XUNICEF News and Views

We knew her as "Our Mother". She brings home many memories from the day I met her in person, on a task assigned to me in 1989 while I served as a National Officer with UNICEF Calcutta (now Kolkata).  It was task big enough for me. Subhashda (late Subhash Das Gupta) had the confidence that I would deliver.

  In this week's feature Gautam Banerji , recounts his unforgettable visit with Mother (Saint) Teresa  in 1989 to deliver a message from Jim Grant. Several decades later, he travels to Skopje where he pays homage to her memorial. He shares highlights of the city seen during his visit.

This special report by Reuters focusses on the situation in South Kordofan and Darfur.  It includes photos of the people caught up in the famine.

UNICEF has signed an agreement that secures supply of the MVA-BN mpox vaccine at the lowest market price and ensures access to the vaccine for 77 low- and lower-middle-income countries. This marks a major milestone in efforts to meet the demand for more affordable vaccines as part of an integrated response to the rising mpox crisis, while also paving the way for sustained vaccine access in 2025. The agreement is an outcome of the emergency tender issued by UNICEF on 29 August and follows the World Health Organization (WHO)’s prequalification of the MVA-BN mpox vaccine on 13 September. The tender was launched two weeks after mpox was declared a public health emergency on 14 August, in collaboration with Africa CDC, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO, the Pan American Health Organization, and other partners. In the agreement, UNICEF has negotiated a price of up to US$65 per vaccine dose, the lowest price in the market. The agreement also ensures vaccine access for 77 low- and lower-middl...

An injured child at a school in Beirut housing displaced people today.©AFP The intensity of the present conflict in Lebanon has already claimed the lives of more children per day than the 2006 conflict. The average number of children killed per day in Lebanon this week is more than double the number of children killed per day during the country’s devastating 2006 conflict. An estimated 400 children, or about 12 children per day, were killed during the 33-day 2006 conflict [1] . Now, 50 children were killed in a span of two days, on Monday and Tuesday of this week according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. The ministry also expects that more children remain buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings across the country. The escalation in recent days has killed and injured thousands, spurred mass displacement, caused extensive damage to infrastructure and instilled an unimaginable fear in the daily lives of people across the country. “As this week continues the devastation m...

Canada, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands are taking The Taliban to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for gender discrimination. This is the first time the ICJ has been used by one country to take another to court over gender discrimination. 

Article shared by Viviane Sakkal This is the story of a controversial marriage in South Sudan that has sparked national debate.

This girl's mother and two brothers were recently killed 22 September 2024 As we approach the one-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's ongoing counter-attack on all Gazans, I urge you to watch a recent documentary, The Night Won't End, an Al Jazeera production, now available online: https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/live-now-screening-of-essential-gaza .

Youth engagement can do magic. The UN Pact for the Future devotes four of 56 actions to youth. UN cooperation frameworks and Country Programmes talk about it. A new line of business has opened up. The last hope of the clueless are the young people of today. Many elderly expect young people to correct what the older generation apparently screwed up, in respect to climate change, social justice, international relations and more.  The UN and UNICEF will guide young people, give them space and listen to them in national consultations and international meetings. 

                   

Article shared by Anis Salem Click here for the article Excerpts: “The P5 will never give up their veto power,” said Daniel Warner, the former deputy to the director of the Geneva Graduate Institute, in Switzerland. “Never!” " Still, Warner said the Pact for the Future cannot be successful without strict adherence and respect for the international laws and treaties that deal with the “heart of the matter” which is peace and security, which is included in the pact. “You can’t talk about the future unless you have a reasonable and precise summary of what’s going on now,” he said. “How can you have countries sign a pact when the Geneva Convention, otherwise known as the laws of war, are being violated all the time” and “there’s no punishment?”  Richard Gowan, the UN director of the Crisis Group said the summit will have no immediate impact. “It’s not okay that those wars are continuing, but it’s okay that the summit is not about the wars,” Gowan said. “If member states had tried, or...

We can still improve children’s well-being — if we act now

Quite by accident I clicked on the Netflix series –– Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. I was glued to it.

