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Melanne Verveer's Subject Files
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Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. list
re: Organizer for James P. Grant Oral History [partial] (1 page)
02/09/1995
b(6)
002. report
re: UN reform (4 pages)
07/1997
P1/b(1)
003. list
re: non-selection (3 pages)
n.d.
b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 20056
FOLDER TITLE:
UNICEF [1]
2013-0534-S
rc1739
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - 15 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
Clinton Presidential Records
Digital Records Marker
This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative
marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a publication.
Publications have not been scanned in their entirety for the purpose
of digitization. To see the full publication please search online or
visit the Clinton Presidential Library's Research Room.
The Launch of the UNICEF
8
Report - The State of the Worlds
Children 1994
On the occasion
of
THE LAUNCH OF THE
UNICEF REPORT
The State of the World's Children
1994
THE WHITE HOUSE
Tuesday, December 21, 1993
MAUREEN WHITE
998 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10028
September 21, 1999
The Honorable Hillary R. Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Hillary:
A brief note simply to express my thanks for taking some of your "down time" to talk with me
on the Vineyard about UNICEF funding issues. Your support for UNICEF is very much
appreciated.
As I mentioned during our chat, Carol Bellamy and her senior staff are hopeful that the
President's FY 2001 request for UNICEF can, for the first time, include a modest increase in
the U.S. voluntary contributions to UNICEF. Such an increase would send a strong signal of
U.S. support for UNICEF's program agenda on behalf of women and children just as
UNICEF is striving, along with its partners such as USAID, to accelerate actions in the field.
As I have learned in the course of the last two Executive Board meetings, UNICEF is
addressing two agendas simultaneously - the unfinished business of the World Summit for
Children goals which are nearing their decades anniversary and the "future agenda" which is
focussed on early child care and development; education, particularly for girls; and the
challenge of the growing numbers of adolescents facing issues such as HIV/AIDS.
All this to note that UNICEF does indeed need as much support from the U.S. as possible. It
would be terrific if the President, in the last year of your Administration, were to announce
an increase for UNICEF.
For your information I am attaching a copy of Carol's recent letter to Secretary Albright
regarding UNICEF's progress and resource need.
Again, many thanks for your leadership on this and so many things.
Sincerely,
Kaureen
SEP. 15' 99 (WED) 15:14
PFO UNICEF NY
TEL: 212 326 7165
P. 002
unicef
Office of the Executive Director
United Nations Children's Fund
UNICEF House
Fonds des Nations Unies pour l'enfance
3 United Nations Plaza
Fondo de las Naciones Unidas pera la Infancia
New York. New York 10017
(212) 326.7035
Telex: 49620192 / FAX: (212) 326-7758
8 September 1999
Dear Madam Secretary:
I am writing to follow-up on our meeting earlier this summer concerning issues and
funding related to UNICEF. Recalling your concerns about the persistent scarcity of resources
for International Affairs, I want you to know that whenever possible I have tried to encourage the
various American constituencies with whom I come into contact to express their support for
American leadership in the international arena. My colleagues at the U.S. Committee for
UNICEF and I will continue to make this point and as we raise awareness about the state of the
world's children.
As I mentioned during Our meeting, we are requesting that the U.S. voluntary
contribution to UNICEF's General Resources be $120 million for fiscal year 2001. Although this
will be an increase in funding over the amount for Fiscal Year 2000, I believe it is necessary in
order to make progress toward the decade goals adopted at the 1990 World Summit for Children.
The funding increase from the United States will be the right signal to send to the world, and
indeed to the American public, as we enter the new millennium.
I understand that the Department's resources are stretched and that you now have to make
difficult decisions about how to allocate them. The United States has been historically
UNICEF's leading donor and we are most grateful for this support. I believe that it is very much
in the interest of the United States to continue to lead the public and private international
response to the remaining Summit goals and the "future" agenda for children.
Frankly, the children's agenda has grown. We will continue to work to save the lives of
children. However, we also must place emphasis on education, especially for girls; address the
growing number of children with HIV/AIDS and AIDS orphans; assist children who have been
forced to serve as child soldiers or are sexually assaulted; and address a wide range of other
health and child rights issues. It is clear to our Board and staff that UNICEF will need additional
resources to maintain the technical capacity to meet the challenge of this expanded agenda.
H. E. Ms. Madeleine Albright
Secretary of State
Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
2
TEL: 212 326 7165
P. 003
SEP.. 15' 99 (WED) 15:14 PFO UNICEF NY
-
- 2 -
The fact is, we need to ensure that UNICEF can seize the opportunities presented by the
foundations we have built for child survival and position ourselves to address the early childhood
challenges presented by the largest ever generation of children and youth.
I want to assure you that UNICEF is moving forward on all fronts to address issues of
reform. In order for us to achieve what we need to do for children, we must simultaneously make
sure that these services are well justified and soundly implemented.
Thank you again for taking the time to meet with me. I appreciate your consideration of
our request for $120 million for next year, and look forward to fully briefing David Welch and
others in the Department on UNICEF's program agenda and progress.
Warmest thanks,
Sincerely,
CA
Carol Bellamy
Executive Director
3
Date: 01/29/95 Time: 12:10
UNICEF Ex-Director James Grant Dead at 72
UNITED NATIONS (AP) James P. Grant, the crusading director of
UNICEF who won the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his efforts to
improve children's health around the world, died Saturday, two days
after resigning for health reasons. He was 72.
The cause of death was cancer, according to a statement from the
United Nations Children's Fund. It said he died at a hospital in
Mount Kisco, N.Y.
Grant had been battling the disease for the past few years and
his condition had recently deteriorated. On Thursday, his deputy,
Richard Jolly, was appointed acting executive director.
As UNICEF head, Grant emphasized simple, low-cost methods of
improving pediatric health, such as immunization and oral
rehydration.
Since 1980, when the took over as head of UNICEF, the percentage
of children receiving immunizations in the developing world has
risen from 20 percent to 80 percent.
Grant traveled the world, meeting with more than 100 government
leaders. He always carried a packet of oral rehydration salts in
his pocket, as well as a note on the number of children killed by
preventable diseases.
The salts are used to treat children suffering from diarrhea, a
leading child killer in developing countries.
''Very few men or women ever have the opportunity to do as much
good in the world as James Grant; and very few have ever grasped
that opportunity with such complete and dedicated commitment,'
U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said in a statement
Saturday.
''He will be remembered as a most distinguished servant of the
United Nations and as one of the greatest international public
servants of his generation, Boutros-Ghali said.
Grant was born in Beijing on May 22, 1922. He graduated from the
University of California at Berkeley in 1943 and Harvard University
Law School in 1951.
A U.S. citizen, Grant was a founding member, president and
director general of the Overseas Development Council before joining
UNICEF. He served in the U.S. Agency for International Development
from 1954 to 1969.
He was a moving force behind the 1989 U.N. Convention on the
Rights of the Child, which UNICEF called a '`Magna Charta for
children The convention recognizes children's political,
economic and social rights, and UNICEF said it had been ratified by
more nations than any other human rights treaty.
Grant was also a key organizer of the World Children's Summit in
1990, which set children's health goals that are now incorporated
in the national health plans of some 100 nations.
In August 1994, President Clinton presented Grant with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work on pediatric health.
''Throughout his long career, Jim Grant was a visionary leader,
one of the most distinguished international public servants of our
time, Clinton said in a statement Saturday.
''Today, we have lost a personal friend and American hero and
champion of children throughout the world. We will all miss him.''
Grant is survived by his wife, three sons from his previous
marriage, two step-daughters, a step-son and eight grandchildren.
Nate
Lissa
The Washington Times
POLITICA DISPATCHES
MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 1995
Power-sharing shakes
California Assembly
Still, Republicans, who say Mr.
UNICEF
By Steven-A. Capps
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Brown became speaker only
through trickery, remain suspi-
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - New
cious of the new rules.
rules that came into effect after
"You really think the Democrats
leader
Willie Brown's surprising election
adopted rules that don't give Willie
as California Assembly speaker
Brown any power?" Republican
last week alter the dynamics be-
leader Jim Brulte asked last week.
tween the two parties and will
Mr. Brown, as speaker, presides
Grant
change the face of politics in the
over the Assembly, which still af-
Capitol.
fords him considerable authority,
Legislation that routinely was
like ruling on the propriety of a
killed in the past by Democrats-
given motion from the floor. Also,
dies at 72
who were in control of all key com-
under Masons Manual of Proce-
mittees may be alive and kick-
dure, he may cast a vote to break
ing in 1995. Bills sponsored by
any tie vote in committee, or on the
Democrats that were slam-dunks
floor, Mr. Brown said last week.
before could be DOA now.
That didn't set well with some of
By Evelyn Leopold
"You're going to see a lot more
the more adamant Republicans,
REUTERS NEWS AGENCY
mainstream legislation pass," pre-
like Larry Bowler of Elk Grove.
James Grant pioneered low-cost
dicted one top legislative aide.
"Democracy's in peril," Mr.
NEW YORK - James Grant,
whose 15-year leadership of the
health care for the world's children.
"This is a new era," proclaimed
Bowler said Friday.
one of the Legislature's senior
Mr. Brown claims GOP suspi-
U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF)
members, Democrat Tom Bates,
cions are unfounded. "I guarantee,
brought the agency international
rehydration and breastfeeding
who has represented his Berkeley
at each stage in the development
admiration, has died at the age of
that could be instituted through-
district for more than 18 years.
of this new house operation, you
72 after more than a year's strug-
out the world's poorest countries.
The rules were drafted by
are going to find the Republicans
gle with cancer.
He carried a sachet of oral re-
Democrats who no longer have a
scrambling for reasons to oppose
A pioneer in low-cost health
hydration salts in his pocket to
majority of seats in the house and
it," he said. "And they are going to
care for the world's children and a
demonstrate a cheap method of
say they therefore cannot expect
find it very hard to so do.
public relations genius, Mr. Grant
preventing death from diarrhea
to run its committees. There are
"You ought to take Democrats at
stayed in his post as UNICEF's ex-
disease. Immunization levels in
currently 39 Democrats, 39 Re-
their word and their deed," he said.
ecutive director until Thursday,
the developing world have risen
publicans and one Republican-
Under a deadline imposed by
saying he could no longer continue
from about 20 percent in 1980 to
turned-independent, whose vote
Democrats, the new bipartisan op-
his exhaustive work schedule.
almost 80 percent today, and polio
allowed Mr. Brown to become
erating rules must be finalized by
His death on Saturday in a hos-
victims have fallen from half a
speaker on Tuesday.
early February, or the old rules
pital in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., brought
million a year to fewer than
The new rules also may be the
that gave the speaker even more
tributes from U.N. Secretary-
100,000.
only way Democrats hope to ap-
Mr. Grant was a tireless fund-
power will be put back into effect.
General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
pease Republicans who in the not-
The new Republican committee
and President Clinton, who a year
raiser with a knack for publicity
too-distant future could have a ma-
chairmen are wasting no time set-
ago awarded him the Presidential
and an ability to persuade celebri-
jority of seats in the Assembly.
ting agendas. Assemblyman Da-
Medal of Freedom.
ties to become UNICEF goodwill
The unprecedented operating
vid Knowles, a conservative Re-
"Very few men or women ever
ambassadors, beginning with
rules mean every committee will
publican and born-again Christian
have the opportunity to do as much
Danny Kaye. Others included Liv
have an even number of members,
from the Sacramento area, is the
good in the world as James Grant,
Ullmann, Roger Moore, Peter Us-
divided equally between Republi-
new Insurance Committee chair-
and very few have ever grasped
tinov, Harry Belafonte, Pele and
cans and Democrats.
man. At the end of the week he
that opportunity with such com-
Audrey Hepburn.
Half of the Assembly's 26 com-
announced he would seek radical
plete and dedicated commitment,"
UNICEF cited as one of his
mittees will be chaired by Repub-
reform of the automobile insur-
said Mr. Boutros-Ghali.
greatest achievements a 1990
licans, with Democratic vice
ance system in California.
"He will be remembered as a
World Summit for Children that
chairmen, and half vice-versa.
Mr. Knowles said he favors a
most distinguished servant of the
brought together heads of state
"Now you have to have votes
form of no-fault insurance in
United Nations and as one of the
and government to set targets over
from the other side," Mr. Bates
which damage to your vehicle
greatest international public ser-
the next decade.
said. "Republicans will need at
would be covered by your insur-
vants of his generation."
Mr. Grant also pushed through
least one Democrat vote to move
ance company, no matter who was
In Washington, Mr. Clinton said:
a Convention on the Rights of the
"Throughout his long career Jim
bills out of policy committees, and
at fault in an accident.
Child, which came into effect in
Democrats will need at least one
"It would mean those who buy
Grant was a visionary leader
1990 and now has 170 signatories.
Republican vote."
insurance would be covered, those
one of the most distinguished in-
The United States has yet to ratify
ternational public servants of our
it.
Even the powerful Rules Com-
who cause accidents would be
Richard Jolly, Mr. Grant's Brit-
mittee, responsible for assigning
punished with higher premiums
time.
bills to respective committees and
and those who drive uninsured
"Under Jim Grant's 15 years of
ish deputy, is acting head of
leadership, UNICEF has earned a
UNICEF, but the Nordic states as
overseeing day-to-day operation of
would get nothing which is ex-
reputation as one of the most effec-
well as Washington fielded candi-
the Assembly, will be bipartisan
actly what they deserve," he said.
with 10 members.
Similar proposals have been be-
tive and esteemed U.N. agencies."
dates a year ago to succeed him.
Mr. Grant in the 1980s recog-
Republicans were given the op-
fore the Legislature in the past but
They include Finland's former
nized revolutions in the drug and
portunity to appoint their own
have been sidetracked by opposi-
defense minister, Elizabeth Rehn,
health industry and promoted sim-
and William Foege, former head of
chief executive officer, Mark
tion from trial lawyers, who op-
Watts, formerly with Gov. Pete
pose no-fault insurance because
ple, low-cost methods for child
the Atlanta-based Centers for Dis-
welfare - immunization, oral
Wilson's administration, who will
they say it would allow insurance
ease Control and Prevention.
have equal status with the long-
companies to run roughshod over
time CEO appointed by the Demo-
consumers.
crats. Every expense incurred by
Trial lawyers have always had a
the Assembly will have to be ap-
champion in Mr. Brown, but now
proved by both CEOs. All spending
Mr. Brown no longer chooses the
records are to be made available
chairman of the Insurance Com-
to Republicans as well as Demo-
mittee.
crats.
Distributed by Scripps Howard.
134
The Washington Times
MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 1995
Letters
Freeh explains why FBI handled Weaver case as it did
James Bovard's critical Jan. 18
was in their withdrawal to the
front of the cabin. Contrary to Mr.
Op-Ed article, "Cover-up from
cabin, it was not submission to the
Bovard's implication, I have never
Idaho to Waco?" concerning my
lawful authority of the U.S. law
argued that Vicki Weaver's death
decision to discipline 12 FBI
enforcement officers who pos-
was justified. Mr. Bovard's refer-
employees contains misstatements
sessed a warrant for Mr. Weaver's
ence to a flawed 1992 FBI report
and draws erroneous conclusions.
arrest. The suspects neither sur-
containing that conclusion deliber-
Ironically, these are the very trans-
rendered nor dropped their
ately ignores my explicit rejection
gressions for which Mr. Bovard
weapons. Had the sniper or others
of that finding and the imposition of
criticizes me.
exposed themselves then, or later,
severe discipline against those FBI
Mr. Bovard finds me guilty of
to make the arrest, they would have
employees who reached and
"blatantly misrepresenting" the
done so at considerable peril to
approved that conclusion. Mrs.
actions of an FBI sniper who fired
their own safety.
