SOLILOQUY OF A POSTAGE STAMP #100: A Retrospective of the Soliloquy Column/ Fouad Kronfol

More than two years ago (23 January 2021) I started this Column about philatelic materials issued around the themes of UN, UNICEF, Specialized Agencies, and related subjects. I did not anticipate it to last this long, but the more materials I featured the more it became of interest to me personally as I found myself developing another new angle to my stamp collection. Judging by the very small number of comments in the Digest it is a fact that not many of our XUNICEF members are interested in a hobby that used to be one of the most popular in the world especially among youngsters. I persisted by focusing my exhibition on stamps and covers that provided an historical perspective on philately related to the UN and its different entities. Some colleagues have suggested I collect these Digest items into a volume...this is something I might consider. Meanwhile, here we are at the ONE HUNDREDTH issue of the Soliloquy, so I decided to make it a special one by featuring the different subjects covered and samples of items shown in all 100 Soliloquys to date.

Soliloquy #1: What is a Stamp ?

This first Column's message was that a stamp is a small piece of plain paper but when one turns it over it can portray wondrous stories, including real life fairy tales.

Soli # 2: Austria; the first stamp issued that commemorated UNICEF.

Issued in May 1949 this stamp commemorates the first anniversary of UNICEF aid to Austrian children. I believe it was the first stamp issued relating to UNICEF.

Soli #3: UN Postal Administration; the first definitive set issued including the UNICEF stamp.

The first set of definitive stamps issued by the newly created UN Postal Administration came out on 24 October 1951, UN Day. It included this very attractive stamp of an adult hand holding that of a child and the UNICEF inscription.These 3 stamps have a tag indicating "First UN Issue 1951" with interesting post marks of United Nations and the words," Justice, Security, For All."

Soli # 4: Tuberculosis

One of the earliest disease control projects that UNICEF supported was a world-wide campaign of BCG vaccination in cooperation with Scandinavian Red Cross Societies. Many countries were included in this major campaign and here we have a stamp issued by Pakistan which indicates the "Eradication of Tuberculosis".

Soli # 5: Liberia; the making of a UNICEF stamp.

An airmail stamp commemorating UNICEF was issued by Liberia in 1954 with the old Logo of a child drinking milk. This became a collector's item as few copies were printed. Here I show how the stamp was printed in six stages with each stage adding a new element or color until the final stamp is complete.

Soli # 6-14: UNICEF@10, UNICEF@15,UNICEF@20, UNICEF@25.

As the Organization grew and became better known many countries benefiting from UNICEF aid started issuing philatelic materials to commemorate it. For some reason I have not yet found any stamps issued for the Tenth Anniversary in 1956, so I am showing the UNICEF Logo that was used then.

For the Fifteenth Anniversary in 1961 here is a First Day Cover issued by the UNPA with one of the three stamps printed for the occasion. By then a new Logo had been adopted of a "mother and child" which is shown in the cachet of this FDC where a nurse is weighing a Ghanaian chid at an MCH center.

In 1965 UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, one of its crowning moments, and this is the stamp issued by Germany for the occasion.

By 1966, its Twentieth Anniversary, UNICEF had grown and was working in more developing countries. It also expanded its fields of activity beyond the original health and nutrition areas. Here the UNPA has issued a First Day Cover with a block of four stamps and a tag commemorating UNICEF.The cachet shows the new Logo over a number of children.

This is another FDC issued by Germany to commemorate UNICEF for its Twentieth Anniversary with the Nobel Peace Prize stamp. The cachet shows a mother holding up a smiling baby. The post marks have the UNICEF logo and were issued on 24 October 1966 (UN Day) from Bonn.

 For UNICEF's 25th Anniversary in 1971 , the Republic of Ghana issued this Souvenir Sheet with the UNICEF Logo in the centre surrounded by four stamps showing various child care activities .

Soli #15: The American University of Beirut and UNICEF

I selected this topic for the Column because I wanted to inform our readers that many UNICEF staff were graduates of or had studied at this institute of higher education, including myself (B.Sc.1957 and M.A. 1970). To be noted also that among those attending or signing the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945 there were more former students of AUB than any other university in the world. Here is a stamp issued by Lebanon to commemorate AUB for its 150th. anniversary, 1866-2016.

