Heard on the Grapevine - Feedback from current UNICEF HQs staff

Grapevine

Have you heard from colleagues who are still working or who have recently left UNICEF?  Let us know what you hear.

....

From chats with a few current HQ staff: 

Word from HQ is grim.

Around 94% of programme staff have been handed abolishment letters. Those with 20+ years can take a year’s pay and early retirement; others are scrambling for posts in the new regional hubs or moving on entirely. Some are already gone.

Even Regional Directors are caught up—though expected to land elsewhere. Meanwhile, senior brass at the DED level seem untouched, fuelling grumbles.

Morale? In the basement. Less email traffic, less exchange, and Town Halls that leave more questions than answers.

Field offices are somewhat protected, but middle-income countries like Jamaica, Uzbekistan, and the Maldives will lose their UNICEF presence. (Maldives will be covered from Sri Lanka.)

Donors are shifting too—Gavi now channels funds straight to governments, telling UNICEF to get what it needs from them. Consultants, especially in immunisation, have been let go. Whole pieces of work are simply being dropped.

Child protection is taking hits, along with almost every other programme. No sign UNICEF is seriously tracking the impact—beyond citing outside reports like The Lancet.

The Gaza crisis and other conflicts have battered the UN’s reputation, and in some capitals there are whispers about UNICEF’s future. In India, the government is leaning more on CSR funds for development work it can directly manage.

Not all is gloom: Jean Gough is drawing praise for keeping the OPT office steady and constructive in her post-retirement role as Representative a.i.