Weaver's death was accidental. I
at an armed suspect at Ruby Ridge,
Moreover, the sniper's decision
do not contend that is was anything
Idaho. The sniper shot after he
was informed by the danger and
more.
observed the suspect move his
violence that pervaded the crisis.
Finally, Mr. Bovard's tendentious
weapon as if the suspect intended to
Mr. Weaver was believed to have
article criticizes me for imposing
shoot at a helicopter carrying other
participated in the killing of a
insufficient discipline. Mr. Bovard's
law enforcement personnel. Mr.
deputy U.S. marshal the day before
criticism is predicated on the mis-
Bovard contends that no helicopter
this incident. In addition, Mr.
conception that Mrs. Weaver's
was flying in the vicinity at the time
Weaver had a history of animosity
death is related to the discipline
of the shot and that the dismissal of
toward law enforcement and had
imposed. Her death, however, was
a criminal assault charge against
often proclaimed his intent to
accidental and not causally related
the suspect based on this incident
forcibly resist any attempt to arrest
to any misconduct. When one rec-
proves that the suspect was not
him. He was believe to have forti-
ognizes that Mrs. Weaver's death
threatening other law enforcement
fied his cabin with numerous
was not connected to any miscon-
officials.
weapons and large amounts of
duct by any FBI employee, the dis-
Mr. Bovard is misguided on both
ammunition. It was also known that
cipline meted out can be more eas-
points. The FBI sniper testified at
during a 1991 arrest of Randall
ily seen to be proportionate to the
trial that he personally observed
Weaver, his wife, Vicki Weaver was
misconduct.
the helicopter lift off approximate-
found to possess a weapon in her
If the shot that tragically killed
ly S to 10 seconds before the armed
purse and Randall Weaver resisted
Mrs. Weaver had been taken solely
suspect and two companions ran
law enforcement officers and
on the basis of the problematic
out of the Weaver cabin. In addition,
attempted to take an officer's gun
rules of engagement, Mr. Bovard's
the two FBI agents and the two offi-
from him. Law enforcement offi-
criticism would be justified. My
cials from the U.S. Marshals Ser-
cers are not required to put their
own review, corroborated by inde-
vice who were aboard the heli-
own lives unreasonably at risk to
pendent inquiries by the Office of
copter and others have provided
arrest armed, dangerous and vio-
Professional Responsibility and the
statements contrary to Mr. Bovard's
lence-prone individuals.
Criminal Section of the Civil Rights
assertion. Moreover, a contempo-
The sniper's second shot, taken
Division (separate Justice Depart-
raneously prepared log indicates
only seconds after the suspect had
ment entities) has found that this
that the helicopter began its sixth
threatened to fire upon the heli-
shot did not warrant the filing of any
surveillance flight of the day four
copter, was designed to prevent him
criminal charges. While I under-
minutes before the sniper fired his
from reaching the tactical cover of
stand and respect the right of peo-
weapon.
the cabin, where additional
ple to disagree with my decision, I
Mr. Bovard does accurately
weapons and ammunition were
am fully confident that I have cor-
recount that a criminal charge of
available. Moreover, the cabin
rectly applied the law to the facts
assault based on the threat to the
afforded the best protection to an
that have been established after a
helicopter and its occupants was
armed subject intent on resisting
thorough and exhaustive investiga-
dismissed by the trial judge. Mr.
lawful arrest, because the known
tion.
Bovard fails to note, however, that
presence of children inside was an
Mr. Bovard's often inaccurate
the burden of proof to sustain a
absolute bar against the FBI's
facts and misleading or patently
criminal charge - proof beyond a
directing any fire at the cabin.
false conclusions paint an unfair
reasonable doubt is significantly
Mr. Bovard insults the coura-
portrait of the FBI's actions. I invite
higher than the standard necessary
geous men and women agents of the
Mr. Bovard and others to examine
for a law enforcement officer to act
FBI when he suggests that they
the FBI's and my actions and urge
in self-defense or the defense of oth-
would "wantonly shoot private cit-
them to speak out when they find
ers. The U.S. Supreme Court's deci-
izens based on mere suspicion."
wrongdoing. Those who undertake
sion in Tennessee vs. Garner, 471
FBI policy permits the use of dead-
this important function, however,
U.S. 1, 11, (1985) established that
ly force when necessary in self-
must accept the responsibility of
"[w]here the officer has probable
defense or defense of others. It was
accurately stating the facts.
cause to believe that the suspect
on that basis that only one sniper
Similarly, a companion article by
poses a threat of serious physical
fired two shots. If.Mr. Bovard's
Paul Craig Roberts, subtitled, "Role
harm, either to the officer or to oth-
premise were even partially cor-
for Congress?" which calls for con-
ers, it is not unconstitutionally
rect, the other snipers on the scene
gressional inquiry into alleged "ille-
unreasonable to prevent escape by
who clearly observed the three
gal and unconstitutional acts" by
using deadly force." Mr. Bovard's
armed subjects outside the cabin
federal law enforcement, unfortu-
analysis applies the wrong legal
would have certainly fired at them.
nately contains misstatements and
standards and reaches a conclusion
That the only shots fired were taken
obviously erroneous conclusions. I
that is, as a consequence, inaccurate.
after Mr. Weaver brandished his
welcome congressional oversight
Mr. Bovard also faults my con-
weapon in the direction of the heli-
of the FBI regarding this incident,
clusion that the second shot fired by
copter demonstrates the absurdity
since I am confident that such an
the FBI sniper as the suspects ran
of Mr. Bovard's assertion.
inquiry would be predicated upon
back toward their cabin was con-
Tragically, the second shot fired
a sound factual basis rather than
sistent with law and FBI policy. He
to protect law enforcement officers
inflammatory and unfounded alle-
characterizes the suspect's retreat
accidentally struck and killed Vicki
gations.
benignly as "a wounded man trying
Weaver, who was standing com-
to struggle into his home and the
pletely unseen on the front porch
LOUIS J. FREEH
arms of his family." Though only the
behind the outwardly opened door
Director
suspects know why they took the
of the cabin. The second shot was
Federal Bureau of Investigation U.S.
action that they did, it is clear that
not fired into the cabin; it was aimed
Department of Justice
035
whatever the suspects' intention
and fired along a path parallel to the
Washington
FEB- 1-95 WED 10:36
IO DEVELOPMENT
FAX NO. 2027367467
P.02
JAMES P. GRANT
p88 UNICEF. 8b
James Grant became head of UNICEF January 1,
1980.
He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Overseas Development Council since its establishment in early 1969.
He brought to this non-profit center for study, research, analysis and
education, nearly twenty years of experience with economic development
issues in low-income countries, particularly those in Asia and the
Middle East. He is the author of numerous articles on development and
on issues affecting U.S. relations with the countries of Asia, Africa,
and Latin America, and a frequent witness by invitation before congres-
sional committees.
Before being appointed to the Council, Mr. Grant was an Assistant
Administrator of the Agency for International Development (A.I.D.).
From 1964 to 1967, he was Director of the A.I.D. program in Turkey
with the personal rank of Minister.
Mr. Grant was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East and
South Asian Affairs from 1962 to 1964. During the three previous
years he was a Deputy to the Director of A.I.D. 's predecessor, the
International Cooperation Administration, and in charge of its world-
wide programming and planning. In addition to his work in Turkey,
bis overseas assignments include service as Director of the United
States aid mission to Ceylon (1956-1958), Regional Legal Counsel
resident in New Delhi for U.S. aid programs for South Asia (1954-
1956), and experience in China, first with the United Nations Relief
and Rehabilitation Administration (1946-1947) and then from 1948 to
1950 as Acting Executive Secretary to the Sino-American Joint Com-
mission on Rural Reconstruction.
Mr. Grant was born in China in 1922. He received a BA from Berkeley
in 1943 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Harvard University in 1951.
He was in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945, with the final rank
of Captain, and served in combat ground forces in Burma and China.
From 1951 to 1954, he was a Law Associate with Covington and Burling
in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Grant serves as a director of a number of organizations involved
with develc meat issues, including New Directions, the Commission on
the Churches' Participation in Development of the World Council of
Churches, the International Voluntary Services, the Pan American
Development Foundation, the Institute of Current World Affairs, and the
Foreign Policy Association. He is the Vice President of the Society for
International Development and is the Vice Chairman of the World Food
and Nutrition Study for the President of the United States of the National
Academy of Sciences: he is also a member of the United States Board on
Science and Technology for International Development and of the Committee on
International Health of the U.S. Institute of Medicine.
He resides in New York City. A recent widower--his wife Ethel
died unexpectedly in April 1988, he has three children.
FEB- 1-95 WED 10:37
IO DEVELOPMENT
FAX NO. 2027367467
P. 03
1/30/95
THE NEW YORK TIMES OBITUA
James P. Grant, Unicef Chief
And Aid Expert, Is Dead at 72
By BARBARA CROSSETTE
later incorporated into national plan-
special to The Now York Times
ning in more than 100 countries.
James P. Grant, the American for-
In a statement after Mr. Grant's
eign aid expert who in 1980 became
death, Secretary General. Boutros
executive director of Unicel and
Boutros-Ghall said: "Very few men
made it into a major force for help-
or women ever have the opportunity
ing children, died on Saturday in
to do as much good in the world as
Northern Westchester Hospital Cen-
James Grant. And very few have
ter in Mount Kisco, N. Y. He was 72
ever grasped that opportunity with
and lived in Croton, N. Y.
such complete and dedicated com-
The cause of death was cancer,
mitment."
Unicef officials said. Mr. Grant re.
In 1994, Mr. Grant received the
signed from the United Nations Chil-
Presidential Medal of Freedom
dren's Fund last week.
from President Clinton, who cited
The direction and urgency he gave
him for his "compassion and cour-
to Unicel have widely been credited
age in his crusade for the world's
with helping to save millions of chil-
children."
dren's lives. Mr. Grant, who had also
Mr. Grant was born in Beljing on
been an Under Secretary General of
May 12, 1922, the son of a public
Giacomo Pirazzi, Unxel
the United Nations, was still travel-
health expert working in Asia. He
James P. Grant holding a child at a
ing and promoting his "child surviv-
graduated from the University of
community center last year in
al revolution" until late last year.
California at Berkeley and earned a
His message was simple: low-
law degree at Harvard.
Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast.
cost, practical methods for saving
He began a lifelong career in inter-
young lives and curtailing the spread
national service in the 1940's, work-
of easily preventible diseases can
ing with the United Nations Relief
Development Council and became
quickly make a difference. He advo-
and Rehabilitation Administration in
its president and chief executive offi-
cated treating diarrhea, & leading
China.
cer. He remained there until moving
killer of children, with doses of wa-
In 1962 he became Deputy Assist-
to Unicef in 1980.
ter, sugar and salt that village peo-
ant Secretary of State for Near East
In 1943, Mr. Grant married Ethel
ple could make themselves.
and South Asian Affairs and a depu-
Henck. The couple had three sons
To measure the successes and
ty director of the International Co-
John, James and William. His wife
sometimes the failures of Unicef and
operation Administration, a precur-
died of a heart attack in 1988 on
the countries it assisted, Mr. Grant
sor of the United States Agency for
trip in India. In 1989 he married
report, "The
International Development. In 1964,
Ellan W. Young, a photographer. H.
he moved to Turkey 10 head the
is survived by his wife, his sons an
there.
five grandchildren.
FROM UNICEF 13 FI
02.01.1995 17:59
1
unicef
Office of the Executive Director
United Nations Children's Fund
Funds des Nations Unles pour l'enfance
UNICEF House
Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia
3 United Nations Plaza
New York, New York 10017
(212) 326-7035
Telex: 175989 / Fax: (212) 888-7465
... FAX ***
To: Mrs. Clenton
Date: 2/1/95
c/o Nicole Robner
From: Janie Thant
No. pages: 4 (including cover)
Dear Ricole,
Here is my Dad's bio Please let wo snow if you
would lise more information It would be nice if Mr. Clenton
could give a few personal anecatites of interactions with Dod
Also, if she would lire to express his concem that there be
brgantisan import for children in the U.S and about this would
be appropriate. One of my Dol's last requests was that his
memorial revice be used to get the message out! D am
including a copy of Dadis last article - not yes publicated.
Many thanks
Jamie Drant
FROM UNICEF
1995 18:00
unicef
Office of the Executive Director
United Nations Children's Pund
Funds des Nations Unles pour l'enfance
UNICEF House
Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia
3 United Nations Plaza
New York. New York 10017
(212) 326-7035
Telex: 175989 Fax: (212) 888-7465
Biographical Information
JAMES P. GRANT
James P. Grant assumed office as the third Executive Director of the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), with the rank of Undor-Secretary-General of the United Nations, on
1 January 1980.
Shortly after taking office. Mr. Grant launched the Child Survival and Development
Revolution directed against the major causes of ill health, poor growth and early death among the
children of the developing world. Recognizing that relatively simple and inexpensive technologies
had become available for preventing or treating many of the most serious threats to children's lives
and health, Mr. Grant threw all of UNICEF's efforts behind a programme to make these scientific
advances available to the great majority of people in the developing world.
It is in large measure a rosult of his commitment that Immunization levels in the developing
world have risen from approximately 20 per cent in 1980 to almost 80 per cent today. This level
of immunization has prevented up to 3 million child deaths each year, while the number of child
polio victims has fallen from almost half a million a year to under 100,000. He similarly raised the
profile of oral rehydration therapy, which can prevent death from diarrhoeal disease. This
treatment was almost unknown in the early 1980s but now reaches approximately half the families
of the developing world, saving over 1 million young lives each year.
The World Summit for Children in 1990 stands out as one of the main highlights of his
career. Largely inspired by Mr. Grant's vision, the Summit brought together 71 of the world's
Presidents and Prime Ministers and senior representatives from another 88 countries. The first of
the global summits of the 1990s, its outcome was a series of detailed, measurable goals, including
a sharp reduction in under-five death rates, control of the major childhood diseases, a halving of
child malnutrition, and basic education for at least 80 per cent of children. Reporting on progress
towards those goals at the end of 1994, Mr. Grant noted that more than half of the developing
nations are on target to reach a majority of the goals. This means that, in the second half of the
1990s, approximately 2.5 million fewer children will die each year, and at least three quarters of a
million fewer children will be disabled, blinded, crippled or mentally retarded.
These successes are the result of a massive effort by a great many people, governments
and organizations in almost all countries. But no one who has followed the progress of the last 15
years has any doubt that James Grant's leadership is decisive.
FROM UNICEF 13 FI
02.01.1995 18:01
2
Another milestone in Mr. Grant's career is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child, which came into effect in 1990, less than a year after it was opened for signature and
ratification by the United Nations General Assembly. The rapid response of the international
community in ratifying the Convention is unprecedented in the history of international human
rights law. With 170 States parties to the Convention, it is also the most widely ratified human
rights treaty ever.
On assuming office in 1980, Mr. Grant established the annual State of the World's
Children report, which provides an assessment of conditions and prospects for children
worldwide. The annual Progress of Nations report, established by Mr. Grant in 1993, serves as a
benchmark for the international community by ranking countries on their progress in meeting their
people's basic health, nutrition and educational needs.
Mr. Grant came to UNICEF from the Overseas Development Council, which he helped
found in 1969, serving as its President and Chief Executive Officer. He had previously served
with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as an Assistant
Administrator (1967-1969) and as Director of the USAID programme in Turkey with the rank of
Minister (1964-1967). He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East and South
Aslari Affairs (1962-1964) and a Deputy Director of the International Co-operation
Administration (USAID's prodccessor) with responsibility for world-wide programming and
planning (1959-1962). His overseas assignments included service as Director of the United States
aid mission in Sri Lanka (1956-1958), and Regional Legal Counsel resident in New Delhi for
United States aid programmes for South Asia (1954-1956).
