4 hours ago
The time of the year confused me.... since 'summer' for you in the northern hemisphere is 'winter' for us in the southern hemisphere. We have many xunicefers who live in the southern hemisphere!
Unknown commented on "Report : 25 Years of Children and Armed Conflict"
12 hours ago
Very poor description of what UNICEF has done in situations of armed conflicts. I wonder how the author)s) see so little of so little impact. Not the UNICEF I have known, not even for fundraising purposes.
Tad Palac commented on "The Europe Puzzle : Detlef Palm"
Yesterday
SPOILER ALERT!! Many thanks, Detlef, for this Insight with a difference. The errors - deliberate or otherwise - are not that obvious! I think even many seasoned UNICEFers would have difficulties. Apart from the howlers and (minor) omissions, it's actually not bad map at all, considering the medium. How big was it? Given your connections to the Balkans I can see why it attracted your attention/ire! I’ve always been fascinated by maps ever since I got a school atlas of the world around the age of 7 – one with all those countries in red! (no, not the USSSR et al, but the British Empire in its dying days!). Here’s what I could see without googling anything up: • Serbia looks much larger than it is: because it has absorbed Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro!! It thus appears to have bit of coastline which is actually part of Croatia and Montenegro. A map like this could spark a war, a flurry of outrage and protests at the UN! Are you sure it wasn’t cut by Milosevic while awaiting trial? And hasn’t anyone protested yet to the authorities of wherever you found the map? (I presume is was part of a public picnic table or something). • Kosovo is not there of course and is absorbed into Serbia as well. • Luxembourg (the little semi-circle on the edge of Belgium) is slightly mis-placed – it has southern border with France. • Malta is missing and as proud member of the EU deserved a little dot at least! • The borders by the Bosphorus between Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey are not clear – but that’s a messy bit on any map! • Something seriously wrong in the Caucasus – Georgia has absorbed Azerbaijan, or vice versa? And let’s not get into all those tragic conflicts in that region! We know who is behind those! Otherwise we’ll get into the issues of Catalonia, the Basques, not to mention the potential break-up of the United Kingdom! (Would the UN/UNICEF intervene on behalf of the children of Scotland in the forthcoming confrontation between Edinburgh and London over the second referendum? No, because the UK will use its veto of course!) • Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, The Faroes, Gibraltar and various islands off the mainland of the UK are all a bit small to be shown, as are the various “off-shore” bits of Spain and Portugal (Azores, Madeira, the Canaries etc.). • Intrigued to see the tiny and very northerly border between Norway and Russia clearly marked - the one that some very daring/adventurous/desperate refugees tried to use to get into Europe a couple of years ago, if I remember correctly, including a guy on bike! I may have missed a few more. Geography is fun but can also also dangerous! Pity it is no longer taught as a separate subject in most schools. Tad Vienna
2 days ago
Given that a new country programme document for India is going to be approved by the Executive Board of UNICEF in September, many members of the UGPI may want to have a quick look at the (click) draft CPD. It may help to form an opinion whether the CPD is sufficiently clear, and describes a specific course of action; whether the CPD focuses adequately on the most deprived children in the sixth largest economy in the world and will help to redress inequities; and whether it explains exactly which capacities UNICEF will add to the already abundant capacities of the otherwise competent India civil service. It might also be a good opportunity to revisit the latest (click) annual report by UNICE India, to see whether it satisfactorily describes the difference that UNICEF made for the most marginalized children in the last year, with more than 300 million USD expended in 2021. I note, for example, that UNICEF innovated an App for students that will reduce exam-stress; however I do not know whether the office also created an App to reduce stress among those who were not able to attend school at all. In no other country are there as many organized former UNICEF colleagues, who as experienced development officials and citizens of their country know the situation of the most marginalized children, and what is most required from UNICEF to create more equity. Feedback on available UNICEF reports and plans might be a good start for a wider public discourse.
Jul 11, 2022
Dear Sree Gururaja, what a pleasure to talk to you on the phone after such a long time. Thank you for calling. I hope to see you in September before your next leg of travel. All the best. A big hug! Gulbadan
Jul 10, 2022
Beautiful
Jul 10, 2022
It seems to me that the responsibility of a CEO includes money management, and if the income is not properly used, then the CEO shouldn't get paid (or proportionally less). I had read about the high salary of the Pres. of the US Committee and felt it was shameful when at the same time we have been saying all along that each penny (i.e. Trick of Treat) will be used for program funding. One should expect some sacrifice from those serving at the top, too.
