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MY FRIEND MANOU ASSADI-BAIKI, 1933-2019 This is a personal and heartfelt tribute to the one who was the oldest and longest friend and colleague I have had in our respective careers with UNICEF. Manou and I went back to almost sixty years of friendship starting with our beginnings as young and junior staff in UNICEF, he in Tehran and I in Beirut. Over this period there have been many permutations in our respective lives, travels and careers, but we maintained that closeness throughout. Funny, but I met his wife Farideh before actually meeting Manou; she was visiting Beirut and we met at a dinner party at mutual friends of the Iranian Embassy. I knew of course of Manou but was delighted to meet Farideh first and to learn more about her husband. Manou was a couple of years older and he joined UNICEF one year before me, in 1958. When we met at a regional event in Beirut around 1960, we immediately bonded as we learned the commonalities in our respective li...

Elijah Cummings Credit: Washington Post I was reading about the late congressman Elijah Cummings who just passed away and have found these beautiful words about children: “ Our children are our living messengers to a future we will never see”. A great advocate for children has left. Warmly Fritz

Credit: New Straits Times Read article "Ironically, both the Heritage Foundation and Simon Fraser University rank Hong Kong as having the most economic freedom in the entire world, yet Hong Kong residents despair of their freedom to choose what to do with their lives. In all three countries, urban young people not born into wealth despair of their chances of finding affordable housing and a decent job. In Hong Kong, property prices relative to average salaries are among the highest in the world . Chile has the highest income inequality in the OECD, the club of high-income countries. In France, children of elite families have vast advantages in their life course."

Photos of Manou Assadi We have opened a special album for photos of Manou Assadi.  If you have any, please add them directly, or let us know and we will post them for you. Click here  to see the album and add your own Editor's note - we edited for clarity some of the photos in this album.

"I believe that all of us have a mission and if we have made a difference, we have accomplished our mission.  Children are voiceless. If you are able to reflect their needs, through your programme, you are accomplishing a mission." Manou Assadi, then State Representative for UNICEF in Madhya Pradesh, India - News article from Bhopal newspaper

     Period from 13 to 27 October 2019 Manou Assadi, RIP Habib Hammam It is with great sadness that I advise of the passing of our friend and colleague Manou Assadi in Tehran early this morning. He had been fighting a prostate cancer and had gone to Tehran in the Spring to see members of his family. There was a relapse after which he was not able to travel. The last time I spoke to him he told me that he has had a good life and was contented. He recalled good times as a friend and mentioned several UNICEF colleagues. He passed on peacefully with Farideh by his side. ( Continue reading ) Ready or Not Just One Month Until CRC@30 November 20th Marks 30 Years of the CRC UNICEF Needs Your Help Nicolas Pron and Michelle Siegel November 20th is International Children's Day and it is the 30th anniversary of the CRC.   It's children's day.  It is UNICEF's day. It is a day we all should celebrate the progress of the past 30 years.  We invite all o...