Mr. Grant began his career in 1946 with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
Administration in China. His early experience in China, and the pioneering work of his medical-
missionary grandfather has remained a lifelong influence. In particular, he has based his efforts for
children on the belief that medical advances do not reach the poor majority by any automatic
process of diffusion, but must be made available by conscious and sustained efforts to bridge the
gap between what science knows and what people need.
Mr. Grant has served on Boards of Directors of a number of organizations involved with
development issues, including the Commission on Participation in Development of the World
Council of Churches, the International Voluntary Services, the Pan American Development
Foundation, the Institute of Current World Affairs, Save the Children and the Foreign Policy
Association. He was President of the Society for International Development from 1979 to 1983.
He also served as a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation and of Johns Hopkins University, and as
a member of the Trustee Visiting Committee, School of Nutrition, Tufts University.
In 1994, Mr. Grant received the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the highest honour
awarded by the President of the United States - for his "compassion and courage in his crusade
for the world's children and his tireless efforts to alleviate suffering around the world." He also
received the "Sri Lanka Ratna," the Government of Sri Lanka's national honour. In 1993, he
FROM UNICEF 13 FI
02.01.1995 18:01
P.4
3
received the National Order of Merit in Education from the President of Brazil; the "Hilal-I-
Pakistan" from the President of Pakistan; the Order of the "Aguila Azteca" from the Government
of Mexico; and the Ecuador National Award of Merit "Illustrious Citizen of the City of Quito."
In 1991, he received the Gran Cruz of the Orden Daniel A. Carrion (Peru); the Community Prize
by the Association of Italian Municipalities; and the First Class of the Order of the Sacred
Treasure from the Japanese Government. In 1989, he was awarded the Commander of the
National Order of Mall.
Among numerous other awards he has received during his career are: Distinguished Public
Service, USAID (1961); Rockefeller Public Service (1980); Gold Meroury International, 1984 by
ICC-International Organization for Co-operation, Rome and Lome; the Presidential Citation of
the American Public Health Association in 1985; and the Hunger Award from Brown University
in 1989. In 1990, he received the E.H. Christopherson Lectureship Award on International Child
Health from the American Academy of Pediatrics; the Diplomatic World Bulletin's 1990 Award of
Distinction; and the Leonardo d'Oro Award. In 1993, he was a recipient of the Tolstoy Award
and the United Nations Human Rights Prize.
Mr. Grant received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California at
Berkeley in 1943, and a Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Harvard University in 1951. He
received honorary degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Hacettepe University in 1980,
Maryville College in 1981, from Tufts and Denison Universities in 1983 and from the University
of Maryland in 1986. He was also awarded an Honorary Professorship in 1983 from the Capital
Medical College of China.
Mr. Grant was born in Beijing on 12 May 1922. He has three sons -- James, John and
William -- from his marriage to the late Ethel Henck Grant and five grandchildren. He is currently
married 10 Ellan Young.
******
9 January 1995
FROM UNICEF 13 FI
02.01.1995 18:02
We musn't turn our backs on the children!
by James P. Grant
Illness has forced me to resign as Executive Director of the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) after 15 years. It has
been a privilege to serve a cause as noble as that of the world's
children, who are our collective future. From my hospital bed, I
would like to share some personal reflections and concerns with
my compatriots.
As the United States rethinks and reforms its social and
foreign aid policies, we must ensure that children -- American
children and the poorest children in the world's poorest
countries -- are not caught in the political cross-fire.
Bipartisanship for children has worked well in the past; it can
work now. To ensure that their well-being is not inadvertently
sacrificed to partisan or ideological interests, we must reaffirm
that children constitute a special case requiring consistent
bipartisan action and a first call on society's resources.
Four years ago, the World Summit for Children agreed on some
ambitious goals. They included: A major reduction in child
deaths. A halving of child malnutrition. Immunization levels of
90 per cent. The complete eradication of polio. An end to
iodine deficiency which causes most cases of preventable mental
retardation. A drastic reduction in the number of children who
go blind each year. An effective primary education for at least
80 per cent of girls as well as boys. Clean water and safe
sanitation for all communities. And universal ratification of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Some of these goals were to be achieved by 1995, others by
the year 2000. Most industrial nations have already achieved
these targets, but in impoverished inner cities of wealthy and
developing countries alike, reaching them is an urgent priority.
Achieving the goals will mean that approximately 2.5 million
fewer children will die in 1996 than in 2990. Tens of millions
will be spared the insidious sabotage wrought on their
development by malnutrition. At least three-quarters of a
million fewer children each year will be disabled, blinded,
crippled, or mentally retarded.
Achievement of the 1995 targets will pave the way toward
meeting the broader goals set for the year 2000, proving that it
is possible to eradicate some of poverty's worst manifestations
in the lives of the young.
Providing this demonstration of what is now possible, at
relatively low cost, is critically important at a time when post-
FROM UNICEF FI
02.01.1995 18:03
2
Cold War optimism has faded.
There is something selfish, something excluding, something
cruel in the temper of recent times that deeply concerns me. It
has led to an unraveling or weakening of the social fabric, of
nations, communities and families, in many countries. What is
particularly worrisome about this mean-spiritedness is that it is
gaining ground precisely when, for the first time in history, we
have the means to satisfy the basic needs of each and every human
being.
It would be a tragic mistake to succumb to pessimism -- just
when so much progress is being made. In the 1995 State of the
World's Children report, UNICEF reports good news from the
developing world.
More than 100 of the developing nations with over 90 per
cent of the developing world's children - are making significant
progress towards the goals that were set just four years ago.
These achievements, which I have been privileged to witness with
my own eyes, have not made the nightly news. But they have
changed the daily lives of many millions of families in some the
world's poorest communities, where people have been empowered to
help themselves.
These achievements are a suitable raply to those who say
that goals are only ever set and never met, that there is only
disaster and failure to report from the developing world, or that
the United Nations family of organizations is not effective in
helping to make the world a better place.
The task now, for us all, in rich countries and in poor, is
to get behind this momentum for change, to push towards the
achievement of the great goals that have been set for the year
2000, and help to overcome the worst-aspects of poverty on this
planet.
Over a half century ago, thanks to the industrial
revolution, the British historian Arnold Toynbee was able to
write: "our age is the first since the dawn of history that has
dared dream it practical to make the benefits of civilization
available to all."
That daring dream is even more practical today. If, through
a failure of nerve, an impulse of selfishness, a confusion of
priorities, a loss of self-confidence, wa deny that dream and
walk into the 21st century looking backwards, humankind will pay
for its shortsightedness in spades.
The United States has provided enormous leadership to UN
development efforts at many critical junctures in the past --
from JFK's launch of the First Development Decade to U.S. backing
FROM UNICEF 13 F1
02.01.1995 18:04
7
3
of smallpox eradication and USAID's support for the Child
Survival and Development Revolution -- and I am sure U.S.
leadership will continue to play a vital role in the future.
without American support, the leadership of other countries will
be seriously weakened.
By continuing to invest in American children and
strengthening American families, and by ensuring that foreign
assistance makes a difference in the lives of the world's poorest
children, the United States, the world's sole superpower, would
once more set the global standard and give a major boost to human
development and economic growth at home and abroad.
Surveys of public opinion in the industrialized countries
show continuing support for aid and development -- providing that
aid and development are focused on the poorest, providing they
are helping people to help themselves. Politicians in both
parties need to make it unthinkable, on the threshold of the 21st
century, for a country with the position and history of
pioneering leadership like the United States to turn its back on
children and the poor.
Over the past 15 years, I have seen how governments,
opposing political parties and even armed adversaries, the
business sector, non-governmental organizations and local
communities can work together for human progress, and first and
foremost for children. Let us all face forward -- toward the
children, our collective future -- putting aside our differences
and our fears in order to build a better world.
***END***
unicef
Office of the Executive Director
United Nations Children's Fund
UNICEF House
Fonds des Nations Unies pour l'enfance
3 United Nations Plaza
Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia
New York, New York 10017
(212) 326-7035
Telex: 175989 / Fax: (212) 888-7465
18 February 1995
Dear Mrs. Clinton,
On behalf of the Grants and the global UNICEF family, I write to thank you most
sincerely for honouring Jim Grant with your presence and moving comments at the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine on 10 February. There simply could not have been a
greater tribute to Jim than the announcement of the President's decision to sign the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. I know Jim would have been gladdened by this
decision. Thank you on behalf of Jim and of children worldwide. I was also pleased to be
present with Ambassador Albright yesterday at the United Nations when she signed on
behalf of the United States.
I hope that much can be made of the Convention and its applicability in the United
States. We believe that the Convention provides a programme and policy framework that
will help guide UNICEF's action S well into the next century, not just in the developing
world, but in the industrialized and emerging democratic and middle income countries as
well. This is why the international community attaches such great importance to achieving
universal ratification. It is also why Jim Grant missed no opportunity to advocate for its
signing and ratification.
I know that many groups in the United States will wish to inform their
constituencies and members about the Convention and the importance of early ratification.
UNICEF would be pleased to provide any assistance that may be needed for this process.
You may already be aware that Jim had great faith in the Clinton Administration and
the ideals for which it stood. He was also very encouraged by your personal concern for
children's issues. Being awarded the Medal of Freedom meant a lot to Jim and his family
as did the many calls you personally made to him before his death. He was strengthened
and heartened by your concern.
I look forward to our continued cooperation.
With renewed thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Richard July
Richard Jolly
Acting Executive Director
Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton
The White House
Washington D.C.
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:47
unicef
PLANNING OFFICE
United Nations Colldrent's Fund
Form Mad Natiry Unich pour l'endince
Fondo de inc Naciones Unidas pers la Infancia
3 U.N. Plaza, New York, NY, 10017
(212) 326-7783/7466
Fax: (212) 303-7959 UNICEF Fax # (212) 888-7465/7454
FAX TRANSMISSION COVER SHEET
Date:
February 9, 1995
To:
Nicole Rabner
Fax:
(202) 456-6244
Subject:
Material on James P. Grant
Sender:
Robert J. Ledogar, Senior Planning Officer Bol
YOU SHOULD RECEIVE 22 PAGE(S), INCLUDING THIS COVER SHEET. IF YOU
DO NOT RECEIVE ALL THE PAGES, PLEASE CALL (212) 326-7783/7466.
URGENT
Here are:
1. Blography of Mr. Grant
2. Chronology of Important life events
3. Major Accomplishments
4. Quotes from his articles and speeches
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:48
P. 2
JAMES P. GRANT
The appointment in 1980 of James P. Grant as Executive Director of the United Nations
Childrens Fund (UNICEF) brought to the United Nations a man whose energy and vision over
a lifetime prepared him to lead the world as few have ever done. Under his tireless leadership
UNICEF has grown to exemplify the best elements of global humanitarian concerns, not only in
its response to disaster, famines and war, but even more constantly in addressing the daily
tragedy of children caught in the "silent emergency" to which James Grant has dedicated his life.
He has taken this message personally to virtually every head of state, making Grant arguably the
best known and well liked UN agency leader in diplomatic, government and development
communities worldwide.
Born in Beijing in 1922 Grant grew up in China, speaking fluent Mandarin even today.
An infantry officer in Burma through World War II he served as Assistant to General George C.
Marshall during the liberation and early rehabilitation of China. Grant stayed on through the
early years of Chinese civil war as the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Special Representative for
North China administering relief, food and development efforts often across active war zones.
He continued work with rural farmers in Taiwan as the nationalist forces were driven from the
mainland.
With 8 law degree from Harvard in 1951, Grant became the legal counsel for the US Aid
Programmes in South Asia in 1954 before becoming the US Aid Director in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
In 1959 he became the youngest appointee of President Eisenhower, serving as Deputy Director
of US Aid programmes until 1962 when President Kennedy appointed him as Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for Middle East and South Asia. He rejoined the Aid Programme as Director
in Turkey overseeing activities in health, education and the highly successful introduction of
"green revolution" technologies, returning to Washington in 1967 as Assistant Administrator of
USAID.
In 1969 James Grant established and directed the Overseas Development Council, a think-
tank for development that, over the next decade, became a respected and influential voice in US
development assistance policy. He devised the physical quality of life index (PQLI) to better
reflect social and human concerns for development planners, bringing health and literacy to the
forefront of development policy. His work on world hunger has been recognized with public
awards and his numerous speeches helped frame the agenda for a new international order.
During this time Grant served as advisor to U.S. Congressional Committees, was Vice Chair of
the National Academy of Sciences study of World Food and Nutrition for President Carter
and organized numerous international conferences while serving as an Adviser to the White
House, the Club of Rome and as President of the Society for International Development. When
proposed by President Jimmy Carter as the third director of UNICEF, he was arguably the most
experienced American in the field of development. President Carter charged him with more than
the leadership of UNICEF - his challenge was to transform, through example, the entire United
Nations system to become less politicised and more an agent for creative change among the
poorer nations of the world - a charge he has lived up to with brilliance and distinction.
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:48
- 2 -
At UNICEF Grant has pursued a series of "impossible tasks" carrying each to fruition and
in the process successfully laying the groundwork for even more ambitious, undertakings.
Recognizing the importance of achieving specific measurable goals he articulated the Child
Survival and Development Revolution, singling out for special focus health and nutrition
activities that could bring rapid and documentable benefits to all children. He focussed attention
on promoting Growth as the basic measure of child health, of wide knowledge and promotion
of Oral rehydration therapy at family and community level to combat the largest killer of
children, diarrhocal dehydration, promotion of Breastfooding as the optimal nutrition for every
young infant and championing Immunization against the six major killer diseases of children
GOBI became the "doable" challenge of the 1980s. These simple measures addressed at once
the greatest needs of children with the most affordable proven technologies which could be
widely understood and disseminated. Together these four elements could dramatically reduce by
as much as half the daily toll of 40,000 deaths among children. The potential for e revolutionary
impact on child survival and development represented to Grant the best possibility of achieving
international development goals and directly attacking the worst elements of poverty the world
over.
Throughout the decade of the 1980s Grant undertook an exhausting schodule of travol,
field visits and meetings with political leaders, NGOs, professional associations and international
fora to spread understanding and ownership of this package of "doable" actions. Particularly
unique is Grant's appeal to individual Heads of State, convincing them to join him in launching
immunization campaigns, publicly promote the use of oral rehydration sachets and commit their
countries to ambitious programmes to achieve specific targets, most notably universal childhood
immunization. by 1990.
Meanwhile, UNICEF was involved in a series of the largest relief efforts in history, For
nearly a decade, UNICEF was the lead UN agency within Kampuchea providing health, food,
shelter and water to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons both inside the country and along
the border. Grant's personal leadership in Lebanon enabled UNICEF staff to maintain water
supplies and other basic needs in the midst of open warfare. In a series of worsening disasters
in Africa, Grant undertook major fundraising and awareness building efforts supporting the UN
Office for Emergency Operations in Africa and eventually personally heading Operation Lifeline
Sudan, the first major international effort to provide relief across battle lines in a major civil war.
Meanwhile the effort to provide universal immunization offered an opportunity to bring
peace amidst open battle. In El Salvador hostilities were suspended to allow immunization
efforts to take place throughout the country when both sides were convinced by Grant that
childhood diseases claimed more lives than all the trauma of the war itself. In Uganda, vaccines
crossed through corridors of peace and established the primacy of humanitarian aid for children
even in times of mortal conflict.
As 1990 approached, immunization campaigns and efforts throughout the world intensified
involving not only governments but also organized religion, commerce, trade unions, professional
associations, youth and community groups in a myriad of innovative approaches in countries of
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:49
- 3 -
all political and religious persuasions. By 1990, even the skeptics had to admit that the effort
to reach universal childhood immunization had been a major public health success, the largest
international peacetime collaboration in history. The success of immunization has given credence
to other actions in the child survival spectrum and led to strengthened health care systems
providing an increasingly wide range of services in the most remote and under served areas of
the world.