Soli #16: The International Year of the Child, 1979

One of the most important milestones in UNICEF history was the designation by the UN General Assembly of 1979 as the "International Year of the Child".This year was notable for the numerous activities carried out in all countries related to the welfare of children and resulted in placing UNICEF centre-stage in the world as the UN organization responsible for children. In order to make sure that the IYC was not a UNICEF activity a separate Secretariat was set up in NY and Geneva and a different Logo was used from that of UNICEF.Here we have a stamp issued by Chad for IYC showing two children with a sail boat in the background. Many of my later Columns were again focused on IYC, so this was a precursor of sorts.

Soli # 17: Water

From "Drinking Milk to Drinking Safe Water" was the theme of this week's Column. A important part of UNICEF activities became its involvement in water and sanitation work in many developing countries. A major international conference on water was held in Argentina in 1977 where UNICEF was a notable participant. This stamp was issued by India to feature its water activities, including the development of the India-made Mark II hand pump which became very popular in many other countries.It shows a woman filling her two jars with potable water using the hand pump.Water and sanitation projects became one of the main activities in the new UNICEF programme policy related to Basic Services, adopted by the Executive Board.

Soli # 18-20: GOBI/CSDR

In the early 1980's there was another change in both policy and direction with the introduction of the Child Survival concept. Initially started with the GOBI interventions (Growth monitoring, Oral rehydration, Breast Feeding, and Immunization) it was enlarged to include other interventions and bolstered by a major social mobilization campaign and became known as the Child Survival & Development Revolution. Here we have a Souvenir Sheet issued by Ghana to commemorate the CSDR by illustrating some of these activities.

Soli # 21: Japan, an unusual envelope

For a change in my Column I featured this unusual envelope which somehow landed on my desk when I was Chief of Africa Section in Programme Division from 1983-1989. It was sent by a 14 year old Japanese youth who appreciated what UNICEF was doing for children and who posted the letter with many more stamps than needed for regular postage asking that UNICEF use the stamps for its support to other children. There was no addressee, except for UNICEF,and no mailing details but some considerate postal worker made sure it was delivered to our NYHQ. Why it ended up with me, I dont know, but it was a welcome addition to my UNICEF-related stamp collection.

Soli # 22 & 24-25: UNICEF@40

In 1986 UNICEF celebrated its Fortieth Anniversary at a time when it had grown considerably and had become extremely popular on the world stage with its CSDR approach, especially coupled with a major shift of emphasis geographically to Africa. In addition,with WHO cooperation it had launched the Universal Child Immunization programme that aimed at increasing vaccination rates from the low teens to about 80% from 1985 to 1990. This is a Souvenir Card issued by Kenya to commemorate both UNICEF@40 and CSDR with the five stamps showing different aspects related to UNICEF involvement . Note that the issue date is 6 January 1987 !

Soli # 23: SG Dag Hammarskjold

As a memoriam to the passing of the UN's Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold in 1961, I featured a series of philatelic materials issued by different countries. Here is a stamp from Ecuador with the face of the late SG and the UN Emblem.

Soli #26: Politicians,Physicians, Scientists & Thespians

The theme that week was prominent personalities from different fields and their relationship to UNICEF and its work. Here we have the US stamp with Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady but also head of the US Delegation to the UNICEF Executive Board,and one of the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Also we have the stamp from Cuba commemorating Pierre and Marie Curie, and their Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry. The UNICEF angle being that they were the parents of Eve Labouisse, the wife of Executive Director Henry Labouisse. Another stamp from the US shows Audrey Hepburn, one of the most popular UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors who played an important role promoting UNICEF and child rights around the world. The fourth stamp from Bahamas commemorates Robert Koch, the scientist who discovered the Tubercle Bacillus that led to the development of the BCG vaccine for the prevention of Tuberculosis.