Pascal Villeneuve commented on "Jonas Mwilambwe RIP : Sad news received from Barbara Bentein"
Jul 10, 2022
Very sad to hear of the passing of Jonas Mukalay Mwilambwe. I had the privilege to serve under him for several years when he was the area representative for Congo and Gabon. He was passionate about education which he felt was absolutely key to personal and societal development. In the late 80’s he pioneered the concept of rights-based programming with his special interest for the fate of pygmy children, often ostracized and marginalized in their own countries. Above all, Jonas Mwilambwe was a good-hearted man with a strong sense of humor and an absolute love for his family. I saw him for the last time in 2016, at his residence in Kinshasa. He was still the same, all smile and eager to share memories from his long and successful life. My deepest sympathy to his wife Stéphanie and his children. May He Rest in Eternal Peace.
SDL commented on "Relocating the Jumble : Detlef Palm"
Jul 10, 2022
Bijaya, many thanks for raising this, the issue is that with the kind of magpie mentality in both electorates and leaders, what captures the attention of publics is so fleeting. After the disaster of a highly botched transition, if one can even use the term to describe the utter chaos, a brief flurry of activity - the media moved on. The issues in Afghanistan are no less pressing and even more so, as a group of medieval insurgents try to graft their norms on at least an urban society that has moved on. This is why, institutional funding is so critical. Last year, I had to make a special request to an associated org to make a modest contribution for the Afghanistan effort. Do people even know that parts of the U.N have a presence in that country. We cannot enter the terrain of competing deprivations, but here we are. Kul thank you for your kind words about my ideas on moving Ukraine grain, I am staggered at the loss of policy imagination at the U.N, bleating from the sidelines is not an option. Is there not a way to release, on a conditional basis: acceptance of female education and mobility, the 5 billion that is currently with the U.S. The idea that part of this fund would support the 9/11 victims is such a major inversion of justice -- perhaps MBS should be billed for the chaos and horror visited on the city by many of his citizens!!!
Bijaya Rajbhandari commented on "Relocating the Jumble : Detlef Palm"
Jul 10, 2022
Detlef, I remember how you coached us writing Annual Reports and CPDs. It was focussed on results. Looks like that is being slowly diminishing. I am really surprised by the number of staff in NYHQ when UNICEF is known for field based organisation and so decentarlised at CO level enabling to move the resources where it is needed most. This must stay! We do not see much of our actions in war areas and raise our voice for "equity in fund raising" Ukraine vs Afaganisthan.
Sree commented on "Are You a Cognitive Super-Ager? : Dr. Gianni Murzi"
Jul 10, 2022
Thanks Gianni for this posting..I vouch for the walks though I prefer, to walk alone, at a medium pace, for thirty to forty minutes a day. I regard this as 'my time and space' to reflect, reminisce, say a prayer, cogitate on issues, thoughts(which sadly don't get written up) and make a "to do" list for the day(s). Sree
Kul Gautam commented on "Relocating the Jumble : Detlef Palm"
Jul 9, 2022
Detlef says he begs to differ from some of us who expressed reservations about the proposed massive relocation of UNICEF HQ functions to many additional HQ hubs in different parts of the world (mostly in Istanbul and elsewhere in Europe). But unless I misunderstood grossly, his arguments seem to buttress our reservations on the wisdom of the proposed changes. I welcome the constructive critique and many great ideas by several other colleagues - especially Samphe Lhalungpa's creative proposal for a more meaningful role in Ukraine-Russia conflict. But as he says - is anyone listening?!?
Baquer Namazi commented on "Warm Wishes for Eid ul Adha : Mary Sidawi"
Jul 9, 2022
Eid al-Adha brings the message of hope, love. unity, peace & compassion. ... Have a peaceful day full of love, happiness & forgiveness Baquer Namazi
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To meet the challenges of producing weekly news and stories that the editors are experiencing, have you considered moving to a bi-monthly news letter. Maybe less onerous for the group while producing more stories!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion, Rohini. Yes, the editors have considered the idea of a bi-weekly edition several times. We may need to do that sometime soon. In the past when we skipped one or two weeks due to work on the Quarterly, we found ourselves with the opposite problem - too many articles to post. Let's see how the summer goes. Thanks again for your comment.
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