Shared by Victor Karunan Greetings from Bangkok. In case you have not seen this recent report on funding for child protection in humanitarian action. Victor Karunan From the Esecutive Summary Child protection needs and funding requirements continued to rise in 2023, with total child protection requirements across all UN-coordinated appeals reaching $1.5 billion. However, child protection only accounted for 2.5% of total HRP requirements, indicating significant underfunding. While child protection funding has increased, it remains disproportionately underfunded compared to other humanitarian sectors. The recommendations emphasize the importance of prioritizing child protection in humanitarian responses by integrating it into all planning, advocacy, and resource mobilization efforts. Humanitarian leadership should ensure that child protection is recognized as a life-saving priority and is adequately funded across all sectors. Additionally, there is a call for enhancing support for loca...

Total dependency Energy has become an integral part of human civilisation since the discovery of fire. Any long-term disruption in energy supply could bring our society to a standstill.

"The Eleanor Crook Foundation (ECF) has announced the creation of the James P. Grant Child Survival Award. The award was jointly announced by ECF and Marea Hatziolos Grant, daughter-in-law of Jim Grant, today during a panel titled " Building on a Legacy of Child Survival " at the 2024 Concordia Summit in New York City."

Dear colleagues, Ever since UNICEF’s legendary Executive Director Jim Grant passed away in January 1995, I have had a dream that UNICEF, ideally, or some other organization, would establish a prestigious award to honor and continue his great legacy.

  Article shared by Niloufar Pourzand Layma Murtaza understands the push by many human rights experts to codify the situation of Afghan women under the Taliban as "gender apartheid", but urges caution lest this call for justice be seen as a call for military intervention. 

Dina Darwiche and her son, Jad UNHCR said that airstrikes on Monday in the Bekaa Valley and in Tyre hit the homes of two of its staff members, killing Ali Basma in Tyre and in  the Bekaa Valley Dina Darwiche and one her children. The husband and older son of Ms. Darwiche are in hospital with serious injuries. Dina Darwiche had worked in UNHCR's Bekaa Office for 12 years. Filippo Grandi on behalf of UNHCR said that the agency said it was "outraged and deeply saddened" by their killing. ""Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon are now relentlessly claiming hundreds of civilian lives," he said. Ms Darwiche's friends described her as "the gentlest and kindest soul we knew." "She had been dedicated to her humanitarian work with UNHCR for as long as I can remember," wrote Professor Jasmin Lilian Diab, an academic at the Lebanese American University, on X. "I am broken. I am absolutely destroyed." Click here for the article in BBC Ne...

  As world leaders gather in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly, and as the threat of a wider regional escalation looms, we renew our demand for an end to the appalling human suffering and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. We mourn the loss of innocent life everywhere, including those killed on October 7 and during the 11 months of conflict since then. We urgently call for a sustained, immediate and unconditional ceasefire. This is the only way to end the suffering of civilians and save lives. All hostages and all those arbitrarily detained must be released immediately and unconditionally. Humanitarians must have safe and unimpeded access to those in need. We cannot do our jobs in the face of overwhelming need and ongoing violence. More than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza – the majority of them civilians, including women, children, older persons and at times entire families – have reportedly been killed, and more than 95,500 have been injured, according to the Min...

Where did the cairn go ? Southern Africa while I was going through university, was highly separated. Males from females; whites from non-whites; Boers from the English; heterosexual from anything else; Protestants from Catholics, and even the Dutch Reformed Church split into two; all other religions seemed to have been marginalised and if there were more sub-divisions possible, they were immediately implemented.

On Monday we posted the Instagram announcement of this interview. Here is the full interview on YouTube:

  Shared by Anis Salem

The UN is currently without a relief chief, which is starting to affect its presence at events like UNGA. The humanitarian side event before the summit focused on familiar talking points, such as deteriorating aid access and the need for funding. The UN's special rapporteur on the right to food has declared that famine has spread throughout Gaza, but the global humanitarian system's mechanism to confirm famine declarations has not. Sudan is another crisis that is being discussed, with a high-level ministerial event scheduled to raise support for humanitarian response. Click here for the article in The New Humanitarian Excerpts: On the absence of a relief chief:  "You’ve lost this key figurehead who can make the case and push in these high-level rooms," said one humanitarian leader. On Gaza - "An analysis released ahead of high-level week underscored the magnitude of Israel’s aid blockades – 83% of food aid doesn’t make it to Gaza, which is facing famine. The pr...

We hope that the XUNICEF members find the guidance in the infograph useful and lead them to confirm their participation and complete the registration on or before the dates specified. Ces Adorna

UPDATE - As of Tuesday, 25 September, Lebanon reports 558 persons have been killed in Israeli attacks, including 50 children. 

