The Iron is hot - the world wants us to do things in Africa…an Interview with Fouad Kronfol

The 1960s was an exciting time for us as an Organization. Known as the development decade, our global presence and impact expanded far beyond our initial origins as a relief and emergency organization.

Sharing some fascinating insight into the era, former Chief of Africa Section, Fouad Kronfol talks about this period on the For Every Child Podcast as well as his collaborations with many of UNICEF’s legendary figures, including Executive Director Henry Labouisse Jr..

“He – Labouisse – brought to UNICEF a culture of understanding of the developing world, and its needs and its problems,” explains Fouad. “During the Labouisse period we went out to all regions of the world in a much more substantive way.”

During a rich and varied career spanning nearly 37 years, at the start of the 80s, Fouad led UNICEF’s bold new programmatic approach in Africa, ultimately becoming the Chief of Africa Section.

“This is the time, I said, the iron is hot, the world wants us to do things in Africa…and that was the launch of our Africa movement,” he explains. “In the five years I led the Africa Section, we increased the resources going to Africa from less than twelve percent of UNICEF’s budget to over forty percent, and the number of staff increased five-fold…so we started attracting all kinds of resources into Africa.”

Be sure to read about Fouad’s insights into Executive Director Henry Labouisse Jr. in Homage to an Exceptional Leader and Remembering Africa Section: 1983-1988. Five Years Which Changed UNICEF where he delves deeper into our ground-breaking forays into Africa.