XUNICEF News and Views

Fort Snelling National Cemetery - Minneapolis Opinion | The Greatest Generation fought fascism. Let's not forget their lessons.

  Dear Friends, I regret having to write you again about the famine and horrors caused by the civil war in Sudan - and to ask for your support of the brave, often young, Sudanese who are working on the ground to feed the famished and treat the sick and wounded in local Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs). But the disaster is at least as horrific as it was when I last wrote. And the work of the ERRs remains as brave and important… and dangerous … as ever.

Dear Friends and Friends who are also Relatives, I am writing again about the war in Sudan, which grinds on, largely off-camera, with its attendant, horrific human suffering. I attach a recent column by Nicholas Kristof on the carnage. His is a strong but almost singular voice calling attention to the Sudanese catastrophe. He refers to the heroic, grass roots efforts of the mostly young Sudanese, often women, who are running the Emergency Response Rooms that offer local help to the suffering: food, medical care, spaces where young children can be children. These are the people for whom I asked your support in my last message, through the Mutual Aid Sudan organization. I attach also that message. Their work has not gone completely unnoticed. They have just won the Rafto prize for their work, awarded by a Norwegian human rights organization. Previous laureates of this prize included Aung San Suu Kyi, Jose Ramos-Horta, Kim Dae-Jung and Shirin Ebadi, who went on to win the Nobel Peace Pri...

Article shared by Viviane Sakkal This article was co-written by John Prendergast and Tony Lake, former Executive Director of UNICEF "No country is doing enough to end the suffering, but some countries are actively fueling and benefiting from Sudan’s civil war. "

Article shared by Anthony Lake Anthony Lake is a former national security advisor and former Executive Director of UNICEF, and John Prendergast is co-founder of The Sentry .

by Anthony Lake When I recall, as I often do, my time at UNICEF (the best professional days of my life), I don't think first about policies, programs or resources. I remember people. Our UNICEF colleagues, international and national, of course. (More about them later.) We shared so much hard work and I still share, with many, such strong friendships. And my colleagues in other agencies, like Margaret Chan, who (with my amused permission) always called me “her sister”, even in front of puzzled public audiences. But first of all, I remember the children. Children whose courage and laughter, sometimes in terrible circumstances, were always so infectious. I was always reminded of this by the look on Audrey Hepburn’s face in the very large photograph I kept outside my office. You could see the smiles of the children surrounding her reflected in her own evident, beautiful joy. (I attach a similar photo of her, and one of Danny Kaye, to illustrate the point.) I recall children like Saja i...