XUNICEF News and Views

Capitalist salesmen have found a market from newborn infants to senior citizens, essentially capitalism found markets from cradle to grave. Not too long ago As a Programme Officer I recall attending a workshop on social marketing many moons ago. UNICEF did miracles in promoting oral rehydration salt which saved the lives of millions of young children in developing countries from dehydration. But capitalism has given a new meaning of salesmanship to a whole new level unmatched by anything the world has seen in marketing. It has penetrated all five senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch - of human species. The target of capitalist salesmen starts from newborn infants to senior citizens, essentially capitalism found markets from cradle to grave.  The marketeers exploit people even at the most vulnerable moments - grieving for departed souls, by offering choices of bouquets costing ten times the market price. Have we sold our soul for profit?   What is the secret?   The capitalist

by Ken Gibbs Your teeth are all furry And your head’s sore as hell; You regret your celebration More than any words can tell.      With feet like leaden slippers      And mouth like vulture’s crutch,      You make your way so carefully      To shower and shave and such. With ablutions completed And neatly parted hair, You proceed to add deodorant With exaggerated care.      It always seems to happen –      It’s a thing you always fear;      How the roll-on variety –      Seems to roll in your hair ! ***** Ken Gibbs can be contacted via  kengibbs1941@gmail.com Click here to read more stories by Ken Gibbs

“ Andy Brooks UNICEF ESARO We are seeing alarming rates of child marriage and FGM across the Horn of Africa – with some destitute families arranging to marry off girls as young as twelve to men more than five times their age,” says Andy Brooks, UNICEF’s Regional Child Protection Advisor for Eastern and Southern Africa. “Child marriage and FGM end childhoods – driving girls out of school and leaving them more vulnerable to domestic violence and a lifetime of poverty. The figures we have do not capture the magnitude of the problem: large swathes of the Horn of Africa have no specialist facilities where cases can be reported. This is a children’s crisis, and we urgently need more funding to scale up our response in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia – not only to save lives in the short-term but to protect them in the long-term.” Girls as young as twelve are being forced into child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) at “alarming rates” in the Horn of Africa, as the most severe drought

What was your last assignment with UNICEF? I was only with UNICEF 11 years, starting in January 1990: 4 years as Chief of Communication and Information in Bangladesh, 5.5 years as Regional Programme Communication Officer in ESARO, and 1.5 years as Chief of Basic Education, Child Care, and Adolescent Development (BECCAD) in Uganda, helping to create a new program on HIV/AIDS. I resigned from UNICEF in December 2000 to join Johns Hopkins University. How old do you feel? I feel my age, 76, in body, but about 60 in mind. I'm presently writing a memoir on my 45-year career as a film and media producer.  https://www.neillmckeevideos.com/ Creative writing is my new career: https://www.neillmckeeauthor.com/ Where do you live? Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA What book do you currently read? House of Rain:Tracking a Vanishing Civilization Across The American Southwest by Craig Childs. If you could travel without restrictions, where would you go? I hope to soon travel up through the Rocky

My full solidarity with this heartfelt message to the Biden administration by Siamak Namazi from Tehran's notorious Evin prison. His father and our dear former UNICEF colleague, the 85-year-old Baquer Namazi, is also held hostage in Iran. Cynical & despicable brutality by the Iranian government. Inadequate efforts by the US government and international community to secure their release. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/29/opinion/iran-prisoners-detained-americans.html I’m Held Hostage in Iran. President Biden, End This Nightmare.

No more shall a million songs be dimmed and muffled by the shutters of tradition, no more shall we remain silent before the stunting of the living to humor the dead no longer shall we remain mute  in drunk like obedience to hollow and hollowing echoes from the past   before the snuffing out of ten thousand and one voices, no longer remain silent accomplices when rich possibilities are denied in deadening numbing initiations, where blind tradition visits violence on the present,  dulls, dumbs, blunts and limits it  no more be partakers of a tragedy. For is it not tragedy when the crusted boney hands of the past trap and choke the present and deny its petals and potentials from unfurling and feeling? We sing the voice of hope, we sing a new dawn, our voices affirm the present unbind it from the rusty manacles of practices that hurt, humiliate and harm, our voices tear down blinding practices as we shake ourselves free from the shackles and tyranny of  some past imperfect we sing, lips fu