Soli # 27 & 29 & 31-32: UNICEF@50

In 1996 UNICEF celebrated its Fiftieth Anniversary. This "Golden Birthday" elicited a large number of stamps and covers issued by many countries around the world. UNICEF's global reputation had been considerably enhanced with the very successful "World Summit for Children" convened at UN HQ in September 1990 which brought together the largest ever number of Heads of State and Government to discuss improving support for children. Also the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989 had promulgated the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which gave UNICEF a powerful instrument of advocacy for children as it was ratified by almost all governments (except the US) in record time. This is a cute Souvenir Sheet issued by the Central African Republic for the UNICEF@50 occasion. It shows our first Goodwill Ambassor, Danny Kaye, an infant that had just been delivered and the UN Secretariat building.

Soli # 28: Afghanistan

The big news at that time was the take-over by the Taliban of the government of Afghanistan and the exit of the US and Allies. So I decided to feature a selection of stamps from my collection that were issued by Afghanistan in relation to the UN or UNICEF.Here is a stamp issued in 1951 showing a young Afghan shepherd and his flock with an inscription--in Afghan and French- about the Protection of Children.

Soli # 30: UNICEF Connexions

In this Column I recognized XUNICEF colleagues who have, over a period of years, contributed to my collection by sending stamps and covers to me. Here is a nice First Day Cover from Yemen to commemorate UNICEF@50 sent to me by Habib Hammam who twice served as UNICEF Representative in Sanaa. Yemen.

Soli # 33: "A Sportscar Named Annick"

This Column took a different form. Instead of philatelic materials related to UN etc. I recounted my experiences with buying a Fiat 750 Sportster in Paris, France and driving it alone back to Beirut in 1966. Since I did not have a camera on that trip I "illustrated " the article with stamps issued by the countries I drove through to showing the different cities and towns I passed along the way home. Here I show an Italian stamp, representing the manufacturer Fiat, and a French stamp with the Eiffel Tower and the Palais de Chaillot, representing Paris where I purchased the car.

Soli # 34: Millenium Goals

Approaching the new Millenium in 2000 UNICEF programming was increasingly related to areas defined in the Convention on Child Rights.During 1999 many countries issued stamps to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the CRC. Here is a lovely Souvenir Sheet from Grenada issued for the occasion. It shows five children of different ethnic backgrounds.

Soli#35-38: Universal Children's Day

The 20th of November is celebrated as the Universal (or Global) Children's Day, having been thus designated by the General Assembly many years ago. It was also decided that each country would determine its own national day to celebrate its children. Here we have an attractive stamp issued by Pakistan on the 3rd. of October 1966 to commemorate Universal Children Day.

Soli# 39-41: Royal Children

While UNICEF and other UN bodies exist mainly to assist vulnerable children in the developing countries, I thought it would be fun to feature a series of philatelic materials devoted to the children of royalty, ie. the most privileged ones. Here we have a Souvenir Card issued by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg showing both the photo and the stamp issued with the Princes Guillame, Felix and Louis of the ruling Family.

Soli #42: UN Year of Refugees

The UN General Assembly decided that 1959/1960 would be designated as the World Refugee Year in order to emphasize the need for giving special attention to this segment of the population. Stamps and covers were issued by many countries to commemorate this Year which became one of the first of many special "Years" that the UN would commemorate in the future. Already UNRWA had been created to serve the Palestinian refugees after the creation of Israel. These two stamps issued by the United Arab Republic (Egypt) show a mother and child pointing at the map of Palestine with the inscription, "We Shall Return".The FDC has a cachet with the special Logo of the Year and was issued on 7 April 1960 from Cairo.

Soli# 43-49: Fight Against Malaria

The World Health Assembly designated 1962 as the Campaign for the Eradication of Malaria, a disease that ravaged many among the developing countries, especially children. In those days UNICEF also was a major partner in this effort and was spending almost half of its programme funds in malaria projects. One of the aspects of the Campaign, which had the slogan, "The World United Against Malaria", was the issuance of stamps by countries to promote the programme but also to raise some additional funds for the WHO Special Fund for Malaria. Here is a stamp issued by Czechoslovakia for the Campaign. I got interested in collecting materials related to Malaria when I learned that it had become a "niche" area for philatelists.. Since then my collection has become quite substantial and is among the most complete in my philatelic endeavors.

