Luis Oliveros commented on "Unicef’s Ambassador Sebastião Salgado - A Tribute : Ellen Tolmie / PassBlue"
4 hours ago
I do not understand the criticism to his photographs. Great photographer, great person too. Long live his photographs and legacy. Until not so long ago, when he finally shifted to digital photography, he travelled with a medium format analog camera and tons of very special film rolls that made his travels a complicated logistic adventure. Thank you for the article
Saad Houry commented on "Thanks and Congratulations for "The Day Love Stopped a War" : Kul Gautam"
20 hours ago
Thank you Agop for reminding us of those inspiring moments. Was extremely happy to see you on video. Our paths rarely crossed: once in the corridors of the MENA Regional Office in Beirut; and another in Vesna's home in NY. A long time ago. Stay well. Warmest wishes, Saad
Kul Gautam commented on "Unicef’s Ambassador Sebastião Salgado - A Tribute : Ellen Tolmie / PassBlue"
23 hours ago
Thank you, dear Ellen, for this beautiful tribute to Sebastião Salgado. You bring out some little-known vignettes of Salgado's life, which I found very touching and interesting.
May his noble soul rest in eternal peace.
May his noble soul rest in eternal peace.
Unknown commented on "The Development Aid Industry: Boom and Bust / Detlef Palm"
Jun 11, 2025
And it is FAR MORE THAN RATTLING OF PEARLS - i did not mean to minimise the HUGE STRESS i feel in the air - I am about to retire and get out of the way - but for others - just as they want to reach for new highs in their career - the rug is pulled out from under them. UNICEF has never experienced such a downsizing in my 30 years.
In Response to a comment by Unknown
Unknown commented on "Catherine Russell's Opening Remarks at the Executive Board"
Jun 11, 2025
Yes the hubs - a favourite new term. Old wine in smaller new bottles? They have collapsed at least a couple of ROs into one smaller hub - massive staff reduction for that and moving from one Ok place to another OK place. This came up very late in the current round of budget cut PBRs. And moving people out of HQ duty stations to the "field" - will be marginal savings vs cutting the glut of P5 and above posts in RO and HQ. My worry is the big mouths will keep their posts, take the relocation allowance, and move with their antiquities to Nairobi or Istanbul - the espresso may not be as good - but they saved us 40k or maybe less after relocation. And the quiet ones, who do their work, who add value - but never clammer for the podium or the mic on a ZOOM call - will lose their posts. They will get a good-bye kick in the backside and come severance - and start the painful process of finding work in an ever shrinking space. Not a great time to be a mid level professional with 2 or 3 kids - families will suffer.
In Response to a comment by Unknown
Unknown commented on "The Development Aid Industry: Boom and Bust / Detlef Palm"
Jun 11, 2025
100% agree. The current clutching of pearls on UNICEF's FUTURE FOCUS (meaning huge budget cuts) makes so much noise from the rattling of the pearls that we cannot even hear the reality Detlef is painting. I suspect the biggest mouths in the room will retain their posts - may have to endure move to Nairobi instead of Geneva - and that will be their FUTURE FOCUS. The silence of program country governments on the UN cuts is clear - we never mattered to them - not even a fig - and they will get on with the business of trying to lug their citizens forward. They are worried about tariffs, being blacklisted for visas when the VIP kids want to go to US Universities and being more exposed as aid budgets dry up and they have the shoulder more of it. At the UN level - and I am near retirement so still sitting in the middle of it - the UNCT where I sit just REVAMPED the complex diagramme of the UN coordination model. Nothing changed - they just changed the names of the some of the results or theme groups. It took 10 months to shift that diagramme. I am afraid what Detlef is forecasting is just the tip of the ice berg as far as the change needed. I regret that we did not equip the governments where we worked to take on this - we instead made them dependent on us and took up alot of their time in super cold AC conference rooms in 5 star hotels launching frameworks - holding small napkins full of egg rolls and shoving them in our pockets for the group photo.
Unknown commented on "The Development Aid Industry: Boom and Bust / Detlef Palm"
Jun 11, 2025
I agree, "the glory days of the aid industry are over". It's all about partnerships, those that can leverage funding, influence, knowledge, networks, financing...
Unknown commented on "Catherine Russell's Opening Remarks at the Executive Board"
Jun 11, 2025
UNICEF’s solution of the RO conundrum is to phase some out but establish « excellence hubs » in the same locations as the RO’s. As they say in Thailand, it is « same, same « .
Unknown commented on "Myra Rudin and Sylvia Roth Meet-up at Grand Central's Oyster Bar"
Jun 11, 2025
So nice to see both ladies enjoying an outing together. Sylvia has not changed much and maintains her signature bouffant hair style that many admired. Keep at it ladies and maintain posting these memorable get togethers. Fouad
Unknown commented on "Catherine Russell's Opening Remarks at the Executive Board"
Jun 10, 2025
I wonder why UNICEF dithers on closing regional offices? The last 4 years these gray zones cost more than 1 billion USD to run - that means pay salaries and exist. Likewise the bloating of HQ. We have had 20 years of lopsided growth - such that now almost one HALF of the international staff of UNICEF are sitting in HQ or RO location and not in the "trenches" at country or field office level. What organisation would ever sit down and design themselves like that? UNICEF would never fund an NGO where half of its most expensive staff are not sitting in the country? We nitpick our DCTs to not fund extra staffing in government or in CSOs - but we ourselves hold our nose when we do it? We have yet to see what the recent cuts will do - no doubt much pain and upheaval is being inflicted our colleagues and friends we all know and love. But where were the level heads 10 years ago as we bloated in size at HQ and RO locations? I brought up the stark numbers at an all staff meeting well over 7 or 8 years ago - and was soundly wrapped on the knuckles in front of the whole world for even questioning our growth trajectory. I asked, if we had a sudden down turn in revenue how would we justify the large staff cluster at P-5 and above in HQ and RO locations. I was told it is not FIELD vs HQ and I should be more sensitive. This SAME bad blood of field vs HQ came up in the current budget cut town hall meetings - and AGAIN field staff were chastised and told to be sorry for the D1s in HQ as they have less mobility options than us in the field? REALLY. Is this the moment where UNICEF will get a grip - or lose our grip on our mission?