We faced technical problems in connecting with Tony Kennedy by video, so instead we asked him to phone us. Thus the Quick Chat this week is audio-only and similar to the UNICEF@75 series DOC produced with us last year. For much of the year Tony and his wife, Wendy, live on Salt Spring Island off the western coast of Canada. But each summer Tony and Wendy travel east to enjoy life on an island in Lake of the Woods, Ontario. He phoned us from there.    In this chat with Fouad Kronfol and Tom McDermott, Tony talks about:  -  the importance of change and adaptation in UNICEF.    "If we tried not to change, we'd be past history.  The biggest and most abrupt change came with Jim Grant who saw the need 'to shift gears', and Jim took us to new heights" .   - field experience which is what makes UNICEF staff relevant. "If you aren't relevant in the field, you aren't relevant. "   - the importance of national officers who are the mainstays of most offic

Augustine Veliath has published a new book in which he says, "I have harvested the best thoughts of Jim Grant and has published them under the title "The Soul of UNICEF".  We will add this book to our XUNICEF bibliography of works by UNICEF and XUNICEF authors.  From Augustine The Birth and Rebirth of “the Soul of UNICEF James Grant lived before the twitter age. Yet he had this amazing and inspiring one liners. I have 23 pages of what would have been his best tweets in this book. These pages of all time great one-liners alone makes this a collectors’ item. You know the seven habits of highly successful people. In this book we have a full “chalisa”. It has forty mighty attributes of a UNICEFer or a committed development worker. This is the third Avtar of this book. Within 48 hours of Jim Grant’s death, a slim version of it was born in the city of Lucknow in India. The immediate priority was briefing the Chief Secretary. Four religious leaders of Lucknow had agreed to

UNICEF's Communications Officer in Afghanistan, Sam Mort, made this appeal to the leaders attending last weekend's G7 meeting.  Watch this video which is an exceptionally well-done appeal for action on the issues facing children.  We hope it moved the hearts of the G7, though we are not counting on it.   Tip: When the video opens in Twitter, be sure to click on it.  Otherwise you will not hear the audio.  Dear G7 leaders, I'm talking to you as politicians and parents. Think about what you'd want for your own children. @UNICEF needs $1.2 billion to prevent 8 million children starving. @BorisJohnson @EmmanuelMacron @JustinTrudeau @OlafScholz @POTUS @vonderleyen https://t.co/yycapA7jUx — Sam Mort (@SamMort9) June 27, 2022

Sam Koo shared with us these photos of his visit with Marco Vianello-Chiodo at Marco's home near Cetona in southern Tuscany. Sam adds, "At 90, Marco is in fine form."  

Welcome to the summary of selected articles that appeared last week on our website xunicefnewsandviews.blogspot.com Our website is a blog where we post new articles every day. Visit it any time during the week. You can also sign up for a daily email giving short excerpts and links to articles posted each day.  To sign up for the daily subscription,  click here . Bangladesh. A Development Success Story : Pascal Villeneuve Pascal Villeneuve describes the factors that helped Bangladesh , from its independence in 1971, to become one of the major development success stories. Enabling grassroots movements and the propagation of affordable health interventions - also by UNICEF - contributed to significant gains in the well-being of people. But challenges remain. With stunning photographs from his time in Bangladesh, Pascal opens a new window to one of the most populated countries. Click here .  Everett Ressler answers our 10 Questions this week.   Click here to see the answers given by ear

  Unknown  commented on  " Insights from Outside the Bubble: A Case for Management / Detlef Palm " 3 hours ago UNICEF would be more likely to succeed to rid the organization of corruption if it was more transparent about past malpractices. All corruption must be dealt with decisively and nothing should be covered up to "protect UNICEF's reputation". Such coverups are likely to have the opposite effect. During and before my 30 years with UNICEF recruitment was often problematic, even corrupt. That is a problem for an organization that pays "exorbitant" salaries and depends on voluntary contributions. Such corruption, by definition, has the potential to stay with the organization for decades. Detlef, you know all about this, perhaps you could put your excellent and incisive writing skills to use on this topic next week. Thomas Ekvall     Unknown  commented on  " Insights from Outside the Bubble: A Case for Management / Detlef Palm " 18 hour