This is another stamp issued by the Republic of Haiti for the WHO Malaria Campaign. Note the special Logo which was adopted for the campaign consisting of a globe and the WHO Emblem over a mosquito. Many permutations of the Logo are in existence which makes it more interesting for the collector.

Soli #46 : Women's Day

Taking a break from my Columns related to Malaria, I featured this week a special one on Women's Day which fell during that week. Here is a stamp issued by the USSR in 1967 for this occasion. It is a large rectangular stamp with a pretty girl surrounded by flowers .

Soli #50: The Lakeshore Stamp Club Exhibit

On the occasion of UNICEF@75 I prepared a small exhibit related to its three quarters of a century of work aiding the world's children at my local Lakeshore Stamp Club where I have been a member since 1996. This is the first page of the exhibit, "UNICEF at 75; A Commemorative Tribute". I was awarded a Bronze Medal.

Soli # 51-56: FAO Freedom From Hunger Campaign, 1963

Following the example of WHO, our sister Agency FAO launched another similar campaign during 1963 in order to promote their work in the nutrition field and to advocate for resolving food crises in many parts of the world. Many countries issued philatelic materials for the FFHC and I have managed to collect a fair amount as a separate area of interest. Here is a First Day Cover from the Republic of Viet Nam (South Viet Nam) issued on 21 March 1963 from Saigon. Those days UNICEF still had a country office in Saigon which was replaced in 1975/76 by Hanoi after the end of the war and the unification of the country.The four stamps show a woman surrounded by various agricultural structures. The FFHC Logo of three grain stalks over the globe was adopted for the Campaign.The cachet shows a farm woman with a sheaf of grain (rice?) in her hands.

Soli #57-60: International Cooperation Year

Before there was IYC, there was ICY, the 1965 International Year of Cooperation which was meant to commemorate increased cooperation among nations in the general areas of development with the United Nations and its Agencies becoming increasingly involved in technical and funding aspects among developing countries. This FDC has a block of four stamps with a tag issued by the UN Postal Administration for ICY. The Logo shows two hands grasping each other between the wreaths of the UN Emblem. The cachet shows the first three Secretaries General, Trygve Lie, Dag Hammarskjold and U Thant. It also commemorates the UN's 20th anniversary. It was issued in New York on 26 June 1965.

Soli #61-66: Human Rights Year, 1968

In 1948 the UN promulgated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an important document to complement the UN Charter in the area of human comportment. Every year after that the UNPA issued a special set of stamps for Human Rights, as did many countries in the world. This is a Souvenir Sheet issued by Cyprus showing a scroll with the first Article of the Declaration. It was meant to commemorate the International Year for Human Rights in 1968.

Soli # 67 : Sudan

In 2022 we learned that UNICEF Khartoum was celebrating 70 years of cooperation with the Government of Sudan. Coincidentally I had been writing an article of my own experiences with working in the Sudan and the establishment of the first UNICEF Country Office in Khartoum which I had opened. Consequently I decide to make a special Column related to Sudan and its issuance of stamps on the UN and its Agencies, including UNICEF. This is a six stamp block of stamps issued to commemorate World Food Day and FAO. Note there is a nice post mark on the middle two stamps dated 26 September 1990 which makes it an attractive philatelic item.

Soli # 68: Education Year

At its General Conference UNESCO designated 1970 as World Education Year. A special Logo was prepared by the artist Vassarly and many countries issued stamps and covers for the occasion. Here is the stamp issued by Turkey

Soli # 69-72: International Womens'Year

The UN-related international Years continued with the designation of 1975 as the International Women's Year.It turned out to be one of the more successful events and generated much advocacy and activities to improve the status of women in the world. This is a FDC issued by the UN PA with one of the stamps of the set for IWY. The cachet is a series of women's faces from different ethnic backgrounds. The cover was issued on 9 May 1975 from the UN in New York.