The demonstration of successful public action for all children, though of tremendous
inherent value, was part of a larger dream to involve the highest political levels in the pursuit of
humanitariar goals. Grant's annual State of the World's Children Report continues to outline both
the policy and the vision of human development that has now spread to many other agencies and
organisations. Today, the UN enjoys a level of public credibility and accountability previously
unknown, in part due to Grant's effort. The gathering of more than 70 Heads of State in the 1990
World Summit for Children, till then the largest such gathering in world history, was testimony
that Grants vision had indeed taken root. The ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, now the most widely ratified Human Rights document in history, has given further
substance to the validity of Grant's advocacy.
There are many world leaders with vision, but few who have translated it into such
concrete and attainable action that it takes on a life of its own and transforms people,
governments and entire nations as Grant has done through his work with children. In his untiring
advocacy for the most vulnerable, Grant has helped to further a new global ethic where equity
and human decency are considered the true measures of success of national development. His
unswerving dedication to the cause of children combined with his intense pragmatism and
sweeping vision sets James P. Grant apart. His vision has sustained millions of children and
breathed new life into international agencies with the global recognition that seemingly
impossible tasks can indeed be accomplished through political mobilization and the full
participation of families and communities.
December 1994
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:50
Organizer for James P. Grant Oral History:
Chronology of Important Life Events
Date
Event
Month/Day/Yr
5/12/22
Born in Peking Union Medical College of Dr. John B. Grant, M.D.,
Rockefeller Foundation and Charlotte Hill Grant, homemaker; Canadian
citizenship. One sibling, Betty Shand Grant, now Mrs. John Austin with 2
sons and one daughter by prior marriage
-1937
9 years school, ended after freshmen yr. @ Poking American School,
composition of which was half Chinese, half International, of which half was
US/Canadians
every 3 years homeleave, usually to Colon, Michigan; once to Princeton, NJ
in 1933 for orthodontic work. Returned to China via Europe, Bombay,
Hongkong in 1933. All cross-ocean travel by boat.
1933
Parents separated and JBG remarried Magdellan Lloyd, who had 9 yr. old
son John. Both parents stayed in China. Lived with mother.
7/7/37
JPG Scout squad camped at site of Marco Polo Bridge, where Japanese
Invasion of China started that night.
July 10. 1937
To Tientsin alone for visa to U.S.
circa July 15,'37
Returned to U.S. by last train out of Beijing
circa Aug 15, '37
Took up residence in Worchester, MA with Mr./Mrs. Roger S. Green and
children Ned and Kitty, who had been close friends in China (mother to
Oakland, CA to be with sister Betty, who was then starting college at UC).
Did sophomore year at North High School in Worchester.
6-8/38
Spent summer in Truro, Nova Scotia with JBG's closest college friends, Lou
and Mary Pattilio
9/38
To Oakland, CA to live with mother and attend University High School in
Oakland, the public school which specialized in preparing students for
college. Louis Swenson-social studies teacher-influential on thinking.
Lived with mother on Claremont Ave until entered college
March 10, 1943
Became American citizen in Berkeley, CA.
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:51
1/40
Entered UC Berkeley. Joined and resided in and later managed Alpha Delta
Phi Fraternity, 2401 Ridge Rd., Berkeley. Notable events included:
0
participation in campus politics, including notably implementation Fair
Bear programs. Met Morris Morris, Catherine Henck.
Member and then chairman of ASUC (Associated Students of UC)
Student Welfare Council, Stiles Hall YMCA, Harry Kingman.
4 year ROTC
9/41
Met Ethel Styer Henck, future wife
1/42
Announced engagement to ESH
12/42
Completed requirements for BA in Economics and Political Science
1/43-7/43
Attended accelerated Chinese study program in preparation for military
service at UC
5/43+8/43
Went to work for Kaiser Ship Building as welder working swing shift, 8 hr
day. Each weekend hitchhiked to Sky Forest and back to see ESH (10 hrs
each way)
8/8/43-12/28/43
Went to Infantry Officer Training School as corporal, Fort Benning Georgia.
Graduated as 2nd Lieutenant (well over 50% of class washed out)
12/30/43
Married ESH in Chicago, then residence of mother (Charlotte)
1/44
Service began at Fort Benning, GA, pending orders for overseas service
2/44
Shipped out across Atlantic for military service in Burma, with stopover in
Calcutta to see JBG.
$/44
Joined siege of Myitchina, Burma (first combat commanding platoon of
soldiers)
7/44-12/44
Joined staff of Col. Joseph Stillwell, G-2, Northern Area Combat Command.
1/45
Overland via Burma Rd to Kunming, China, as aid to Gen. ---
5/45
Transferred to Chunking, U.S. China Theater Headquarters, as Assistant G-2
(intelligence)
B/45
VJ Day I
8/12/45
Discharged from army service to join UNRRA (UN Relief and Rehabilitation
Administration) China Office in Shanghai
12/45
Seconded from UNRRA to join immediate staff of Gen. George C, Marshall
in Nanking
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:51
1/46
Became Special Assistant to Walter S. Robertson, Chairman of Tri-Partite
Truce Headquarters, established in Beijing to monitor and enforce truce
negotiated by Gen. Marshall.
5/46
With collapse of truce, returned to UNRRA at its insistence to become
UNRRA special representative for North China for military and political
affairs in Beijing, responsible for programs Communist areas and cities they
were besieging
EHO arrived Beijing after 12-week trip from New York by boat to
Shanghaill
2-5/47
Residence in Communist areas
6/47
Returned to US (Sky Forest) with EHG pregnant, baby due 8/47
6/47
Returned to North China (without EHG) to conduct special negotiations
with Chou En-Lai in communist areas
8/47
Baby Grant still-birth in Sky Forest
9/47
Started Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
5/48
Returned to China for service (summer) with newly established US-China
Aid Mission, established as a conditional counterpart to Marshall Plan in
Europe
8/48
Returned US
9/48
Returned to China with EHG as special assistant to Chief, China Aid Mission
(Roger Lapham). Took year's leave of absence from HLS,
12/48
EHG to Inner Mongolia
2-8/49
Became Acting Executive Director, Sino-American Joint Commission on
Rural Reconstruction (JCRR) in Nanking.
5/49
JCRR moved to Canton as Chinese Communists overwhelmed Chinese
Nationalists throughout central and northwest China, capturing Nanking and
Shanghai.
6/49
Rescued EHG by special charter from Langzhou (last plane before fall of
city)
8/49
Returned to HLS via 3-week vacation through Europe with JBG from Rome
to Paris. First met Denise in Paris, JBG's future spouse.
6/50
Assigned by ECA (Economic Cooperation Administration-Marshal Plan) for
summer close-out of remaining China aid program in Taiwan. Reversed by
North Korean invasion of South Korea. Still went to Taiwan.
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. list
re: Organizer for James P. Grant Oral History [partial] (1 page)
02/09/1995
b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 20056
FOLDER TITLE:
UNICEF [1]
2013-0534-S
rc1739
RESTRICTION CODES
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FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
07.09.1995 17:52
F.8
8-9/50
Special survey at request of United States National Student Association of
student movements in Southeast Asia.
9/50
Returned HLS to complete studies
4/51
Accepted by Covington and Burling, Washington, D.C., beginning 9/51
7-8/5
To Europe as special representative of USNSA and 2-week vacation with
JBG. EHG accompanied.
(b)(6)
John Putnam Grant born
(b)(6)
6/52
Moven into newly built house
(b)(6)
[00
(b)(6)
James D. Grant born
(b)(6)
12/53
Accepted post as regional legal advisor for South Asia, headquartered in
New Delhi, for Foreign Operations Administration (FOA), successor to ECA
and Point 4 Program
1/22/54
Departed D.C. for New Delhi,
(b)(6)
William Joseph Grant born
(b)(6)
2/26/36
Offered and accepted post as US aid representative to new program for
Ceylon (Philip Crowe, Ambassador). Took up responsibilities within one
week
4/56
Joined by EHO and children
57/58
Offered and accepted (reluctantly) Washington assignment as Special
Assistant to FOA Director James Smith
77/58
Became one of three Deputy Directors of FOA, responsible for worldwide
programming and planning. Presidential appointment level. Also responsible
jointly with FOA comptroller for Congressional presentation of foreign/aid
11/59
"Islands of Development" combining transforming Taiwan into financial self-
sufficiency and first NIC (Newly Industrialized Country) and mobilizing
massive new development program not linked to military security, with
special intention of $1 billion plus to India/year from West,
11/60
President Kennedy elected. JPG active in transition and new development-
oriented foreign aid program preparations.
1/61
Assisted Sargent Shriver in coming to favorable decision on establishing
large-scale Peace Corps. Offered and turned down post as Shriver's Deputy
of new Peace Corps in order to assist in year-long study and implementation
of restructured foreign aid under new aid administrator Harry Labouisso. now
agency called USAID.
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:53
12/61
Labouisse transferred to US Ambassador to Greece. JPG offered new post as
USAID Assistant Administrator for R&D, which he turned down because of
unacceptable conditions. Considered many jobs, including President Asia
Foundation, President Hudson Institute, Deputy Assistant Sec of State for
International Organizations, Deputy Assistant Sec of State for Far East and
Deputy Assistant Sec of State for Near East and South Asia-latter
accepted.
1/62
Deputy Assistant Sec of State for Near East and South Asian Affairs
??
Chinese troops cross Into India. JPG special responsibilities.
10/64
With LBJ's changed policies and emphases toward Middle East affairs,
returned to USAID to become AID Mission Director in Turkey responsible
for accelerated. expanded program linked to Cyprus crisis,
12/66?
Launching of Green Revolution in Turkey, with first big harvest due summer
1967.
6/67
White House ordered JPG to become first Assistant Administrator for
Vietnam Affairs in Washington. EHG and Kaki returned via Europe.
12/12/68
With new Republican Administration, "voluntarily" offered resignation as a
Presidential appointee of previous administration. JPG was asked by a
citizen's group (David Rockefeller, Eugene Black, Ford Foundation,
Rockefeller Foundation, Professor Ed Mason, etc.) to establish new
development assistance research and advocacy organization, Overseas
Development Council (ODC). Lester Brown, senior colleague. Accepted,
after turning down request by new Administration to serve as Deputy
Administrator of USAID
1969
Tidewater
1/28/69
Formal announcement of establishment and opening of ODC.
o Issuance of Agenda for Action, 1970-79-inspiration for annual World
Development Reports lator issued by World Bank and for
UNICEF's annual State of the World's Children
Writings and legislation on meeting basic human needs and
overcoming worst aspects of mass poverty by Year 2000. Growth
from below
1973 basic human needs legislation in Congress
Active participation SID (Society for International Development)
early 1976
JPG nominated by President Ford as U.S. candidate to succeed Harry
Labouisse as Executive Director of UNICEF
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:54
P.1A
2/77
President Carter renominated JPG as U.S. candidate to succeed Harry
Labouisse as Executive Director of UNICEF and JPG named US
Representative to UNICEF Executive Board
5/79
Waldheim announced appointment of JPG as Executive Director of
UNICEF
1/1/80
Entered on duty at UNICEF as Executive Director
0
UNICEF as lead agency for Kampuches emergency
12/82
GOBI (Growth monitoring, oral rehydration, breast feeding,
immunization)-FFF (Female education, Family spacing,...)/Child Survival
and Development Revolution launched
2/83
Completion of Roof House
4/30/84
JPG appointed to 2nd 5-year term as Executive Director, UNICEF
1985
Formulation of OEOA (Office of Emergency Operations-Affica) concept of
responding to emergencies
1985
El Salvador's "Days of Tranquility" for immunizing all children
1984-85
Colombia's national implementation of Child Survival Revolution
4/1/88
EHG dies of heart attack in Agra (Taj Mahal), India. Memorial service at
Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
8/88
Launching of Facts for Life, now in more than 40 languages and 10 million
copies (still going strong)
2/89
Launch of Bamoko Initiative
Spring 1989
Sudan Operation Lifeline-expansion of El Salvador's days of tranquility
1989
UNGA adoption Convention of the Rights of the Child
7/27/89
JPG marries Ellan Ulery Young. Three grown children: Melissa, Sarah
(Athos), and Andy.
11/20/89
UNGA adoption Convention of the Rights of the Child
2/90
Successful convening of EFA-first global ministerial conference on
education for all (EFA)
4/90
UN Secretary General appointed JPG for 3rd 5-year term us Executive
Director UNICEF
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:54
P.11
9/30/90
World Summit for Children—expansion and culmination or regional
initiatives with heads of state for children beginning in Nov. 1986 Summit for
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), OAU, Central
American heads of state and government
12/90
Achievement of global UCI (Universal Child Immunization)
2/91
Launching Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) to promote breast
feeding
1991-
Serious implementation World Summit For Children plan of action
1992
Establishment of mid-decade goals
5/1/93
JPG operation for cancer
11/11/94
UN Secretary General announced one-year extension for JPG as Executive
Director UNICEF
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:55
February 1. 1995
Date
Event
Month/Da
y/Vr
Major Accomplishments
1940-42
Fair Bear New Deal for students at UC Berkeley
1949
Establishment and Acting Executive Director JCRR and its rural and
land tenure reform programs-Taiwan land reform
12/59
Taiwan as "island of development"-to become first NIC
B-9 1950
US National Student Association-sponsored survey of Southeast Asia
student movements. Olof Palme
1956-58
Establishment of Coylon aid program
Early 1961
Assisting Sargent Shriver in formulating and establishing large-soale
Peace Corps
1966-67
Green Revolution, Turkey
1967-68
Successful agricultural production revolution (incorporating Green
revolution), South Vietnam
1969
Creation and establishment of Overseas Development Council
1969
Tidewater
1972-75
Growth from below: formulating priorities for meeting basic needs and
overcoming worst aspects of mass poverty by year 2000;
Congressional basic human needs initiative
ODC's Agenda for Action,-forerunner of World Bank's annual
development reports and Unicefs State of the World's Children
1980
Response to Kampuchea
1982
Construction of Roof House ("castle in the sky") in New York City
1982-
Launching GOBI-FFF campaign/Child Survival and Development
Revolution (CSDR). "Billion $ bargain."
1985
Formulation of OEOA (Office of Emergency Operations-Africa)
concept of responding to emergencies
FROM UNICEF PLANNING DEFICE
02.09.1995 17:55
February 1, 1995
Date
Event
Month/Da
y/Yr
1985
El Salvador's "Days of Tranquility" for immunizing all children
1984-85
Colombia's national implementation of Child Survival Revolution
1980-
Annual State of the World's Children Reports
8/88
Launching of Facts for Life, now in more than 40 languages and 10
million copies (still going strong)
2/89
Launch of Bamoko Initiative
Spring 1989
Sudan Operation Lifeline-expansion of El Salvador's days of
tranquility
1989
UNGA adoption Convention of the Rights of the Child
2/90
Successful convening of EFA-first global ministerial conference on
education for all (EFA)
9/30/90
World Summit for Children-expansion and culmination or regional
initiatives with heads of state for children beginning in Nov. 1986
Summit for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC), OAU, Central American heads of state and government
12/90
Achievement of global UCI (Universal Child Immunization)
2/91
Launching Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) to promote breast
feeding
1991-
Serious implementation World Summit For Children plan of action
1992
Establishment of mid-decade goals
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
07.09.1995 17:56
Quotes from speeches and articles by James P. Grant, Executive
Diractor, UNICEF
As requested, following are several quotes -- in no
special order -- that you may find useful.
1. "The Convention on the Rights of the Child is at the cutting
edge of human rights and UNICEF efforts to guarantee child
survival and development. Healthy, educated girls and boys,
raised in tolerance and respect for the differences and rights of
others, are critical to a more peaceful and productive world.
