From the Editors for 6 to 13 April 2025

 

Our feature - "Join UNICEF and see the world" is the common adage, but there is a rider attached,viz. "And collect artifacts from countries visited !". Tony Bloomberg shares with us a collection of interesting artifacts he has accumulated from his different duty stations and which he displays in his house.

Ken Gibbs entertains us with another of his series of everyday happenings, this time reflecting back to his days in South Africa and a visit to the town of Arniston, apparently famous for being the place where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meet.

Nuzhat Shahzadi shares an article on her participation and experiences in t he UN meeting on women in China .

Niloufar Pourzand shares her views on the increasingly worrisome side of travel to the US by both citizens and certain nationalities. She also shares an article on the repercussions of USAID cut backs and their adverse effects, with a silver lining related to WFP where its food aid is being restored in some countries. Does this have something to do with Ms. Cindy McCain being the Executive Director of WFP ?

John Gilmartin shares an article on the real story of "Signalgate"and the worsening situation in Yemen following the recent US air attacks.

We have three important high level statements on humanitarian issues, one by OCHA USG Tom Fletcher to the SC on Ukraine; the other a joint statement by Heads of OCHA, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNRWA, WFP on the dire circumstances in Gaza. On the latter it is interesting to note that they call for "The World" to stop the war and resume humanitarian aid , whereas it is not evident how "The World" can act when only two countries can actually do something about the crisis ! What do you think ? The third is again on Gaza where the SG makes one of his most forceful statements to date.

Tom McDermott shares an article by the head of the Red Cross and Red Crescent about the IDF's murder of first responders and humanitarian workers in Gaza.

Kul Gautam shares an interesting think piece by Sam Daley-Harris on the distortion of humanity and the purpose of humans on Earth.

Africa takes centre stage in two items; Sree Gururaja shares the very uplifting video by the young Kenyan senator Crystal Asige who is blind; and the important UNICEF launch of the " State of African Children 2025 Statistics" document with its wealth of information and statistical data.Those of us who worked in Africa will find a lot of useful material here.

UNJSPF News for April is likely to interest many retirees. Also a "Message on Investments" on the financial status of the Fund after recent ups and downs in stocks.  You may also want to see the video of  the recent Town Hall meeting where many retiree issues were discussed.  

On the lighter side Kul Gautam shares a video about "Tariffs on the Runway"..

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 Fouad Kronfol

Editor for the Week