Soli # 73 The Girl Child

Closely related to the above a special commemoration of the "Girl Child" resulted in some countries issuing stamps for the occasion. I was able to obtain only one stamp so far which was issued by India in 1990 showing a young girl reaching for the sun in a garden with flowers and butterflies.

Soli # 74-80 & 83: UN Edifices

I was not aware that so many stamps and covers would be showing various buildings related to UN HQ locations as well as to those of other Agencies and Organizations. Once I started looking for them it turned out that UN Edifices were among the most popular aspects of philatelic materials related to the UN. Here I show three stamps with the UN Secretariat building. From Romania the stamp commemorates the UN@20 ; from the Republic of Togo it is also the UN@20 with a photo of Adlai Stevenson who was the US Permanent Representative; and from Mexico a 1959 stamp commemorating the 27th meeting of the Economic & Social Council.

Soli # 81: UNICEF@75

It was in 2021 that we celebrated UNICEF's 75th Anniversary in the XUNICEF Digest. It was in the middle of the Covid pandemic and most of the UN offices were closed down, so that finding stamps became quite difficult. Thanks to the diligent efforts of our colleague Myra Rudin I was finally able to obtain a full sheet of the stamps issued for UNICEF's three quarters of a century anniversary.This sheet of ten stamps and attached labels show the different areas in which UNICEF is cooperating with its programmes of assistance all over the globe. The message selected is "Reimagine the Future for Every Child". It is my view that while the advocacy aspect is laudable, the actual stamps are among the least attractive that have ever been issued for a UNICEF Anniversary.

Soli # 82: World Cup of Football

On the occasion of the World Cup competitions held this year in Qatar, I took time off from my UN-related theme to feature philatelic materials issued over time to commemorate what is commonly called, "The Beautiful Game". The World Cup is perhaps the second most important athletic event in the world -after the Olympic Games- and its fans and players are numbered in the hundreds of millions all over the globe. Here is a stamp issued by Argentina in 2002 to commemorate the country's championship teams that won World Cups in 1978 and 1986. I chose this because Argentina once again came out the winners in Qatar after a really exciting final game against the favorite French team.

Soli # 84-86: The Red Cross

Certainly one of the world's best known humanitarian organizations, the Red Cross has cooperated with UNICEF in many emergency situations all over the world. Its Emblem has appeared in over 2000 stamps issued by different countries. This is a regularly mailed cover sent from Jamaica to an address in Toronto, Ontario, in Canada. It includes three stamps celebrating the Red Cross Centennial from 1863 to1963. The effigy of Queen Elizabeth II is on all the stamps that are affixed to the cover, including an additional stamp commemorating the country's Independence.

Soli # 87: Womens' Day

Even before the UN's International Women's Year, many countries have been issuing stamps to celebrate their women and the contribution of women to national development. This is an interesting strip of four stamps issued by India in 2007 for Women's Day.

Soli # 88-92 & 94-97 & 99: IYC

Although I had featured the 1979 International Year of the Child earlier, I started another series of Columns featuring this most important event in UNICEF history in order to share with our readers my very considerable collection of stamps and covers related to IYC. I have a special feeling for this UNICEF milestone as one who participated in some of its activities while stationed in NYHQ. This is an attractive Souvenir Sheet issued by the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago.The six stamps show different activities related to children including, day care, school feeding, dental care, medical care, free bus transport and nursery school which the country is providing to its children.

Soli # 93: UN Malaria Day

The 25th of April has been designated by the UN as "Malaria Day" so this year I took the occasion to feature again some of my stamps and covers related to Malaria.This is a set of four stamps issued by Indonesia for its anti-malaria programme in 1960. This was a couple of years before WHO's The World United Against Malaria Campaign in 1962.

Soli # 98 : Unexpected Occurances in Philately.

My last item is an envelope I picked up at a recent meeting of my local stamp club where a colleague was selling some of his unwanted materials. He had three boxes of envelopes and as I was glancing through them I came upon an envelope with the UNICEF logo addressed to the Personnel Branch of ICAO (the UN Specialized Agency for Civil Aviation) which is headquartered in Montreal. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the sender was our XUNICEF colleague Rohini De Silva with whom I worked when I was Director of DOP.

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