. It must be one of the most uncommon relationships depicted in philately to celebrate a children's organization! Is the message that "the dog is man's best friend"? If the reader has a better explanation I would like to know it.

Did they get the date wrong? Here are three stamps issued by Congo, Cyprus and Brazil commemorating UNICEF. The Congo stamp shows a young man next to the UNICEF logo, some books/educational items and wheat sheaves; the Cyprus stamp is a boy drinking milk; both stamps have 1967 as a date of issue. The Brazil stamp is a cartoon depiction of a child clown and the date is 1968 and there is no UNICEF logo.

Another interesting First Day Cover from Iran shows a set of three stamps depicting children's drawings and indicating that they commemorate International Children's Day; it was issued on 31 October 1968 and has the UNICEF logo..strangely they used the "old" child drinking milk one although it had been changed in 1960. The post mark is an elaborate one with the UNICEF logo in it.

Another of my favourites is this two-stamp set from the Republic of South VietNam. One stamp has a mother and child, which I think is one of the prettiest in my collection; the other shows a woman with three children, with a fourth child flying a kite with UNICEF on it. The stamps were issued on 11 December 1968 presumably to celebrate UNICEF's birthday, but it is not clear why they printed the set in 1968. Please note that this is part of an envelope that was addressed to our colleague Horst Cerni (see bottom left) who was kind enough to send it to me a few years ago.

The cover has the same two stamp set from South Viet Nam, also sent on the same day as the one before, 11 December 1968, but therein lies another story; the UNICEF representative was Ralph Eckert who had served in Cairo earlier and had developed a friendship with Rachid Koleilat the representative in Beirut. Mailed from Saigon where UNICEF originally had its office this cover was given to me by Koleilat as I was the Programme Officer in the Beirut Area Office at the time. Soon after Ralph Eckert had a heart attack and was medevaced from Viet Nam. He was posted in NYHQ as Director of Programme Division when I was Chief of MENA Section...the stream of this story is that it was Eckert who first announced to me that Labouisse had appointed me as Representative in Viet Nam; by then Saigon had fallen and the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. What goes around, comes around !!!

This interesting cover also from South Viet Nam has the second stamp of the same set as above. It is a Souvenir Cover dated 25 July 1969 and celebrates the three US Astronauts who first walked on the moon. The Apollo 11 spaceflight had landed Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin on the moon; the cachet shows a photo of Aldrin's space walk.

Here we have a First Day Cover mailed from Jodoigne in Belgiumto Boulogne Billancourt in France on 31 May 1969. The cachet has a prominent UNICEF logo and a saying from famous Spanish poet, playwright and theatre director, Federico Garcia Lorca about children. Both stamps feature the old UNICEF logo of the child drinking milk while the cover has the newer logo of the mother and child.

After Bangkok, Addis Ababa, the third Executive Board meeting in a developing country was in 1969 in Santiago, Chile. This was also the first such meeting in Latin America. The two stamp set was the first one to be printed to commemorate this event. They show a girl and boy alongside the UN logo, with an indication about the Executive Board meeting.

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