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Comments from our readers 21 December 2024 to 11 January 2025

 

Jan 5, 2025
Very nice! Thank you. Happy newyear. Barbara
Thank you Tom for sharing these wonderful pictures and for keeping us in the loop.
Many thanks for you wishes Jan and Ines! Wishing you both a happy, peaceful 2025! Take care
Jan 2, 2025
Thank you Tom for this look back, and to you and the Editorial Team an even bigger Thank You for keeping us so well informed and in contact throughout the year(s). Your (plural) efforts are very much appreciated.
Wishing you all all the very best for 2025.
May there be peace.
Jan 1, 2025
Terrific !!! Loved it
As we close the door
On the past year 2024
Here is a Ditty for
Our XUNICEF and its lore.
So let us together explore
Why the year was a roar.
Gone are species even down to a spore,
Climate was hottest from the hoar
A superpower fought its earlier part for
At least three years and more.
A genocide goes on with blood and gore
While a civil war continues from desert to shore.
The GPO pounded the Dems to the floor
After decades the Assads are no more.
And lesser conflicts are galore.
AI created a global uproar
And oligarchs are embarked on a chore
To become the first trillionaire or four.
But our vaunted UN, what a bore !
Despite its statements and staff valor,
Even the SG was PNG'd to even a score.
Charters and Conventions got all tore,
You cant paddle upstream with only one oar !
The best news was France's Olympics decor
And Notre Dame with a new indoor.
We hope 2025 will not be an encore,
That better days will remind us of yore
And humanity can solve all that is sore,
These lines are meant to implore
We need a better than 4 over 10 as a score.
Sharing in praying for a just and permanent peace for Palestine and stability in the whole world.
I join in complimenting Will Parks and the Tehran Office for their publication commemorating UNICEF @70. It is a welcome addition to the history of UNICEF where institutional memory has been somewhat neglected in recent years. While it is an attractive publication for advocacy and information it has some inconsistencies and omissions. I fully understand the dates are shown in the Persian calendar, but UNICEF @70 was in 2016 while 1325-1395 comes out to some 66 years. For historical purposes, the evolution of the office was as follows: Basic Agreement signed on 2 August 1951 ; in 1954 it covered Iran and Iraq under the East Mediterranean Area Office in Beirut; from 1973 it became a Country Office for Iran until 1977 when the office was closed until 1982. It re-opened as a Country Office in 1984. While the publication details some project activities it should have indicated that earlier projects like malaria eradication and transport management were among the largest and most important in the Middle East Region.
In fact there were international Reps in Tehran before 1984 including Dr. Otto Lerner and Sigurd Norberg .After Andre Roberfroid came Ibrahim Jabr (Jan 1995-Nov 1996); then Sharad Sapra 1997-99; then Suleiman Diallo 2001-02; Kari Egge (the first female Rep) 2003-05 and Christian Salazar 2006-09.
It is hoped that the office will continue this effort and produce an updated publication for UNICEF@80 in 2026.
Thank you Horst for featuring such a lovely place, even as you show the so-called ruins. You are indeed fortunate to live on this island and it shows from the manner in which you share its attributes with others. We also live on an island, but the difference is starkly apparent in its features. Still we have managed to enjoy it after thirty years.

Why an iron spike as a base?
It must be a new mystery case.
The head is definitely full of grace,
With it you scored an ace.
So pretty the head with a lace
But in what an odd place,.
She is an ideal of the human race,
Not a figure from outer space,
Nor a single flaw to trace,
But in the end, it is a different face !


Thank you Fouad <3
Can you imagine the impact all the aid money spent over the past 60-70 years, amounting to trillions of dollars in today's money, would have had if it had gone straight into the pockets of the poorest 10 per cent of the world's population? Instead, we spent most of it on ourselves, and the poorest fell further behind. Perhaps a little reflection and soul-searching would be in place in the coming new year before we leave for the next reunion.
In many ways, the Tsunami of 2004 was a turning point (click) for UNICEF and me. Twelve months after the event, most of the money was still sitting in UNICEF accounts. UNICEF had not grasped the difference between humanitarian and development aid.
Dec 25, 2024
Greetings Saad $ All Colleagues,

May this Holiday Season and and the end of 2024 usher in a Kinder and More Rewarding 2025 that will nurture and allow our collective CO-PEACE efforts to result in the unfailing protection,safety and security of all Children and Women caught in conflict.

Sincerely,

David S.Bassiouni
Dear Friends,

I wish you, and your loved ones, a beautiful Christmas and an excellent new year. Hoping that, in 2025, the Middle East and all zones of conflict will get a serious chance to enjoy a just and lasting peace. Utopia, maybe. But the wildest wishes are accepted for Christmas - and some are granted.

Hoping to get together soon. Warmest regards, saad
__________________
Saad Y. Houry
Dec 25, 2024
Sad, beautiful and inspiring. May the Almighty end the gross injustice being perpetrated against innocent children of Gaza. Baquer
Dec 24, 2024
Thanks Juan. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Kul C Gautam commented on "UNICEF for Beginners : Christian Clark"
Dec 21, 2024
Thanks for reminding us of the need to prepare such child-friendly versions of UNICEF history, Christian.
Very well put.
I recall this excellent "UNICEF for Beginners" animation book from the 1990s. We need more such books, including in the vernacular languages in various countries. The ex-DEDs' message to the ED calls for this too. With today's digital technology, UNICEF should be able to produce many versions of such history books catering to young and old, and recognizing that today's youth have increasingly short attention span!
Dec 21, 2024
Thanks. Wishing you and Inez a blessed Christmas and New Year filled with God's choice blessings in abundance.
Dec 21, 2024
Thank you so much for all the hard work you do throughout the year to bring us all together and highlight all the fascinating aspects that many have written about and pictured.

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