Editors @ News & Views commented on "UNDP Showdown - the candidates, the donor grants, and what Guterres wants : Bjørn H Amland / Development Today"
Jun 10, 2025
We would love to find such a list. If you find it, please share.
In Response to a comment by Unknown
Jun 10, 2025
Here is a great oppor5unity for UNICEF to save on its budget. Do the math…..Gates will spend $10 Billion per year in Africa for the next 20 years. UNICEF spends about 40. % of its $8 Billion annual budget in Africa. So, let’s make a deal and withdraw UNICEF completely from Africa for the next 20 years, thus saving about $3.2 Billion every year which can be used in other regions, or to increase further its HQ and outlying posts. In twodecades unicef will be 100 years old , or may have completed its child related work and been integrated into some other UN (if it still exists) body. Facetiously yours.
Jun 10, 2025
Is there not another list for UNICEF ED ? That would be more interesting for our group.
Jun 10, 2025
Good initiative, but it looks like UNICEF has opted out of GVA by moving its Regional office for Central Asia to join with that of Amman for MENA. For the record, in 1973 unicef moved its European Reg Off. From Paris to GVA because the latter was less expensive (the Swiss Franc was more than 4 to the US$).History repeats itself !!! Fouad
Jun 9, 2025
The first listing ist for the new head of UNDP (does anybody care?), but the second (very speculative) listing is for the SG.
Agatha Pratt commented on "Turning a Face ......into a Portrait : George McBean"
Jun 8, 2025
Amazing art! Thank you, George.
Jun 8, 2025
May I share Kul's admiration and praise for the truly courageous and effective reporting from Gaza by James Elder. It is always an inspiration when he comes onto the BBC here, being a witness to the truth of children's lives under assault.
Jun 8, 2025
Congrats for the achievements of Unicef Canada NatCom !!!
Jun 8, 2025
Muchas gracias Bob, for the excellent, concise, and descriptive summary of our pleasant experience in the Philippines. Of course we have registered for the Zimbabwe experience and would love to join the safari to Okavango. Great idea!
Jun 8, 2025
Sad. That scrawled signature is so small minded
Rohini De Silva commented on "Hip, hip, hooray ! : Ken Gibbs"
Jun 8, 2025
😃 nice reading. Hope you are on the mend
Rohini De silva commented on "Musings on 2025 Reunion in The Philippines - Robert Hanawalt"
Jun 8, 2025
On my dream bucket list. I understand though that February which is a proposed date for the reunion is not a suitable time of the year for the delta?
In Response to a comment by Bruce Kennedy
Colin Davis commented on "Mini-Reunion in Kathmandu : Bijaya Rajbhandari"
Jun 8, 2025
Good to see you all ! good luck with the new venture!
Jun 8, 2025
Lovely set of photos! Thank you for sharing.
Mary Racelis commented on "Comments by our Readers 31 May to 7 June 2025"
Jun 7, 2025
I hope Stephen Lewis reads News and Views to learn how much his UNICEF time was appreciated by those of us who worked with him -- like me. Even more exciting is his continuing to speak truth to power and doing so with those of us who know that street demonstrations count! Among my treasured recollections of Stephen at UNICEF is the time he was going to Chile as part of a UNICEF delegation with Jim Grant. He told Jim there was no way he, Stephen, would shake the hand of Dictator-President Pinochet. Jim, always a leader who would assess trade-offs between government commitments to immunization and moral principles in development found a way UNICEF would retain its dipomatic credibiity without Stephen having to shake Pinochet's hand. I don't remember what the outcome was. Maybe if Stephen reads this he can give us more details. Hello Stephen! I never did get to join your New York seder, but valued the invitation. Come and visit me in Manila! Mary Racelis
Nancy Terreri commented on "Missing You - Sad news about Richard Reid, RIP : Bilge Bassani"
Jun 7, 2025
I have fond memories of Richard and his many accomplishments. Condolences to family and friends.
Karin Sham Poo commented on "Missing You - Sad news about Richard Reid, RIP : Bilge Bassani"
Jun 7, 2025
I am so so sorry to hear this. Richard was a wonderful human being, a great colleague and did so much for the children of the world. He will be sorely missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and all his friends
Jun 7, 2025
I am very sorry to hear of Richard's passing. He was my senior colleague and we explored together several opportunities for celebrities to promote UNICEF. May he rest in peace.
Susan Muza commented on "UNICEF Canada NatCom AGM : Niloufar Pourzand"
Jun 7, 2025
Thanks Niloufar, for something positive, with all that is happening in the world!
Jun 7, 2025
Nice of you Bob to take us on a snapshot tour of the Philippines, especially those of us who missed it. I am one of the Zimbabwe 2026 Reunion coordinators and will take your feedback into account in ensuring another memorable tour! Susan
Niloufar Pourzand commented on "Missing You - Sad news about Richard Reid, RIP : Bilge Bassani"
Jun 7, 2025
RIP our first Regional Director after the Iranian Revolution. He supported the establishment of our Office. Fond memories.
Jun 7, 2025
Thanks, Bob, for bringing back good memories of our time together in the Philippines. I would be interested in joining a safari to the Okavango.
Jun 7, 2025
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