Nine tenths of the world's children already live in countries
that have ratified the Convention, which looks likely to become
the first human rights legal code ever to be adopted by every
member of our family of nations The international community's
growing acceptance that children's needs are in fact 'rights' has
extended UNICEF's leverage to break the chain of sickness,
malnutrition and illiteracy at the hub of the poverty cycle."
-- UNICEF 1994 Annual Report
2. "We have a range of old and new technologies that have saved
an estimated 20 million young lives over the past decade and
improved the quality of life for an additional 100 million
children. Near universal acceptance of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the proposition that the young should
have first call on national resources would boost our peaceful
revolution for children through the closing years of the decade
and into the new millennium." -- UNICEF 1994 Annual Report
3. "UNICEF considers the family 'the smallest democracy at the
heart of society', but we know too well how often it falls short
of that ideal. of special concern are the seemingly endless
demands on women to shoulder new responsibilities in child-
rearing, in home management and economic production, in the
workplace and in social and community service. The role of
fathers in family life and parenting is too often neglected." -
UNICEF 1994 Annual Report
4. "The regaloitrance of poverty is one reason UNICEF is
promoting the 20/20 concept. our suggestion is that developing
dountries devote at least 20 per cent of government expenditures
to human priorities such as primary health care and ramily
planning, nutrition, basic education, low-cost water supply and
sanitetion, and that donors provide a commensurate level of
official development assistance (ODA) for the same priorities."
-
- UNICEF 1994 Annual Report
5. some of the wealthier nations
[have] obviously lost
sight of the bottom line - the quality of life for their
children,
Why is it that a country like Bhutan, with an
average per capita income of U8$180 a year, manages to immunize
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17157
2
82 per dent of its children against measles, when countries with
incomes ranging from US$13,000 to US$27,0 have coverage rates
ranging from just 42 per cent to 77 per cent?
Why is it that a country like Sri Lanka, with annual
per capita income of US$500, has one of the world's highest rates
of child survival and 91 per cent of its children completing four
years of primary school?
And how has Zimbabwe, with an average GNP per capita
of only US$620, managed to ensure that 94 per cent of its
children reach grade five, thus achieving the same rate as
several industrialized countries?
The answers reside within the commitment of these
nations to an ideal: A commitment to give the very best they can
to their children; a commitment to extract the maximum social
miles per gallon from their available resources. 11- UNICEF 1994
Annual Report
6. "...a new social ethic is beginning to gather momentum
worldwide. It places human beings -- and particularly the poor
-- at the centre of the development process, and gives children's
basic needs a first call on society's concerns and resources. --
speech to the Ministerial Meeting on Follow-up to the World
Summit for Children -- Children and Social Policy in the
American, Bogota - 5 April 1994
7. "For the first time in history, the world is in the process of
agreeing on minimum standards for nurturing the young."
B. "...mesting children's basic needs will help accelerate
solutions to the main problems that vex and threaten humankind on
the threshold of the 21st century -- the problems of poverty,
population, and environmental degradation that feed off of one
another in a downward spiral that brings instability and strife
in its wake. We believe that an extraordinary lever for global
progress has been found, and its name is children."
9. "If we can overcome the worst manifestations of poverty early
in the lives of young children we'd be going a long way toward
eradicating poverty itself, because frequent illness,
malnutrition, poor growth, and illiteracy are not only symptoms,
but also some of the most fundamental causes of poverty."
10. "The world is undergoing a tectonic shift. From historical
acceptance of the notion that people exist to serve their State
and its elite -- that under conditions of scarcity, the vast
majority must labour to support the privileges of a few -- we are
gradually, painfully, zig-zaggingly and bravely moving toward
universal acceptance of the idea that the State exists to serve
people and communities, Development, therefore, must be
responsive to this new construct. Development, if it is to be
sustainable today, must not only be sustainable in the
environmental sense -- protecting nature and conserving scarce
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
02.09.1995 17:58
3
resources -- but it also must break the grip of poverty on the
bottom half or third of society and slow population growth, while
sustaining democracy, human rights and people's participation in
the development process." -- address at the Third Meeting of
CEOs of Humanitarian and Development NGOs
Geneva 27 May 1994
12. "Now that the vast majority of nations have embraced the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, how do wa judge a
country's compliance in the field of child labour or child
prostitution, for example, for which the international community
has not adopted convenient targets and timelines? Passing and
enforcing the necessary laws and regulations in obviously an
essential part of what needs to happen, but eliminating such
social evils is a complex undertaking that cannot be accomplished
overnight in any society. But at the same time, if States
Parties do not start moving seriously on this front, they open
themselves to criticism for failing to comply with the relevant
provisions of the Convention. What I am suggesting, then, is
that we urge countries where such problems are serious to
develop national plans and timelines for compliance. Enforcement
can be phased in over a realistic but not overly-long timeframe.
For example, a country might set itself the goal of getting all
children 12 years old and under out of the workplace and into the
schoolroom by the year 2000, starting with six year olds in 1995,
seven year olds in 1996, and so on until achieving the goal in
the year 2000."
13. "we do not have a vaccine, a micronutrient, a miracle
technology for bringing about lasting peace, but we do know that
our efforts to overcome poverty's worst symptoms and causes among
children by the year 2000 will make a major contribution to peace
-- which was the essential reasoning behind the awarding of the
Nobel Peace Prize to UNICEF in 1965."
14. "As we get better and better at helping the world's poorest
children "outsmart poverty" during their first three to five
years of life, we must increasingly turn our attention to older
children and youth. The truth is that the world -- UNICEF
included -- has paid far too little attention to youth -- to
their needs, to their ideas, to their rights and dreams. And yet
if we look at the faces in the multitudes marching for democracy,
for the environment, for an end to Apartheid, for equality for
women, for proper treatment for HIV/AIDS, etc. - we see they are
overwhelmingly young faces. If we look at the links in the Cold
Chain that manages to get vaccines into the world's most remote
and inaccessible villages and jungles, we see they are
overwhelmingly young people. How much more could be
accomplished, how much more energy could be harnessed for
progressive change, how much new insight and fresh thinking could
be mobilized -- If the adult world would only truly welcome the
initiative and respect the contribution and encourage the
WORLD DECLARATION
ON THE SURVIVAL, PROTECTION
AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN
AND
PLAN OF ACTION
FOR IMPLEMENTING THE WORLD DECLARATION ON THE
SURVIVAL, PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN IN THE 1990s
WORLD SUMMIT FOR CHILDREN
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK
30 September 1990
0112
301330 UNINNOIS NUBB
WORLD DECLARATION ON THE SURVIVAL, PROTECTION AND
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN
1
We have gathered at the World Summit for Children to undertake a joint
commitment and to make an urgent universal appeal-to give every child a
better future.
2.
The children of the world are innocent, vulnerable and dependent. They are
also curious, active and full of hope. Their time should be one of joy and
peace, of playing, learning and growing. Their future should be shaped in
harmony and co-operation. Their lives should mature, as they broaden their
perspectives and gain new experiences.
3.
But for many children, the reality of childhood Is altogether different.
The challenge
4.
Each day, countless children around the world are exposed to dangers that
hamper their growth and development. They suffer immensely as casualties of
war and violence; as victims of racial discrimination, apartheid, aggression,
foreign occupation and annexation; R9 refugees and displaced children, forced
to abandon their homes and their roots; as disabled; or as victims of neglect,
cruelty and exploitation.
5.
Each day, millions of children suffer from the scourges of poverty and
economic crisis-from hunger and homelessness, from epidemics and illiteracy,
from degradation of the environment. They suffer hom the grave effects 01 the
problems of external indebtedness and also from the lack of sustained and
sustainable growth in many developing countries, particularly the least
developed ones.
6.
Each day, 40,000 children die from malnutrition and disease, including acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), from the lack of clean water and
inadequate sanitation and from the effects of the drug problem.
7.
These are challenges that we, as political leaders, must meet.
311330 WUBS
00:2
The opportunity
8. Together, our nations have the means and the knowledge to protect the lives
and to diminish enormously the suffering of children, to promote the full
development of their human potential and to make them aware of their needs,
rights and opportunities. The Convention on the Rights of the Child provides
a new opportunity to make respect for children's rights and welfare truly
universal.
9. Recent improvements in the international political climate can facilitate this
task. Through international co-operation and solidarity it should now be
possible to achieve concrete results in many fields-to revitalize economic
growth and development, to protect the environment, to prevent the spread of
fatal and crippling diseases and to achieve greater social and economic justice.
The current moves towards disarmament also mean that significant resources
could be released for purposes other than military ones. Improving the well-
being of children must be a very high priority when these resources are
reallocated.
The task
10. Enhancement of children's health and nutrition is a first duty, and also a task
for which solutions are now within reach. The lives of tens of thousands of
boys and girls can be saved every day, because the causes of their death are
readily preventable. Child and infant mortality is unacceptably high in many
parts of the world, but can be lowered dramatically with means that are
already known and easily accessible.
11. Further attention, care and support should be accorded to disabled children,
as well as to other children in very difficult circumstances.
12. Strengthening the role of women in general and ensuring their equal rights
will be to the advantage of the world's children. Girls must be given equal
treatment and opportunities from the very beginning.
13. At present, over 100 million children are without basic schooling, and two-
thirds of them are girls. The provision of basic education and literacy for all are
among the most important contributions that can be made to the development
of the world's children.
14. Half a million mothers die each year from causes related to childbirth. Safe
motherhood must be promoted in all possible ways. Emphasis must be placed
on responsible planning of family size and un child spacing. The family, as a
fundamental group and natural environment for the growth and well-being of
children, should be given all necessary protection and assistance.
2
301330 3331NH NU83
15.
All children must be given the chance to find their identity and realize their
worth in a safe and supportive environment, through families and other care-
givers committed to their welfare. They must be prepared for responsible life
in a free society. They should, from their early years, be encouraged to
participate in the cultural life of their societies.
16.
Economic conditions will continue to influence greatly the fate of children,
especially in developing nations. For the sake of the future of all children, it la
urgently necessary to ensure or reactivate sustained and sustainable economic
growth and development in all countries and also to continue to give urgent
attention to an early, broad and durable solution to the external debt problems
facing developing debtor countries.
17.
These tasks require a continued and concerted effort by all nations, through
national action and international co-operation.
The commitment
18.
The well-being of children requires political action at the highest level. Welare
determined to take that action.
19.
We ourselves hereby make a solemn commitment to give high priority to the
rights of children, to their survival and to their protection and development.
This will also ensure the well-being of all societies.
20.
We have agreed that we will act together, in international co-operation, as well
as in our respective countries. We now commit ourselves to the following
10-point programme to protect the rights of children and to improve their lives:
(1) We will work to promote earliest possible ratification and
implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Programmes to encourage information about children's rights should
be launched world-wide, taking into account the distinct cultural and
social values in different countries.
(2) We will work for a solid effort of national and international action to
enhance children's health, to promote pre-natal care and to lower
infant and child mortality in all countries and among all peoples. We
will promote the provision of clean water in all communities for all
their children, as well as universal access to sanitation.
(3) We will work for optimal growth and development in childhood,
through measures to eradicate hunger, malnutrition and famine, and
thus to relieve millions of children of tragic sufferings in a world that
has the means to feed all its citizens.
(4) We will work to strengthen the role and status of women. We will
promote responsible planning of family size, child spacing,
breastfeeding and safe motherhood.
3
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(5) We will work for respect for the role of the family in providing for
children and will support the efforts of parents, other care-givers and
communities to nurture and care for children, from the earliest stages
of childhood through adolescence. We also recognize the special
needs of children who are separated from their families.
(6) We will work for programmes that reduce illiteracy and provide
educational opportunities for all children, irrespective of their
background and gender; that prepare children for productive
employment and lifelong learning opportunities, i. e. through
vocational training; and that enable children to grow to adulthood
within a supportive and nurturing cultural and social context.
(7) We will work to ameliorate the plight of millions of children who live
under especially difficult circumstances-as victims of apartheid and
foreign occupation; orphans and street children and children of
migrant workers; the displaced children and victims of natural and
man-made disasters; the disabled and the abused, the socially
disadvantaged and the exploited. Refugee children must be helped to
find new roots in life. We will work for special protection of the
working child and for the abolition of illegal child labour. We will do
our best to ensure that children are not drawn into becoming victims
of the scourge of illicit drugs.
(8) We will work carefully to protect children from the scourge of war
and to take measures to prevent further armed conflicts, in order to
give children everywhere a peaceful and secure future. We will
promote the values of peace, understanding and dialogue in the
education of children. The essential needs of children and families
must be protected even in times of war and in violence-ridden areas.
We ask that periods of tranquillity and special relief corridors be
observed for the benefit of children, where war and violence are still
taking place.
(9) We will work for common measures for the protection of the
environment, at all levels, so that all children can enjoy a safet and
healthier future.
(10) We will work for a global attack on poverty, which would have
immediate benefits for children's welfare. The vulnerability and
special needs of the children of the developing countries, and in
particular the least developed ones, deserve priority. But growth and
development need promotion in all States, through national action
and international co-operation. That calls for transfers of appropriate
additional resources to developing countries as well as improved
terms of trade, further trade liberalization and measures for debt
relief. It also Implies structural adjustments that promote world
economic growth, particularly in developing countries, while
ensuring the well-being of the most vulnerable sectors of the
populations, in particular the children.
The next steps
2. The World Summit for Children has presented us with a challenge to take
action. We have agreed to take up that challenge.
22. Among the partnerships we seek, we turn especially to children themselves.
We appeal to them to participate in this effort.
23. We also seek the support of the United Nations system, as well as other
international and regional organizations, in the universal effort to promote the
well-being of children. We ask for greater involvement on the part of non-
governmental organizations, in complementing national efforts and joint
1
international action in this field.
24
We have decided to adopt and implement a Plan of Action, as a framework or
more specific national and international undertakings. We appeal to all our
colleagues to endorse that Plan. We are prepared to make available the
resources to meet these commitments, as part of the priorities of our national
plans.
25.
We do this not only for the present generation, but for all generations to come.
There can be no task nobler than giving every child a better future.
New York, 30 September 1990
5
FROM PLANNING OFFICE
06:21 : t
PLAN OF ACTION FOR IMPLEMENTING
THE WORLD DECLARATION ON THE SURVIVAL, PROTECTION
AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN IN THE 1990s
I.
INTRODUCTION
II.
SPECIFIC ACTIONS FOR CHILD SURVIVAL, PROTECTION
AND DEVELOPMENT
The Convention on the Rights of the Child
Child health
Food and nutrition
Role of women, maternal health and family planning
Role of the family
Basic education and literacy
Children in especially difficult circumstances
Protection of children during armed conflicts
Children and the environment
Alleviation of poverty and revitalization of economic growth
III.
FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS AND MONITORING
Action at the national level
Action at the international level
App endix:
Goals for children and development in the 1990s
7
UNINNO
I. INTRODUCTION
1. This Plan of Action is intended as a guide for national Governments,
international organizations, bilateral aid agencies, non-governmental
organizations (NGO9) and all other sectors of society in formulating their own
programmes of action for ensuring the implementation of the Declaration of
the World Summit for Children.
2. The needs and problems of children vary from country to country, and indeed
from community to community. Individual countries and groups of countries,
as well as international, regional, national and local organizations, may use
this Plan of Action to develop their own specific programmes in line with their
needs, capacity and mandates. However, parents, elders and leaders at all
levels throughout the world have certain common aspirations for the well-
being of their children. This Plan of Action deals with these common
aspirations, suggesting a set of goals and targets for children in the 1990s,
strategies for reaching those goals and commitments for action and follow-up
measures at varlous levels.
