UNWIND

UN TRANSLATIONS

I only recently encountered the google translater.  It's a great free service and covers all six languages of the United Nations and much more.  While I doubt it cannot replace the use of translators for the large documents it will be certainly of help to UN staff for small communications of e-mail and letter in their daily course of work.  If I had this web facility during my workiing years it would have made my work so much easier.

UNICEF HISTORY THROUGH STAMPS

Fuad Kronfol has done an yeomen job of presenting to the Division of Communication his collecion of stamps depicting child rights for UNICEF's 60 year celebrations.

Many colleagues have continued to send Fuad additional materials (stamps and envelopes) he is now organizing the collection from a broader perspective....ie. stamps and covers depicting not only unicef per se, but those commemorating various events and activites that unicef was involved in, even if not the main actor (malaria , small pox, Freedom from Hunger, world education, women's day,AIDS , etc.).

We may hopefully see a Fuad Kronfol exhibit in Montreal, Ottawa and may Toronto soon.

Congratulations Fuad.

UN ETHICS - REVISITED

UNICEF invites applicants for a D1 post of Principal Ethics Adviser. Ethics became a pressing issue in the UN in the wake of the oil-for-food scandals.

STANDARDIZATION VS. HARMONIZATION

Professional domains, such as science, law, and medicine, developed expressive capabilities and became increasingly standardized. A standardization of the English language for instance as a whole was tremendous progress.

CHANGE IN ECONOMIC MODELS MAY AFFECT HQ SIZE

In the early 70s and before, UN expatriate staff posted to field offices without much ado about the quality of the candidate when the field office was an emergency and difficult duty-station.

ETHICS AS A WAY OF LIFE IN THE UN - REALITY OR DREAMING?

UN Staffers subject to new ethical guidelines is about how the U.N. Secretariat, which faces ongoing charges of mismanagement and corruption, will provide advice and guidance to staff members on ethics and public morality.

To get this process going the UN has newly established an Ethics Office and is now publicly calling for candidates to fill the position of Director of Ethics at the D2 level and three professional officers.   The functions of the Ethics Office include administration of the UN’s policies of Financial Disclosure and protection for reporting misconduct.  Qualified candidates may apply on-line at http://jobs.un.org under the category Administration by June 30, 2006.  Women are particularly encouraged to apply. However, the big question is whether ethics can be a way of life in the UN system.

UN BASHING - THINK AGAIN

Yeah, some of you bash the UN, like slamming a wash cloth on a rock stone. This bashing is narrowly in reference to the political organ of the UN, the UN Secretariat, war issues like Iraq and the scandals on the oil-for food program and sexual abuse, and so on. This is important, but just the tip of the iceberg, of the UN. Next time you go to NYC, do take a UN tour.

Think of the UN agencies that keep the pressure on governments to give better opportunities to women. Think of the pressure that the UN puts on governments to educate children and not use them as labor. Think of the UN agencies that push for reducing mortality and fertility, slowing population growth, promoting responsible family planning, create incentives for the poor to work, target the poor for basic education and health, etc. Think of the pollution to the planet caused by the industrial revolution. That engine of growth has created prosperity for humanity but at a cost to the planet and the future generations. As China and India grow in prosperity and each household demands more and more, the rest of the world will also demand more and more. We could run out of trees and fish in the sea and now there is fear that the world can run out of drinking water.

The UN and its allied agencies are working hard to make this world a better place for the current generation as well as the unborn one. It is not easy, as the demands are much greater than available resources.

The UN is a heavy bureaucracy argues the critics. Unnecessary bureaucracy grows in any organization and it is necessary to address this issue every few years. It is sufficient to say that in some respects the UN is guilty of talking by the foot and taking action by the inch. However, unlike a corporation the UN cannot take direct action, it must reach consensus, before putting an ideology into action, that requires time and resources, which in turn requires a structure which you can say is more bureaucratic than a private corporation. The UN political organs are by themselves powerless; they get their power and resources from the member nations. On the development side, the UN has to cope up with the mandates of its contributors and the donors exercise the vast authority. It is up to the UN agencies to be good at execution.

UN PEACEKEEPERS - MORE THAN KEEPING THE PEACE

One more time, UN Peacekeepers trade food for sex.  This is just too disgusting to ignore when the girls are as young as 8-years old.  UNICEF, the protector of children, may also need to have a program to target the UN Peacekeepers that they should not harm the people they are hired to  protect, especially, the children. Incidents like this are sure to set a flame in the industrialized world on the ethical behavior of UN personnel. Sadly, any incident with the name UN pegged reverberates to the rest of the UN family and gives the Save the Children the glow in the sun.