XUNICEF News and Views

 Dear Readers - We are fortunate to have an archive of photos.  Many of them come from articles we publish, from XUNICEF reunions, or sometimes from photos members collect on Facebook, Instagram or other social media.  If you have photos you would like to add to Victor's album or the albums of other former UNICEF staff, please share them with us.   Showing the streets and shops of Vic to Viviane and Tom With Baquer Namazi?, Jim Mayrides, Alan Silverman, Marjorie Newman-Williams Grandson or Great-grandson?

What a sad news the passing of our dear friend and colleague Victor Soler-Sala. I must say that his sudden departure has caused an emotional shock to me and plunged me into a state of melancholy. That same morning, I had a conversation with Fouad Kronfol and Saad Houri enquiring about Victor. Victor and I did not work together but we were close friends exchanging whenever we met on UNICEF cooperative work, its strategy, priorities and working methods, our own work and our family life. Victor had a distinguished career in UNICEF playing a variety of important role. He began as Planning and Programme Officer and worked his way up through the ranks serving as Representative and then Regional Director MENA until his retirement. Besides his sharp intellect, his professional qualities and expertise that were well appreciated by UNICEF, in social reunion he was the bright beacon shedding light with a witty spirit and jokes. Victor had a great human warmth and a jovial attitude reflecting hi...

Victor joined UNICEF a few months before me and we had a career trajectory that was totally different over more than 30 years . We never worked in the same office throughout these long years and yet we somehow bonded into a friendship that I cherished. Although I knew about him because UNICEF was a much smaller organization in the 1960's, I first met Victor when we were both members of an Appointments & Promotion Committee in NYHQ in the 1970's. In that short time we somehow bonded. Our relationship grew when I was Rep. in Hanoi and Victor was in Jakarta.In those few years we saw each other more often in various EAPRO regional meetings and especially in the annual Reps. meetings. One of the most memorable ones was the meeting in 1982 in Bali which Victor hosted.I attach two photos of that event, one of which shows all the Reps together with Titi Memet the Regional Director and Manou Assadi representing NYHQ. In those days w...

Editor's Note:   Victor Soler-Sala contributed this article to our March 2021 Quarterly Newsletter.  In honour of Victor we are republishing the article to mark the sad news of his passing earlier this week. A Long Journey with UNICEF for Children - the Beginnings On arrival in New York in September 1958, I was assigned to the Regional Office of the Americas. The Regional Office was located in New York, because of the limited air routes available within Latin America. It was the best point to travel to every country office in the region. UNICEF then was a very different organization. The two main programmes were milk distribution (as is shown in the UNICEF emblem of the time) and malaria eradication. Two Boards sessions were held each year at which individual projects were presented only after the technical approval of WHO. I worked on the malaria eradication programme - yet at that point my only knowledge being that nets were needed to protect oneself from mo...

 Editor's Note :  Victor was a very frequent contributor to News & Views.  You can view some of his many posts and articles by clicking here .  The UNICEF and XUNICEF family will miss him greatly.   We do not yet have full information, but for now condolences can be sent to the Soler-Sala family at Whatsapp number +34 665 68 03 09. Dear Friends and Family, We sadly and with great love would like to let you know that Victor peacefully passed away this morning, in Barcelona, at 89 years of age.  For those who had a friendship throughout these years, you will appreciate the fact that he has had a full personal and professional life.   Our family will miss Victor as well his wife Suzanne who passed in 2021. We will cherish memories of Victor & Suzanne forever. 🙏♥️🌹  PD:  For those who'd like to pay their respects, they may do so this coming Saturday 22nd of April between 16h-21h at the "Tanatori Sant Gervasi" in Barcelona (C...

 

I wish everyone a happy weekend with the symphony of birds. Victor  

Music of Louis Armstrong

 

Heinz Holliger Alfred Cortot Johann Sebastian Bach: two versions of the same piece. First the Largo from the c.1738 keyboard concerto no.5 in F minor BWV 1056 (arranged and played by Alfred Cortot), followed by the Sinfonia from the 1729 Cantata "Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe" BWV 156 (played by Heinz Holliger).

Lyon Cathedral looks like Notre Dame - Victor Read the original article in iGuzzini From 5 to 8 December 2019 the Festival of Lights returns to Lyon: “A popular event, but also a quality event,” says Jean-François Zurawik, director of the festival since 2005 and today on the eve of his last year in this role. For Zurawik, organising a “popular” event means being realistic about the quantity and variety of people attending the festival. In 2018, 1.8 million people came from France, Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere, and, therefore, it is essential to create installations that have as wide an appeal as possible. Lyon is not a context suited to ‘cerebral’ installations.  The historical reason for this is that the festival was originally created as a simple and spontaneous act of religious devotion. Having already put off unveiling a statue of the Virgin on account of a flood, on 8 December 1852 the people of Lyon were afraid they would have to put the celebrations off again due...

The Sagan Series is an educational project working in the hopes of promoting scientific literacy in the general population. Be sure to check out the rest of the series here: http://saganseries.com/ Created by @ReidGower http://twitter.com/reidgower

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdp1LfUkaY4 Okaïdi and Playing for Change are teaming up to unite and help children around the world trough music. Wherever you come from, whatever political, economic, spiritual or ideological beliefs you might have, music has the power to break down barriers and unite us all.  Strongly convinced of this, the Playing For Change movement was set up to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The movement funds projects such as building schools or running music education programmes around the world.  Okaïdi and Playing for Change share the same values of commitment, being open to others and fraternity. So it was only natural that they should team up to bring children together using an optimistic, universal song known by all generations. The song was rearranged and performed by 3 children's choirs from 3 different cultures and continents (North America, Africa and Europe) who were accompanied by the Playing for Change music...

Happy Lily of the Valley Day / Happy First of May to All! HISTORY OF THE HOLIDAYS There are several stories about the origin of France's May Day customs, with some going back as far as the Celtic "Tree of May" and the Renaissance's "Fête de la Terre." One widely held belief dates to the 1560s, when King Charles IX of France was presented with du muguet by a knight named Louis de Girard de Maisonforte. The king enjoyed the gift so much he began to present the ladies of his court with the flowers each year on the first of May. The French Labor Day was inspired by an 1886 strike in Chicago, where 35,000 workers walked out of their jobs and led a national movement for an eight-hour work day. A few years later, France established their own Labor Day with the same intention. It became a paid holiday (un jour férié) in 1941.

The  Aleluya song  composed  by Leonard Cohen has a mystical tone that elevates my spirit.  I and all of us yearn for Peace in this Easter season of Spring.  May Peace prevail  over any and all armed conflicts throughout our world.  All my Easter love to the whole XUNICEF family.   Victor

Students provide the percussion. Victor 5ème Symphonie de BEETHOVEN pour Percussions corporelles Interprétée par le Choeur des Colibris du Collège Saint Michel Garicoïts de Cambo (Pays Basque) Dans les jardins de la Villa Arnaga Musée Edmond Rostand Arrangement et Direction: Nelly Guilhemsans Images et Réalisation: Michel Jakobi Son et Mixage: Patrick Fischer Drone: Fabrice Viguier Et les 185 Colibris

Happy Birthday to Giacomo Puccini! In his wistful aria “O mio babbino caro” (from “Gianni Schicchi”), a daughter pleads with her father to let her marry her true love. Renée Fleming was the soloist in this Waldbühne performance, with Ion Marin conducting »