3. Progress for children should be a key goal of overall national development. It
should also form an integral part of the broader international development
strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade. As today's
children are the citizens of tomorrow's world, their survival, protect and
development is the prerequisite for the future development of humanity.
Empowerment of the younger generation with knowledge and resources to
mee their basic human needs and to grow to their full potential should be a
primary goal of national development. As their individual development and
social contribution will shape the future of the world, investment in children's
health, nutrition and education is the foundation for national development.
4. The aspirations of the international community for the well-being of children
are Best reflected in the Convention on the Rights of the Child unanimitusly
adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1989. This
Convention sets universal legal standards for the protection of children against
neglect, abuse and exploitation, as well as guaranteeing to them thelr basic
human rights, including survival, development and full participation in social,
cultural, educational and other endeavours necessary for their indiv dual
growth and well-being. The Declaration of the World Summit calls on all
Governments to promote earliest possible ratification and implementation of
the Convention.
8
301330
5. In the past two years, a set of goals for children and development in the 1990s
has been formulated in several international forums attended by virtually all
Governments, relevant United Nations agencies and major NGOs. In support
of these goals and in line with the growing international consensus in favour
of greater attention to the human dimension of development in the 1990s, this
Plan of Action calls for concerted national action and international co-operation
to strive for the achievement, in all countries, of the following major goals (or
the survival, protection and development of children by the year 2000.
(a) Reduction of 1990 under5 child mortality rates by one third or to a
level of 70 per 1,000 live births, whichever is the greater reduction;
(b) Reduction of maternal mortality rates by half of 1990 levels;
(c) Reduction of severe and mcderate malnutrition among under-5
children by one half of 1990 levels;
(d) Universal access to safe drinking water and to sanitary means of
excreta disposal;
(e) Universal access to basic education and completion of primary
education by at least 80 per čent of primary school age children;
(f) Reduction of the adult illiteracy rate to at least half its 1990 level (the
appropriate age group to bc determined in each country), with
emphasis on female literacy;
(g) Protection of children in especially difficult circumstances, particularly
in situations of armed conflicts.
6
A list of more detailed sectoral goals and specific actions which would enable
the attainment of the above major goals can be found in the appendix to this
Plan of Action. These goals will first need to be adapted to the specific realities
of each country in terms of phasing, prioritics, standards and availability of
resources. The strategies for the achievement of the goals may also vary from
country to country. Some countries may wish to add other development goals
that are unlquely important and relevant for their specific country situation.
Such adaptation of the goals is of crucial importance to ensure their technical
validity, logistical feasibility, financial affordability and to secure political
commitment and broad public support for their achievement.
II. SPECIFIC ACTIONS FOR CHILD SURVIVAL, PROTECTION AND
DEVELOPMENT
7.
Within the context of these overall goals, there are promising opportunities for
eradicating or virtually eliminating age-old diseases that have afflicted tens of
millions of children for centuries and for improving the quality of life of
generations to come. Achievement of these goals would also contribute to
lowering population growth, as sustained decline in child death rates towards
the level all which parents become confident that their first children will
survive is, with some time lag, followed by even greater reduction in child
9
FNOM ANNING OFFICE
births. TU seize these opportunities the Declaration of the World Summit for
Children calls for specific actions in the following areas:
The Convention on the Rights of the Child
8. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, unanimously adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly, contains a comprehensive set of
international legal norms for the protection and well-being of children. All
Governments are urged to promote earliest possible ratification of the
Convention, where it has not already been ratified. Every possible effort
should be made in all countries to disseminate the Convention and, wherever
it has already been ratified, to promote its implementation and monitoring.
Child health
9. Preventable childhood diseases-such as measles, polio, tetanus, tuberculosis,
whooping cough and diphtheria. against which there are effective vaccines,
and diarrhoeal diseases, pneumonia and other acute respiratory Infections that
can be prevented or effectively treated through relatively low-cost remedies-
are currently responsible for the great majority of the world's 14 million deaths
of children under 5 years and disability of millions more every year. Effective
action can and must be taken to combat these diseases by strengthening
primary health care and basic health services in all countries.
10. Besides these readily preventable or treatable diseases and some others, such
as malaria, which have proved more difficult to combat, children today are
faced with the new spectre of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(A)DS) pandemic. In the most seriously affected countries HIV/AIDS hreatens
to offset the gains of child survival programmes. It is already a major drain on
limited public health resources needed to support other priority health
services. The consequences of HIV/AIDS go well beyond the suffering and
death of the infected child and include risks and stigmas that affect parents
and siblings and the tragedy of "AIDS orphans". There is an urgent need to
ensure that programmes for the prevention and treatment of AIDS including
research on possible vaccines and cures that can be applicable in all countries
and situations, and massive information and education campaigns, receive a
high priority for both national action and international co-operation.
11. A major factor affecting the health of children as well as adults is the
availability of clean water and safe sanitation. These are not only essential for
human health and well-bcing, but also contribute greatly to the emandipation
of women from the drudgery that has a pernicious impact on children
especially girls. Progress in child health is unlikely to be gustained If one third
of the developing world's children remain without access to clean drinking
water and half of them without adequate sanitary facilities.
10
301330 9NINN018 BBUINH NU83
90:21
12. Based on the experience of the past decade, including the many Innovations in
simple, low-cost techniques and technologies to provide clean water and safe
sanltary facilities in rural arcas and urban shanty towns, it is now desirable as
well as feasible, through concerted national action and international CO-
operation, to aim at providing all the world's children with universal access to
safe drinking water and sanitary means of excreta disposal by the year 2000.
An important related benefit of universal access to water and sanitation
combined with health education will be the control of many water-borrie
diseases, among them elimination of guinea-worm disease (dracunculiasis),
which currently afflicts some 10 million children in parts of Africa and Asid.
Food and nutrition
13. Hunger and malnutrition in their different forms contribute to about half of
the deaths of young children. More than 20 million children suffer from severe
malnumition, 150 million are underweight and 350 million women suffer from
nutritional anaemla. Improved nutrition requires (a) adequate household food
security, (b) healthy environment and control of infections and (c) adequate
maternal and child care. With the right policies, appropriate institutional
arrangements and political priority, the world is now in a position to feed all
the world's children and to overcome the worst forms of malnutrition, i.e.
drastically to reduce diseases that contribute to malnutrition, to halve protein-
energy malnutrition, virtually to eliminate vitamin A deficiency and iodine
deficiency disorders and to reduce nutritional anaemia significantly.
14. for the young child and the pregnant woman, provision of adequate foud
during pregnancy and lactation; promotion, protection and support of
breastfedding and complementary feeding practices, including frequent
feeding; growth monitoring with appropriate follow-up actions; and
nutritional surveillance are the most essential needs. As the child grows older,
and for the adult population as a whole, an adequate diet is an obvious
human priority. Meeting this need requires employment and Income-
generating opportunities, dissemination of knowledge and supporting services
to increase food production and distribution. These are key actions within
broader national strategies to combat hunger and malnutrition.
Role of women, maternal health and family planning
15
Women in their various roles play a critical part in the well-being of children
The enhancement of the status of women and their equal access to education,
training, credit and other extension services constitute a valuable contribution
to a nation's social and economic development. Efforts for the enhancement of
women's status and their role in development must begin with the girl child.
Equal opportunity should be provided for the girl child to benefit from the
health, nutrition, education and other basic services to enable her to grow to
her full potential.
11
FROM UNIGEF ANNING DEFICE
16. Maternal health, nutrition and education are important for the survival and
well-being of women in their own right and are key determinants of the health
and well-being of the child in early infancy. The causes of the high rates of
infant mortality, especially neonatal mortality, are linked to untimely
pregnancies, low birth weight and pre-term births, unsafe delivery, neonatal
tetanus, high fertility rates, etc. These are also major risk factors for maternal
mortality claiming the lives of 500,000 young women each year and resulting in
ill-health and suffering for many millions more. To redress this tragedy, special
attention should be given to health, nutrition and education of women.
17. All couples should have access to information on the importance of
responsible planning of family size and the many advantages of child spacing
to avoid pregnancies that are too early, too late, too many or too frequent. Pre-
natal care, clean delivery, access to referral facilities in complicated cases,
tetanus toxoid vaccination and prevention of anaemia and other nutritional
deficiencies during pregnancy are other important interventions to ensure safe
motherhood and a healthy start in life for the newborn. There is an added
benefit of promoting maternal and child health programmes and family
planning together in that, acting synergistically, these activities help accelerate
the reduction of both mortality and fertility ratcs, and contribute more td
lowering rates of population growth than either type of activity alone.
Role of the family
18. The family has the primary responsibility for the nurturing and protection of
children from infancy to adolescence. Introduction of children to the culture,
values and norms of their society begins in the family. For the full and
harmonious development of their personality, children should grow up in a
family environment, In an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.
Accordingly, all institutions of society should respect and support the efforts of
parents and other care-givers to nurture and care for children in a family
environment.
19. Every effort should be made to prevent the separation of children from their
families. Whenever children are separated from their family owing to force
majeur or in their own best interest, arrangements should be made for
appropriate alternative family care or institutional placement, due regard being
paid to the desirability of continuity in a child's upbringing in his or her own
cultural milieu. Extended families, relatives and community Institutions should
be given support to help to meet the special needs of orphaned, displaced and
abandoned children. Efforts must be made to ensure that no child is treated as
an outcast from society.
Basic education and literacy
20. The international community, including virtually all the Governments of the
world have undertaken a commitment at the World Conference on Education
for All at Jomtien, Thailand, to increase significantly educational opportunity
12
BUIRBU UNINNO 9301NH HUGS
86121 5561
for over 100 million children and nearly 1 billion adults, two thirds of them
girls and women, who at present have no access to basic education and
literacy. In fulfilment of that commitment, specific measures must be adopted
for (a) the expansion of early childhood development activities, (b) universal
access to basic education, including completion of primary education or
equivalent learning achievement by at least 80 per cent of the relevant school-
age children with emphasis on reducing the current disparities between boys
and girls, (c) the reduction of adult illiteracy by half, with emphasis on female
Uteracy, (d) vocational training and preparation for employment and (e)
increased acquisition of knowledge, skills and values through all educational
channels, including modern and traditional communication media, to improve
the quality of life of children and families.
21.
Besides its Intrinsic value for human development and improving the quality
of life, progress in education and literacy can contribute significantly tu
improvement in maternal and child health, in protection of the environment
and in sustainable development. As such, Investment in basic education must
be accorded a high priority in national action as well as international CO-
operation
Children In especially difficult circumstances
22.
Millions of children around the world live under especially difficult
circumstances-as orphans and street children, as refugees or displaced
persons, as victims of war and natural and man-made disasters, including
such perils as exposure to radiation and dangerous chemicals, as children of
migrant workers and other socially disadvantaged groups, as child workers or
youth trapped in the bondage of prostitution, sexual abuse and other forms of
exploitation, as disabled children and juvenile delinquents and as victims of
apartheid and foreign occupation. Such children deserve special attention,
protection and assistance from their families and communities and as part of
national efforts and international co-operation.
23.
More than 100 million children are engaged in employment, often heavy and
hazardous and in contravention of international conventions which provide for
their protection from economic exploitation and from performing work that
interferes with their education and is harmful to their health and full
development. With this in mind, all States should work to end such child-
labour practices and see how the conditions and circumstances of children In
egitimate employment can be protected to provide adequate opportunity for
their healthy upbringing and development.
24
Drug abuse has emerged as a global menace to very large numbers of young
people and, increasingly, children-including permanent damage incurred ih
the pre-natal stagey of life. Concerted action is needed by Governments and
intergovernmental agencies to combat illicit production, supply, demand,
trafficking and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances to
13
counter this tragedy. Equally important is community action and education,
which are vitally needed to curb both the supply of and the demand for illicit
drugs. Tobacco and alcohol abuse are also problems requiring action,
especially preventive measures and education among young people.
Protection of children during armed conflicts
25. Children need special protection in situations of armed conflict. Recent
examples in which countries and opposing factions have agreed to suspend
hostilities and adopt special measures such as "corridors of peace" to allow
relief supplies to reach women and children and "days of tranquillity" to
vaccinate and to provide other health services for children and their families in
areas of conflict need to be applied in all such situations. Resolution of a
conflict need not be a prerequisite for measures explicitly to protect children
and their families to ensure their continuing access to food, medical care and
basic services, to deal with trauma resulting from violence and to exempt them
from other direct consequences of violence and hostilities. To build the
foundation for a peaceful world where violence and war will cease to be
acceptable means for settling disputes and conflicts, children's education
should inculcate the values of peace, tolerance, understanding and dialogue.
Children and the environment
26. Children have the greatest stake in the preservation of the environment and its
judicious management for sustainable development as their survival and
development depends on it. The child survival and development goals
proposed for the 1990s in this Plan of Action seek to improve the environment
by combating disease and malnutrition and promoting education. These
contribute to lowering death rates as well as birth rates, improved social
services, better use of natural resources and, ultimately, to the breaking of the
vicious cycle of poverty and environmental degradation.
27. With their relatively low use of capital resources and high reliance on social
mobilization, community participation and appropriate technology, the
programmes designed to reach the child-related goals of the 1990s are highly
compatible with and supportive of environmental protection. The goals for the
survival, protection and development of children as enunciated in this Plan of
Action should therefore be seen as helping to protect and preserve the
environment. Still more action is needed, of course, to prevent the degradation
of the environment in both the industrialized and the developing countries,
through changes in the wasteful consumption patterns of the affluent and by
helping to meet the necessities of survival and development of the poor.
Programmes for children that not only help to meet their basic needs but
which inculcate in them respect for the natural environment with the diversity
of life that it sustains and its beauty and resourcefulness that enhance the
quality of human life, must figure prominently in the world's environmental
agenda.
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02121
Alleviation of poverty and revitalization of economic growth
28.
Achievement of child related goals in the areas of health, nutrition, education,
etc., will contribute much to alleviating the worst manifestations of poverty.
But much more will need to be done to ensure that a solid economic base is
established to meet and sustain the goals for long-term child survival,
protection and development.
29. As affirmed by the international community at the eighteenth special session
of the United Nations General Assembly (April 1990), a most important
challenge for the 1990s is the need for revitalization of economic growth and
social development in the developing countries and to address together the
problems of abject poverty and hunger that continue to afflict far too many
people in the world. As the most vulnerable segment of human society,
children have a particular stake in sustained economic growth and alleviation
of poverty, without which their well-being cannot be secured.
30.
To foster a favourable international economic environment, it is essential to
continue to give urgent attention to an early, broad and durable solution to
the external debt problems facing developing debtor countries; to mobilize
external and domestic resources to meet the increasing needs for development
finance of developing countries; to take steps to ensure that the problem of the
net transfer of resources from developing to developed countries does not
continue in the 1990s and that its impact is effectively addressed; to create a
more open and equitable trading system to facilitate the diversification and
modernization of the economies of developing countries, particularly those
that are commodity-dependent; and to make available substantial concessional
resources, particularly for the least developed countries.
31. In all of these efforts the fulfilment of the basic needs of children must receive
a high priority. Every possible opportunity should be explored to ensure that
programmes benefiting children, women and other vulnerable groups are
protected in times of structural adjustments and other economic restructuring.
For example, as countries reduce military expenditures, part of the resources
released should be channelled to programmes for social and economic
development, including those benefiting children. Debt-rellef schemes could
be formulated in ways that the budget reallocations and renewed economic
growth made possible through such schemes would benefit programmes for
children. Debt relief for children, including debt swaps for investment in social
development programmes, should be considered by debtors and creditors. The
international community, including private-sector creditors, are urged to work
with developing countries and relevant agencies to support debt relief for
children. To match increased efforts by developing countries themselves, the
donor countries and international institutions should consider targetting more
development assistance to primary health care, basic education, low-cost water
and sanitation programmes and other interventions specifically endorsed in
the Summit Declaration and this Plan of Action.
