Welcome to a brief overview of articles that appeared last week on our website. Please don't stop here - be sure to browse the full list of articles that appeared this week.
Our Feature of the Week
Myra Rudin offers us a photo essay on 'people at work' drawn from her collection of travel photos. Wherever Myra travels, she enjoys taking photos of the local scene as much as the important or notable sites. We like her composition skills and her thematic choices. Please scroll till the end! You will have a surprise, and let us know in your comments how many people you recognize?
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| Soda fountain workers (So. Dakota) |
Our Columnists This Week
Ken Gibbs Fireworks
Detlef Palm The Pentaptych
Nuzhat Shahzadi Pearl Harbor––A story of Heart breaks . . . and Shame
Ramesh Shrestha Boundary of Nationalism: Ramesh Shreshtra.jpg)
The news this week was dominated by the war in Sudan and the passing of Harry Belafonte.
Sudan : The strategically important country in northeastern Africa has been consumed for nearly two weeks by fighting between two military factions that has transformed a city of five million people into an arena for personal wars. Civilians and particularly children are paying a heavy toll. Click here for all our coverage.
The latest news says that despite agreement to extend a 3 day ceasefire, air strikes continue in parts of Khartoum, while other areas are consumed by house-to-house battles between the two warring armies. The rapid escalation of hostilities is having a dramatic impact on children, already highly affected by famine and the overall dire humanitarian situation. OCHA reports that prices of basic commodities are skyrocketing. While foreign personnel of the UN and foreign embassies have been evacuated, many others remain trapped, often without passports, unable to travel or stuck at the borders.
Afghanistan : We somehow missed last week's statement by UN DSG Amina Mohammed that next week's conference in Doha will discuss granting recognition to the Taliban. The shock announcement was followed this week by demands from Afghan women's groups that they be represented in any such discussions. About Us Without Us. Then, yesterday, the SG's office 'walked back Amina Mohammed's comments, saying that the Taliban had not been invited to the Doha talks and that discussions would not focus on possible international recognition.
So what will be discussed in Doha? and who will be there? Frankly, despite the sudden turn around, we are worried that the idea appears to have been under serious consideration by the SG's office; also of course, we worry about the implications for women in the country and the security of UN operations, as well as the precedent they may set for dealing with other unrecognized regimes such as Myanmar's military coup leaders.
In my view, we should avoid vertical campaigns and instead push to make primary health care function well, and be sustainable and universally accessible.
To see what happens when malnutrition, missed vaccinations and measles collide read Günter Boussery's excellent article in the UNICEF Blog.
Myanmar : Ban Ki-moon, Deputy Chair of The Elders and former UN SG, visited Myanmar on 23-24 April 2023, to find a path to an end to violence and establishing a legitimate government. He met Myanmar’s military leaders and former President Thein Sein to discuss the situation, and emphasised that all parties must play a role in securing a lasting solution. "I came to Myanmar to urge the military to adopt an immediate cessation of violence, and start constructive dialogue among all parties concerned,” Ban Ki-moon said.
We are pleased to see The Elders again once playing a role in seeking peace in what otherwise seems an intractable and totally unacceptable confrontation.
Global Leadership Meeting We haven’t heard much of the outcomes of the star-studded UNICEF Global Leadership Meeting that took place in Istanbul, last month. The last meeting of this kind took place in New York, 14 years ago. The world has changed since – and some observers say that UNICEF has lost its global leadership role for children’s rights. Did the meeting in Istanbul serve to re-energize the organization? Check out The Pentaptych by Detlef Palm, which also includes a link to the town hall meeting for all UNICEF staff.
A Loving Farewell - Habib Hammam shares a remarkable retirement letter sent by Fawzia Al Hamdani, National Finance Officer, Yemen to colleagues after 44 years of UNICEF service. The letter is a remarkable testament to UNICEF and to the successful struggle of a an able and determined woman in Yemeni society. We hope Fawzia's letter will inspire future generations in UNICEF - just as it has inspired us.
The Editor of this Week -- Gianni Murzi
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Catherine Russell mourns the passing of a great friend of UNICEF adding that “he served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for 36 years, where his dedication and generosity of spirit helped set a high standard for the role.” Kul Gautam's recalls of how Belafonte was a passionate advocate for the UNICEF-led child survival and development campaign in the 1980s and 90s, and Horst Cerni tells us “It has been a difficult day…” and remembering his first meeting with him, while Fouad Kronfol recalling how his wife, Nadia, got a picture with him in front of the UN Building on the day Jim Grant had convinced Harry Belafonte to serve as a Goodwill Ambassador.
Artwork of the Week
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Sunset in Carmel, California by Mehr Khan Williams |
Poem of the Week
Iroquois Prayer of Gratitude
"We thank you for this earth our home;
for the wide sky
and the blessed sun,
for the ocean and streams,
for the towering hills
and the whispering wind,
for the trees and green grass.
We thank you
for our senses by which
we hear the songs of birds,
and see the splendor of
fields of golden wheat,
and taste autumn's fruit,
and rejoice in the feel
of snow, and smell the
breath of spring flowers.
For each new dawn
is filled with possibilities
for new beginnings
and new discoveries.
In this new day with God,
all things are possible.
We are restored and renewed
in a joyous awakening to
the wonder that our
lives are and, yet, can be."
Contributed by Fouad Kronfol in Celebration of Earth Day 2023
for the wide sky
and the blessed sun,
for the ocean and streams,
for the towering hills
and the whispering wind,
for the trees and green grass.
We thank you
for our senses by which
we hear the songs of birds,
and see the splendor of
fields of golden wheat,
and taste autumn's fruit,
and rejoice in the feel
of snow, and smell the
breath of spring flowers.
For each new dawn
is filled with possibilities
for new beginnings
and new discoveries.
In this new day with God,
all things are possible.
We are restored and renewed
in a joyous awakening to
the wonder that our
lives are and, yet, can be."
Contributed by Fouad Kronfol in Celebration of Earth Day 2023
Photos of the Week
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Morning Walk Along Cottonwood Creek - Tom McDermott
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