XUNICEF News and Views

Happy New Year. Hope all well. Pleased to share a study on the Impacts of 4IR on marginalized and vulnerable groups in ASEAN countries which was conducted last year and just published by the ASEAN Secretariat-Jakarta. I was the Deputy Regional Research lead for this study which was commissioned by the ASEAN Secretariat and the Senior Officials Ministers of Social Development (SOMWSD) in ASEAN – funded by the Asia Foundation and IDRC-Canada.

Greetings from Bhutan.  I am here to help UNICEF Bhutan develop a Second Decade Strategy for UNICEF for adolescents and young people. As part of my schedule, I delivered a lecture on the SDGs to about 60 B.A. students and 10 Faculty members of the Faculty Sustainable Development, Center for Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan in Punakha. 

Greetings from Bangkok. Pleased to share this research work on "ASEAN Study on the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Marginalised and Vulnerable Groups" - which was presented at a Validation Workshop with ASEAN member states, commissions, national researchers and others in Bangkok. I am the Deputy of the Regional Research Team for this study working together with 10 national consultants from all ASEAN member states.

Happy New Year. Please checkout my new website just launched: https://vpkconsulting.com

Report shard by Victor Karunan As a member of the Intergenerational Advisory Committee of the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP) - pleased to share this summary report of the "Roundtable Discussion" on "How Adults Can Listen & Engage With Young People" held on 20 November 2023. Victor

Send to us by Victor Karunan NEW BOOK: Children’s Rights in Professional Practices with Children and Youth – Tara Collins, December 2024

Shared by Victor Karunan Greetings from Bangkok. In case you have not seen this recent report on funding for child protection in humanitarian action. Victor Karunan From the Esecutive Summary Child protection needs and funding requirements continued to rise in 2023, with total child protection requirements across all UN-coordinated appeals reaching $1.5 billion. However, child protection only accounted for 2.5% of total HRP requirements, indicating significant underfunding. While child protection funding has increased, it remains disproportionately underfunded compared to other humanitarian sectors. The recommendations emphasize the importance of prioritizing child protection in humanitarian responses by integrating it into all planning, advocacy, and resource mobilization efforts. Humanitarian leadership should ensure that child protection is recognized as a life-saving priority and is adequately funded across all sectors. Additionally, there is a call for enhancing support for loca...

E ditor's note: Last week we published "Are We On Mute?" , a survey of youth attitudes to politics conducted by UNICEF USA and the Harris Poll. We asked Victor Karunan, as our expert on youth issues, to review the study, as we felt that the findings could be important not just for readers in the US, but also for other countries.  Many thanks to Victor for his keen insights and expert advice. A Review Prepared by UNICEF USA by the Harris Poll by Victor P. Karunan, Bangkok, Thailand This is a short review of the UNICEF USA sponsored Harris Poll conducted in May 2024. The overall purpose of this research was to poll young people’s views and perspectives on the political process in the USA leading up to the Presidential Elections in November 2024. The survey was conducted between April-May 2024 among 3,194 teens/young adults – including 1,598 aged 14 to 17 years. The online poll covered the following key topic areas: ♣ Issues of greatest importance and concern ♣ Attitudes...

Hi from Bangkok. I wrote this endorsement for a new book coming out in Sep 2024. For favour of publication XUNICEF weekly digest and website.  Thanks Victor Victor Karunan Voices of Activists and Academics Working with children in communities Vicky Johnson , Tessa Lewin , Andrew West Click here for the publisher's webpage for this book Over the past three decades, research and intervention processes have been left wanting by the lack of the substantive inclusion of children and young people, as well as the challenge of adultism − the ongoing and systematic disregard of many children and youth in decision-making. This book is inspired by the dedication of people across global contexts who have worked with children in communities to improve their lives, many of whom started out as youth activists. The inspirational authors of the chapters, many more who also work across global contexts with children in communities, and the editors own varied journeys in academia and activism have f...

I attended this conference in my capacity as a member of the Inter-Generational Advisory Committee. The ICCRP was formed in 2015 to focus attention on the interconnections between children’s rights to participation and protection. It seeks to develop new, innovative and research directions to examine how intergenerational relationships between adults and children can transcend current barriers to implementing children’s rights through intergenerational partnerships in research, policy and practice. The ICCRP is supported in part from funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Ontario Research Fund in Canada. The network brings together children and adolescents from Scotland, Brazil, South Africa, Bolivia and Canada, child rights academics, researchers and experts and over 30 partner organisations representing universities, NGOs, human rights institutions and governments in Canada and in multiple countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oce...