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301330 UNINNOIS 333140 WUSS
11:21
32.
The international community has recognized the need to stop and reverse the
increasing marginalization of the least developed countries, including most
countries of sub-Saharan Africa and many land-locked and island countries
that face special development problems. These countries will require
additional long-term international support to complement their own national
efforts to meet the pressing needs of children over the 1990s.
III. FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS AND MONITORING
33.
Effective implementation of this Plan of Action will require concerted national
action and international co-operation. As affirmed in the Declaration, such
action and co-operation must be guided by the principle of a "first call for
children"-a principle that the essential needs of children should be given high
priority in the allocation of resources, in bad times as well as in good times, at
national and international as well as at family levels.
34.
It is particularly important that the child-specific actions proposed must be
pursued as part of strengthening broader national development programmes
combining revitalized economic growth, poverty reduction, human resource
development and environmental protection. Such programmes must also
strengthen community organizations, inculcate civic responsibility and be
sensitive to the cultural heritage and social values which support progress
without alienation of the younger generation. With these broad objectives in
mind, we commit ourselves and our Governments to the following actions:
Action at the national level
(i) All Governments are urged to prepare, before the end of 1991,
national programmes of action to implement the commitments
undertaken in the World Summit Declaration and this Plan of
Action. National Governments should encourage and assist
provincial and local governments as well as NGOs, the private sector
and civic groups to prepare their own programmes of action to help
to implement the goals and objectives included in the Declaration
and this Plan of Action;
(ii) Each country is encouraged to re-examine in the context of its
national plans, programmes and policies, how it might accord higher
priority to programmes for the well-being of children in general, and
for meeting over the 1990s the major goals for child survival,
development and protection as enumerated in the World Summit
Declaration and this Plan of Action;
(III) Each country is urged to re-examine in the context of its particular
national situation, its current national budget, and in the case of
donor countries, their development assistance budgets, to ensure
that programmes aimed at the achievement of goals for the survival,
protection and development of children will have a priority when
16
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301330 UNINNO 13 BRUIN WU83
resources are allocated. Every effort should be made to ensure that
such programmes are protected in times of economic austerity and
structural adjustments;
(iv)
Families, communities, local governments, NGOs, social, cultural,
religious, business and other institutions, including the mass media,
are encouraged to play an active role in support of the goals
enunciated in this Plan of Action. The experience of the 1980s shows
that it is only through the mobilization of all sectors of society,
including those that traditionally did not consider child survival,
protection and development as their major focus, that significant
progress can be achieved in these areas. All forms of social
mobilization, including the effective use of the great potential of the
new information and communication capacity of the world, should
be marshalled to convey to all families the knowledge and skills
required for dramatically improving the situation of children;
(v)
Each country should establish appropriate mechanisms for the
regular and timely collection, analysis and publication of data
required to monitor relevant social indicators relating to the well-
being of children-such as neonatal, infant and under-5 mortality
rates, maternal mortality and fertility rates, nutritional levels,
immunization coverage, morbidity rates of diseases of public health
importance, school enrolment and achievement and literacy ratest
which record the progress being made towards the goals set forth in
this Plan of Action and corresponding national plans of action,
Statistics should be disaggregated by gender to ensure that any
inequitable impact of programmes on girls and women can be
monitored and corrected. It is particularly important that
mechanisms be established to alert policy makers quickly to any
adverse trends to enable timely corrective action. Indicators of
human development should be periodically reviewed by national
leaders and decision makers, as is currently done with indicators of
economic development;
(vi)
Each country is urged to re-examine its current arrangements for
responding to natural disasters and man-made calamities which
often afflict women and children the hardest. Countries that do not
have adequate contingency planning for disaster preparedness are
urged to establish such plans, seeking support from appropriate
international institutions where necessary;
(vii)
Progress towards the goals endorsed in the Summit Declaration and
this Plan of Action could be further accelerated, and solutions to
many other major problems confronting children and families greatly
facilitated, through further research and development. Governments,
industry and academic institutions are requested to increase their
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301330 BNINNO
efforts in both basic and operational research, aimed at new technical
and technological breakthroughs, more effective social mobilization
and better delivery of existing social services. Prime examples of the
areas in which research is urgently needed include, in the fie of
health, improved vaccination technologies, malaria, AIDS,
respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, nutritional deficiencies,
tuberculosis, family planning and care of the newborn. Similarly
there are important research needs in the area of early child
development, basic education, hygiene and sanitation, and in coping
with the trauma facing children who are uprooted from their families
and face other particularly difficult circumstances. Such research
should involve collaboration among institutions in both the
developing and the industrialized countries of the world.
Action at the international level
35. Action at the community and national levels is, of course, of critical Importance
in meeting the goals and aspirations for children and development. However,
many developing countries, particularly the least developed and the most
indebted ones, will need substantial international co-operation to enable them
to participate effectively in the world-wide effort for child survival, protection
and development. Accordingly, the following specific actions are proposed to
create an enabling international environment for the implementation of this
Plan of Action.
(i) All international development agencies-multilateral, bilateral and
non-governmental-are urged to examine how they can contribute to
the achievement of the goals and strategies enunclated in the
Declaration and this Plan of Action as part of more general attention
to human development in the 1990s. They are requested to report
their plans and programmes to their respective governing bodies
before the end of 1991 and periodically thereafter;
(ii) All regional institutions, including regional political and economic
organizations, are requested to include consideration of the
Declaration and this Plan of Action on the agenda of their meetings,
including at the highest political level, with a view to developing
agreements for mutual collaboration for implementation and ongoing
monitoring;
(iii) Full co-operation and collaboration of all relevant United Nations
agencies and organs as well as other international institutions are
requested in ensuring the achievement of the goals and objectives of
the national plans envisaged in the World Summit Declaration and
Plan of Action. The governing bodies of all concerned agencies are
requested to ensure that within their mandates the fullest possible
support is given by these agencies for the achievement of these goals;
18
301330 UNINNO 33JINH NUSS
(iv) The assistance of the United Nations is requested to institute
appropriate mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of this
Plan of Action, using existing expertise of the relevant United
Nations statistical offices, the specialized agencies, UNICEF and
other United Nations organs. Furthermore, the Secretary-General of
the United Nations is requested to arrange for a mid-decade review,
at all appropriate levels, of the progress being made towards
implementing the commitments of the Declaration and Plan of
Action;
(v) As the world's lead agency for children, the United Nations
Children's Fund is requested to prepare, in close collaboration with
the relevant specialized agencies and other United Nations organs, a
consolidated analysis of the plans and actions undertaken by
individual countries and the international community in support of
the child-related development goals for the 1990s. The governing
bodies of the relevant specialized agencies and United Nations
organs are requested to include a periodic review of the
Implementation of the Declaration and this Plan of Action at their
regular sessions and to keep the General Assembly of the
United Nations, through the Economic and Social Council, fully
informed of progress to date and additional action required during
the decade ahead.
36.
The goals cnunciated in the Declaration and this Plan of Action are ambitious
and the commitments required to implement them will demand consistent and
extraordinary effort on the part of all concerned. Fortunately, the necessary
knowledge and techniques for reaching most of the goals already exist. The
financial resources required are modest in relation to the great achievements
that beckon. And the most essential factor-the provision to families of the
information and services necessary to protect their children-is now within
reach in every country and for virtually every community. There is no cause
which merits a higher priority than the protection and development of
children, on whom the survival, stability and advancement of all nations-
and, indeed, of human civilization-depends. Full Implementation of the
Declaration and this Plan of Action must therefore be accorded a high priority
for national action and International co-operation.
19
Appendix
GOALS FOR CHILDREN AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE 1990s
The following goals have been formulated through extensive consultation in
various international forums attended by virtually all Governments, the relevant
United Nations agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF,
the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational,
Scientifle and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD) and a large number of NGOs. These goals are recommended
for implementation by all countries where they are applicable, with appropriate
adaptation to the specific situation of each country in terms of phasing, standards,
priorities and availability of resources, with respect for cultural, religious and social
traditions. Additional goals that are particularly relevant to a country's specific
situation should be added in its national plan of action.
1. MAJOR GOALS FOR CHILD SURVIVAL, DEVELOPMENT AND
PROTECTION
(a) Between 1990 and the year 2000, reduction of infant and under-5 child
mortality rate by one third or to 50 and 70 per 1,000 live births respectively,
whichever is less;
(b) Between 1990 and the year 2000, reduction of maternal mortality rate by half;
(c) Between 1990 and the year 2000, reduction of severe and moderate
malnutrition among under-5 children by half;
(d) Universal access to safe drinking water and to sanitary means of excreta
disposal;
(e) By the year 2000, universal access to basic education and completion of
primary education by at least 80 per cent of primary school-age children
(f)
Reduction of the adult illiteracy rate (the appropriate age group 10 be
determined in each country) to at least half its 1990 level with emphasis on
female literacy;
(g)
Improved protection of children in especially difficult circumstances.
20
301330 WNINNE : BBUIND NUSS
52721
II. SUPPORTING/SECTORAL GOALS
A. Women's health and education
(i)
Special attention to the health and nutrition of the female child
and to pregnant and lactating women;
(II)
Access by all couples to Information and services to prevent
pregnancies that are 100 early, too closely spaced, too late or too
many;
(iii)
Access by all pregnant women to pre-natal care, trained attendants
during childbirth and referral facilities for high-risk pregnancles
and obstetric emergencies;
(iv) Universal access to primary education with special emphasis for
girls and accelerated literacy programmes for women.
B.
Nutrition
(i)
Reduction in severe, as well as moderate mainutrition among
under-5 children by half of 1990 levels;
(ii) Reduction of the rate of low birth weight (2.5 kg or less) to less
than 10 per cent;
(iii) Reduction of iron deficiency anaemia in women by one third of
the 1990 levels;
(iv) Virtual elimination of iodine deficiency disorders;
(v) Virtual elimination of vitamin A deficiency and its consequences,
including blindness;
(vi) Empowerment of all women to breast-feed their children
exclusively for four to six months and to continue breast-feeding,
with complementary food, well into the second year;
(vii) Growth promotion and its regular monitoring to be
institutionalized In all countries by the end of the 1990s;
(viii) Dissemination of knowledge and supporting services to Increase
food production to ensure household food security.
21
C. Child health
(i) Global eradication of poliomyelitis by the year 2000;
(ii) Elimination of neonatal tetanus by 1995;
(iii) Reduction by 95 per cent in measles deaths and reduction by 90
per cent of measles cases compared to pre-immunization levels by 1995,
as a major step to the global eradication of measles in the longer run;
(iv) Maintenance of a high level of immunization coverage (at least 90 per
cent of children under one year of age by the year 2000) against
diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis and
against tetanus for women of child-bearing age;
(v) Reduction by 50 per cent in the deaths due to diarrhoea in children
under the age of five years and 25 per cent reduction in the diarrhoea
incidence rate;
(vi) Reduction by one third in the deaths due to acute respiratory
infections in children under five years.
D. Water and sanitation
(i) Universal access to safe drinking water;
(ii) Universal access to sanitary means of excreta disposal;
(iii) Elimination of gulnea-worm disease (dracuncullasis) by the year 2000.
E. Basic education
(i) Expansion of early childhood development activities, including
appropriate low-cost family- and community-based interventions;
(ii) Universal access to basic education, and achievement of primary
education by at least 80 per cent of primary school-age children
through formal schooling or non-formal education of comparable
learning standard, with emphasis on reducing the current disparities
between boys and girls;
(iii) Reduction of the adult illiteracy rate (the appropriate age group to be
determined in each country) to at least half its 1990 level, with
emphasis on female literacy;
22
92:21 5661'68'00
301330 3301N0 WUSS
*********
(lv) Increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge,
skills and values required for better living, made available through all
educational channels, including the mass media, other forms of
modern and traditional communication and social action, with
effectiveness measured in terms of behavioural change.
F.
Children in difficult circumstances
Provide improved protection of children in especially difficult circumstances
and tackld the root causes leading to such situations.
23
21:21 5651-00-18
FROM UNITED PI ANNINA DEFICE
2620
Dec. 21 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1993
I can tell you it only fortifies the determina-
George Esson; and Eleanor and Nicky Bright,
tion of your Nation and its Government. That
family members of a Pan Am flight 103 victim.
is why we remain determined to see that
those who murdered those who were aboard
Pan Am 103 are brought to justice, why we
have demanded the surrender of the two
Remarks Honoring UNICEF Health
Libyans indicted for this vicious offense, why
Heroes
we have pushed for and secured tougher
December 21, 1993
international sanctions against Libya, and
why we will not rest until the case is closed.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Jim.
As we break ground, let us vow again that
Hillary and I are delighted to have you and
we will do all we can to protect our people.
so many of your friends from around America
And let us draw renewed strength from the
here today for the presentation of this report.
lives of the individuals in whose memories
We especially appreciate the presence
we come to honor.
here—I see Senator Leahy, Senator Sar-
I want to read to you in closing the words
banes, and Congressman Obey. I don't know
of Georgia Nucci, who lost her son over
if Senator Dole and Congressman Porter are
Lockerbie and later assembled an extraor-
here, but I think they were coming. I'm de-
dinary book about the lives of each of the
lighted to see from the administration, Tim
victims. As she returned from Scotland, she
Wirth from the State Department; Secretary
wrote the following: "Out of the ashes of this
Shalala from HHS; our United Nations Am-
disaster came a torrent of love and friendship
bassador, Madeleine Albright; our AID Ad-
and help freely given from a whole commu-
ministrator, Brian Atwood; and the Surgeon
nity that was itself a victim."
General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders. There are
Today is the shortest day of the year. But
many other distinguished people here, but
the winter solstice is also a turning point from
most of all I'm glad to see the children here.
which the light begins to return. While this
For after all, we're here to celebrate a season
season and this day for you and for all Ameri-
filled with the joy of children and to remind
cans are blackened by the agony of senseless
ourselves of much of the work still to be
loss, I pray that each of your lives will be
done.
brightened in some measure by the monu-
James Agee once wrote, "In every child
ment we dedicate here.
who is born under no matter what cir-
Let us grieve for those who fell from the
cumstances, the potentiality of the human
firmament, and those who lay below, on that
race is born again, and in him, too, our ter-
winter day still frozen so clearly in your mem-
rific responsibility toward human life, toward
ory. The Bible says: "Blessed are they that
the utmost idea of goodness, the horror of
mourn, for they shall be comforted." As each
error, and of God." We are here in part to
stone is set in this cairn, may your wounds
note the outstanding work of the fine man
set and heal as well. And as long as this
who just spoke.
monument shall stand, may you find comfort
Jim Grant and UNICEF are among the
in the knowledge that your Nation stands be-
best friends any child could have. UNICEF
hind you.
was the driving force behind the historic
I ask you now to join me in a moment
world summit for children 3 years ago when
of silent prayer.
leaders of 150 nations met to define the goals
I'd like now to ask Constable George
for improving health and welfare of our chil-
Esson and Eleanor and Nicky Bright to join
dren by the year 2000. Jim and UNICEF
Jane Schultz down here for the
continue to see that all the rest of us do our
groundbreaking ceremony.
part to make progress toward those goals.
Today, with the annual State of the
NOTE: The President spoke at 10:23 a.m. at Ar-
World's Children Report, UNICEF lays
lington National Cemetery. In his remarks, he re-
down another marker for the rest of us. The
ferred to Jane Schultz, executive vice president,
U.S. Agency for International Development
Victims of Pan Am Flight 103; Chief Constable
also releases its own report on child survival.