Article shared by Fouad Kronfol "The first intelligent and objective proposition that may hold the promise of peace and prosperity in Palestine/Isrrael , if it ever is seriously considered. Well worth reading , digesting and distributing. Fouad"

Article shared by Lou Mendez Click here for the article in Our World in Data

Article shared by Lou Mendez "It’s almost cyclical that this happens every 2-3 decades. Just get rid of the Veto power and the UN will work better." Lou

  "Standard Deviation" explores the growing accusations of Western double standards and their impact on the international rules-based order.

  "Large Nature Model: Coral" is an immersive artwork that uses AI to showcase the beauty and fragility of coral reefs.

 Instagram post shared by Niloufar Pourzand View this post on Instagram A post shared by Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour)

Article shared by Kul Gautam "Elizabeth Cousens of the UN Foundation offers a balanced assessment of the Summit of the Future" Kul

World leaders are at UN Headquarters and have just adopted the Pact for the Future by consensus - with a small group of just seven countries holding out, having failed to pass a last-minute amendment.

  For the International Day of Peace, Wesam, 18, calls for "..an end to all wars." Wesam lost his hand, leg and one of his eyes when he stepped on a landmine in Yemen. وسام، 18 عاماً، فقد يده وساقه وإحدى عينيه عندما وطأ لغماً أرضياً في اليمن Click here for more in the UNICEF series "Poems for Peace"

* Burundi has reported over 600 cases is the second worst affected country after Congo * Around two-thirds of cases are among children

Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has denied a report by the Associated Press news agency – citing the UN but without a quote – that claims the group has suspended polio vaccinations.

 

  Our feature this week:  In "Sculpture Meets the Skyline" Myra Rudin takes us on a visit to the Rooftop Garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for an exhibition by the Kosovar sculpture, Petrit Halilaj. In addition to the fascinating sculptures, Myra's photos also offer exciting views of the Manhattan skyline. Halilaj is himself a refugee from war and has dedicated his work to " all the children whose lives have been interrupted and deeply scarred by wars around the globe.” 

  Doreen Lobo  commented on  " Photo of the Week - Mexican Day Parade in New York City, 15 September 2024 : Myra Rudin " 20 hours ago What a captivating image. I loved all the fine details painted on the woman's face! Thx for sharing.

Attached is the final version of the co-peace concept note, drafted by Mary Racelis, with inputs from our team. I would like to request you to include it in the next issue of News and Views and on behalf of the team.

With children at At Assada Safe Spaces, Gaza “I know we are all concerned with the situation involving Lebanon and Israel and the Secretary-General has urged all concerned to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation and any further escalation would be terrible in terms of consequences for children.

Here's a tweet by Private Eye magazine. The cartoon was originally published in 1998. Richard

The UN's Summit of the Future is scheduled to begin on Friday, but what was hoped to be one of its main output documents, the Pact for the Future, was blocked on Thursday by Russia and a coalition of autocratic governments who opposed language protecting human rights, gender equality and partnerships with civil society.

Regional directors from six UN agencies and three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) called on Wednesday for the immediate and unconditional release of scores of colleagues who have been arbitrarily detained in Yemen for 100 days.

Bragi Gudbandsson, CRC Committee The UN Committee on Child Rights on Thursday accused Israel of severe breaches of the Convention on Child Rights and said that Israel's military actions in Gaza had a catastrophic impact on them and are among the worst violations in recent history.

Kazem Abu Khalaf, UNICEF Palestine A look inside the complicated efforts to vaccinate Gaza’s children in a war zone.  Despite the challenges posed by the war, health workers managed to vaccinate approximately 560,000 children against polio.

To say the least, the General Assembly has a busy calendar for next week and until the end of September.  Even if the addresses by heads of governments / states were not enough, the GA has the Summit of the Future, two high-level meetings (Sea-level Rise and Antimicrobial Resistance), an SDG 'Moment', a general debate, and a commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.  The Assembly will hear speeches by 87 Heads of State, 2 Vice Presidents, 1 Crown Prince, 28 Heads of Government, 3 Deputy Prime Ministers and 13 Ministers. However, heads of government for four of the five permanent members will not attend (only President Biden will be there), showing that the GA is no longer perhaps the center point of international summitry.   Click here for 3 Issues on which the General Assembly must focus  by Alon Ben-Meir in DEVEX General Assembly High-level Week 2024 Illustration: United Nations Department of Global Communication 22-2...