Our feature for the week
Detlef Palm with his inimitable touch of humor takes us on a journey through his 'dream destinations' of Pirates, Penguins, Patagonia, the triple 'P', which he calls the latest update on UNICEF manual for Program, Policy and Procedure. It's a breathtaking journey by sea, coast to coast, of Latin America, embarking at Valparaiso and ending in Buenos Aires, skirting Cape Horn and calling at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. The photography is awesome. I am sure you will enjoy his narration as well.
Our columnists
Tracing the origin of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) from post-WWII era and decolonization to the present day, Ramesh Shrestha raises questions about its nature and motivation as he moves on to explore long-term consequences of "aid dependency". He concludes with examples of good practices and counterexamples, calling for a shift from dependency by building local capacity, improving accountability, and with governments taking more responsibility for long-term development. Read on to discover why he has captioned his article: "Thank you, Mr. President T".
Nuzhat Shahzadi takes us through her stroll as she steps into a CVS store, partly out of habit and partly "browsing", when she notices empty shelves and recalls how, before moving to the US, she was used to scarcity. By chance, she meets with a friendly store clerk, a young refugee from Afghanistan who has only recently arrived, and they bond together through empathy and connection across differences. You have to read through to the end as to why Nuzhat has chosen "Dancing Through the Fire" as her caption to the article.
The Grapevine
With UN80 approaching and the pressures for reforms, we provide you a forum where we place the anonymous and random murmurs we hear from inside the UNICEF bubble. Keep in mind that what we hear is gossip, and is not verified. This week, we hear of apprehensions around post change and what it feels like being in a game of musical chairs. We also hear of "a simmering feud between MENARO and ECRO on an acceptable structure for merging." Here's your link to More UNICEF Chatter
UN80
We provide you here a link to an online article by Eli Stokols carried by POLITICO online, featuring
Trump's Address to UN General Assembly where Trump blasts the UN for "not even coming close to living up to (its) potentials." Trump in turn suggests that the organization was either ignoring or exacerbating problems around the world that were being left to him to fix.
Thomas Ekvall has shared a link with a summary to a lead article in the Financial Times, which explores the question:
Can the UN save itself from irrelevance?" Drawing reference to President Trump's address at the General Assembly, the article argues the UN is under severe strain, with its founding ideals being tested by an increasingly fragmented, conflict-ridden world.
Heather Cox Richardson's scathing comments on
Trump's UN speech published in "Letters from an American" and shared with further comments by
John Gilmartin adds to the controversy around what the writer calls "a dark fantasy of narcissism and Christian nationalism that struck at the very heart of the United Nations."
NewsLinks
There is much to catch up on in the
NewsLink we have put together for the week. Gaza continues to make the news. We have an Al Jazeera report on Trump's "Gaza Plan" proposing regional troops to oversee Gaza after a possible Israeli withdrawal and transition to a Palestinian Authority role, excluding Hamas. There is more on Gaza and Afghanistan to read in the news links and much more.
We have an important update on your UN Health Insurance (ASHI) contributions for all those who participate. You may click
here to read it
Other contributions
Tom McDermott has shared
An Alternative Approach to the Rohingya Situation", a report prepared by United Against Inhumanity (UAI) ad UNA-UK, which critiques the current relief and rehabilitation strategy as inadequate, unsustainable and harmful and proposes a broader long-term approach through inclusive dialogue leading to safe and voluntary repatriation.
Read also the
MAGA Meltdown over Escalator and the speculations in circulation around the incident. While the White House Deputy Chief of Staff has called it "bullshit", Fox News seems to suggest: "They sabotaged them and they could have hurt the first lady, " and continues with, "This is an insurrection. We either need to leave the UN or we need to bomb it." Take it in good humor if you must.
Toons of the Week
To sum up all the raging debates of the week, and in a lighter mood, we have chosen for you these
Toons of the Week to enjoy.
Concluding piece
We end this page with a contribution from
Doreen Lobo titled
Who Am I? author unknown. It's a soul searching reflection on how we live our lives. The ending strikes a poignant note with thoughts on values, family and love, which we tend to overlook in our younger days. They come with added meaning in our autumnal years.
Editor for the Week
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