1993
Administration of William J. Clinton, 1993 / Dec. 21
2621
Bright,
And these impressive reports both mark the
promote democracy, and to avert future con-
victim.
progress that has been made as well as outlin-
flicts.
ing what still we must do. They document,
There have been times when the fight for
for example, that over the past decade the
the world's children seemed to be a losing
international community has reduced the in-
one. But the children's summit and related
ealth
stances of some of the world's worst child-
events have transformed that frustration into
hood diseases: measles, polio, and neo-natal
hope. Our own Nation can take pride in dec-
tetanus, by over half. Yet we have still so
ades of our leadership, with bipartisan sup-
much to do. Around the world, children suf-
Jim.
port here at home on behalf of worldwide
fer more than anyone else from poverty, mal-
and
efforts to improve children's health.
nutrition, disease, environmental decay, and
merica
The continuing leadership of this Nation
even armed conflict. Today and every day in
is revealed in the work of the six health he-
report.
villages and neighborhoods around the globe,
esence
roes we will honor here today and countless
30,000 children will die from malnutrition
Sar-
others like them. Building on their contribu-
and preventable disease. As Jim has noted,
know
tions and concentrating on the most cost-ef-
behind each of these statistics there's a face,
are
a family, a set of hopes and dreams, and a
fective way of helping children, we're making
de-
future that now will never be.
great strides in areas like immunization and
Tim
child nutrition. We're determined to build
And while the plight of children abroad
cretary
is especially acute, we must never forget that
on this progress.
Am-
poverty, hunger, and disease are not strang-
Under the direction of AID Director,
Ad-
ers to our children here in the United States.
Brian Atwood, we proposed an overhaul of
urgeon
One of every five of our children lives in pov-
our foreign assistance programs to reflect
are
erty. By the time they're 15 years old, nearly
new times and new priorities. At the heart
but
one-third of our children in inner cities will
of this is a vision for sustainable develop-
here.
have known someone who has died violently.
ment, centered on human development, a vi-
season
One of my highest goals is to see that the
sion that will help us to make progress in
remind
next generation of our children grows up
child health, population, and environmental
to
be
with more health, more security, more safety,
protection, a cause the Vice President has
and more hope than those of this generation.
done so much to advance. Working with
child
That's one of the reasons why we worked so
UNICEF and other governmental and non-
cir-
hard for the Family and Medical Leave Act,
governmental organizations, we want to
human
for the new crime bill, for the Brady bill,
make those goals at the children's summit
ter-
and perhaps most importantly, for universal
come true. That's the best Christmas present
toward
health care coverage for all of our people.
we could give to the world.
of
The First Lady, Secretary Shalala, and oth-
So today I call on Americans in private and
to
ers are working on a health care reform plan
public life to join with leaders in developing
man
that, when enacted, will provide complete
nations to help ensure that we do make tan-
preventive care and health security for over
gible progress, especially in three key areas.
the
8 million American children that today are
First, by the year 2000, we ought to set our
uninsured. We're working to boost the im-
sights on getting 90 percent of the world's
istoric
munization rate of our 2-year-olds to 90 per-
children vaccinated for measles and on vir-
when
cent; striving to ensure adequate nutrition for
tually eradicating polio, as surely as the world
goals
all of our children, including full funding for
eradicated smallpox decades ago. Second, we
chil-
the women, infants and children's feeding
should strive to give at least 80 percent of
program; fighting the plague of violence
the world's children access to lifesaving treat-
do
our
against our children; and committed also to
ment for the world's two biggest childhood
improving the lives of children in other lands,
killers, diarrhea and pneumonia. Third, on
of
the
not out of simple charity but also out of pru-
nutrition, the world can make enormous im-
lays
dence. Because investing in the children of
provements through simple steps such as
The
the world can be the most cost-effective way
eliminating Vitamin A deficiency, which can
not only to relieve suffering but to advance
be deadly, and by promoting more breast
urvival.
economies, to promote self-sufficiency, to
feeding for infants.
2622
Dec. 21 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1993
Ac
These are simple low-cost strategies. They
water and better sanitation to support chil-
m
don't require space-age technology. They
dren's health around the world; Patrice
pli
rely on basic medicines, inexpensive vac-
Jeliffe, for her lifetime commitment to the
ch
cines, drinkable water, access to family plan-
world's children as a public health expert,
cic
ning, and expanded educational opportuni-
promoting breast feeding and appropriate
ties, especially for women and girls. And we
weaning foods and practices in the develop-
WC
can afford to do our part in this effort be-
ing world; Dr. Carl E. Taylor, for his sus-
fic
cause the financial burden will be shared
tained work around the world, from India to
ins
among many nations.
Beijing, which has demonstrated key linkages
of
If we let the world's children suffer, we
among nutrition, family size, and other ef-
me
know that in time we'll reap a bitter harvest
forts on child survival.
fic
of despair and desperation and violence. We
Thank you.
cit
know that when children grow up healthy
and nurtured, they're more likely to do better
NOTE: The President spoke at 2:28 p.m. in the
on
by their own children, they're more likely to
East Room at the White House. In his remarks,
ed
become citizens and contributors, more like-
he referred to Jim Grant, American executive di-
rector of UNICEF. A tape was not available for
be
ly to add to the global marketplace. This is
verification of the content of these remarks.
tri
how free societies and open markets evolve,
tea
how global progress happens, how future
cal
friends of the United States and these chil-
me
dren will be created.
Proclamation 6643-National Law
in
We still call this, I think instructively, the
post-cold-war era. The problem with that
Enforcement Training Week, 1994
December 21, 1993
tuo
designation is it tells us where we've been
ins
but not where we're going. We have to chart
By the President of the United States
an
a new path, channeling the remarkable forces
of America
the
at work in this era with a bold vision of what
nit
might be. Let us today commit that our chil-
A Proclamation
dren and the world's children will figure
One of the most essential and challenging
75.
large in that vision, that the post-cold-war era
jobs in America belongs to our law enforce-
will instead be the world's era of peace and
ment officers. The men and women who
Jar
prosperity and humanity in which our minds
safeguard our lives and property every hour
me
and hearts work together to give all children
of every day are true heroes. They must be
and
a better life.
physically fit, well-versed in criminal law and
ma
Now I'd like to ask our six health heroes
procedure, skilled in the use of weapons and
]
to step forward and to be recognized for the
other technologies, adept at communicating,
Pre
outstanding work they've done. First, Dr.
leading, and problem-solving, and able to
do
Gretchen Berggren, being recognized for her
make split-second decisions in life-or-death
Jan
lifelong commitment to the health of the
situations. There is no time to look up an-
me
world's children as a medical missionary and
swers in a textbook out on the street; an offi-
to
an innovator in community-based nutrition
cer's education and training make all the dif-
its,
and primary health care; next, Dr. William
ference.
gra
Foege, for his long commitment to the health
High-quality instruction and preparation
all
of the world's children through his global
are the foundations of successful law enforce-
our
leadership on immunization goals and the
ment. As the problem of crime grows and
nifi
eradication of smallpox; Dr. Norbert
criminals become more sophisticated, knowl-
]
Hirschorn, for his distinguished career in
edge of law enforcement skills must enable
my
public health and his leadership in dem-
officers to bring every available tool to bear
in
onstrating the value of oral rehydration ther-
to prevent crime and to apprehend those
anc
apy to change children's lives all around the
who, with no regard for the rights of others,
of t
world; Dr. Donald Hopkins, for his leader-
defy our laws. It is no longer sufficient for
dre
ship in the global effort to eradicate Guinea
officers to know how to use a car, a gun,
worm and other diseases and to assure safe
and a fingerprint pad; today's professionals
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
12.19.1994 18:16
file
Letter to the Editor of The Washington Post
Bogotá, Colombia, December 19, 1994
Jocl Achenbach ("The First Lady, Following the Leader", Dec. 14, p. C1) says of
the Miami Summit of the Americas: "While the men talked about trade and
made important decisions affecting the entire Western Hemisphere, the First Ladies
... met across town at the Biltmore and talked about children." It reads as though
children were irrelevant to the important decisions affecting the hemisphere. In
fact, the "men" also had a thing or two to say about children. They set goals for
universal primary education and child mortality reduction. They renewed their
commitment to the goals of the 1990 World Summit for Children and the 1994
Nariño Accord (which set very specific goals for children to be reached by the end
of 1995). They talked about the rights of children, agreeing "to give serious
consideration to ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child" (the U.S. and Haiti being the only countries in the Hemisphere that have not
already done so). Of course, UNICEF and others would have applauded if these
leaders had even more to say about children, who bear the brunt of this
Hemisphere's poverty and inequality and who are the ones for whom the leaders
should really be seeking a level playing field. But if the mostly male Heads of
State, and the media, put trade at the top of their agendas, might it not be that their
spouses simply had a better sense of priorities?
Marta Maurás Pérez
Regional Director for Latin America
and the Caribbean,
United Nations Children's Fund
***END***
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
12.19.1994 18:15
1
unicef
PLANNING OFFICE
United Nations Children's Fund
Pends dos Nations Union pour l'enfance
Fondo de las Naciones Unides para is Infancia
3 U.N. Plaza, New York, NY, 10017
(212) 326-7783/7466
Fax: (212) 303-7959 UNICEF Fax # (212) 888-7465/7454
FAX TRANSMISSION COVER SHEET
Date:
December 19, 1994
To:
Melanne Verveer/ Nicole Rabner
Fax:
(202) 456-6244
Subject: Letter to the editor of the Washington Post
Sender: Robert J. Ledogar, Senior Planning Officer
M
YOU SHOULD RECEIVE 3 PAGE(S), INCLUDING THIS COVER SHEET. IF YOU
DO NOT RECEIVE ALL THE PAGES, PLEASE CALL (212) 326-7783/7466.
We sent the attached letter to the editor this afternoon concerning the
plece by Joel Achenbach on Dec. 14 In the Style section.
Let's see If they publish lt.
FROM UNICEF PLANNING OFFICE
12.19.1994 18:15
2
unicef
United Nations Cideren's Fund
Foods doe Nations United pour l'enfure
Fondo de las Nacipace Usides para is Infancia
3 U.N. Plaza, New York, NY, 10017
(212) 326-7783/7466
Fax: (212) 303-7959 UNICEF Fax # (212) 888-7465/7454
FAX TRANSMISSION COVER SHEET
Date:
December 19, 1994
To:
The Washington Post
Fax:
(202) 334-5269
Subject:
A letter to the editor
Sender:
Richard Jolly, Acting Executive Director
YOU SHOULD RECEIVE 2 PAGE(S), INCLUDING THIS COVER SHEET. IF YOU
DO NOT RECEIVE ALL THE PAGES, PLEASE CALL (212) 326-7783/7466.
Attached is a letter to the editor concerning the article entitled "The First
Lady, Following the Leader" by Joel Achenbach In the Style section of the
Post on 14 December, 1994.
We hope you will see fit to publish this letter.
Thank you.
Richa
HQ535
.U54
1993
A CULTURE OF CARING
America's Commitment to
Children and Families
INTRODUCTION
Americans have always passed on to the next generation a more prosperous and more
humane society than the one they inherited. That's what has given America strength.
That's what has made the United States a lighthouse for the world. We have a responsibil-
ity to continue this tradition, to make sure that our actions today produce a brighter future
for our children tomorrow. We must make sure America remains a land of opportunity for
our children. America's plan of action is simple: we will give our children a more prosper-
ous, healthier and more secure future.
he current generation of
The Bush Administration
and community can best provide.
T
American adults
recognizes that the Federal
For millions of American children.
recognizes that to do
Government plays an important
government serves as a provider,
this, we must provide
role in protecting children from
paying welfare benefits in lieu of
our children with the tools that will
poverty. disease, malnutrition,
the wages that would be provided
enable their generation to experi-
illiteracy and abuse. But the
by an absent parent. But children
ence progress. For this to occur.
primary responsibility for
need the care and support of both
we must have an education system
America's children must rest with
parents. Without a mother and
that works. Children must arrive at
the family and the local commu-
father. a child would be left to
school healthy and ready to learn.
nity. The state of our children is
depend on the government for
With these tools our children can
the state of our families.
warmth, love, and moral guidance
assure themselves of a growing
As U.S. Department of
as well as economic assistance.
economy so that they can continue
Health and Human Services
In addition. far too many
to build our Nation and prosper in
Secretary Louis W. Sullivan. M.D.
children grow up in areas where
the same way previous generations
has said, "The family is the first
work is not readily available. So
of Americans have prospered.
and the most effective Department
the U.S. Government. in pursuit of
This report. a response to the
of Health and Human Services."
its long-standing commitment to
World Summit for Children held in
That's because the forces that truly
ensure the well-being of its
New York in September 1990,
shape a child's development -
citizens, provides many programs
presents both the steps the Admin-
care, love, and the instilling of
designed to offer assistance when
istration is taking to improve the
moral values - are best provided
these traditional front-line institu-
lives of children in the United
by the family and the local com-
tions break down.
States and the initiatives the United
munity.
This report provides an
States is undertaking to improve
The Bush Administration
overview of innovative Federal
the lives of children worldwide.
believes that the Federal Govern-
efforts. By no means is the informa-
This report's narrative
ment should look for ways to
tion contained here intended to be
focuses for the most part on the
reinforce and strengthen the basic
comprehensive or all-encompass-
activities of the Federal Govern-
building blocks of a healthy
ing. Instead, this report outlines the
ment. Yet the Bush Administration
society, including family, commu-
Administration's general approach
has always stressed that the answer
nity, business and schools. Such
to tackling many of the most
to creating a better future for
policies will go further toward
pressing and critical issues facing
America's children does not lie
improving the lives of children
the next generation of Americans
primarily with Washington. The
than all the government programs
and demonstrates the President's
answer is in the home life of all
money can buy.
commitment to America's children,
American families, reinvigorated
Nonetheless, the Administra-
our most precious resource.
local communities, and economic
tion also recognizes that far too
conditions that ensure a growing
many children are deprived of the
and prosperous economy.
nurturing environment that family
2
A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR OUR CHILDREN
he United States is proud
Despite efforts dating back 25
T
of its accomplishments
years to the "War on Poverty"
for its children. As a
declared by President Johnson,
whole, America's
government efforts, including
children are at or near the top
significant growth in government
among nations in almost every
spending, have been largely
important measured index on the
unsuccessful for some segments of
quality of life: standard of living,
our population.
health, expected lifespan, and level
The Bush Administration has
of education. America's families
outlined a new strategy to improve
have worked hard to achieve this
circumstances for children in
level of success. Nevertheless, too
America. The President's new
many children in the United States
ideas for the future will move us
have not received the full benefit
toward such goals as:
of the American system. Too many
children today must still be
1. Strengthening the family
considered "at risk." Prosperity is
2. Supporting community action
not universal, even in the United
3. Creating a stronger economy
States. The lives of too many
4. Making streets and school
American children are still blighted
yards safe
by poverty, violence in their homes
5. Comprehensive health care
and communities, lack of educa-
reform
tion, and inadequate health care.
6. Improving education
3
much more likely to display antisocial
behavior.
Nearly one half of all black
families are now headed by females.
Among black families consisting of
married couples and their children the
poverty rate is 14 percent. which is
about the national average. But among
families headed by single mothers, the
poverty rate is a staggering 52 percent.
Two-thirds of all black infants today
are born of unwed mothers.
Approximately 70 percent of
juveniles in long-term correctional
facilities did not have a father at home
while growing up. As Secretary
Sullivan has said: "We are raising a
generation of young males who
measure their manhood by the calibre
of their gun and the number of children
they have fathered - a generation for
STRENGTHENING THE FAMILY
whom the comraderie of a gang has
replaced the love of a family." All this
major cause of poverty in
the competing demands on their time
points to one conclusion: children need
A
America is the breakdown
and attention to provide and care for
the love, support and guidance of both
of the family. The numbers
their children. Still, children who are
their mother and their father.
tell the story. Nine out of
missing a parent are 500 percent more
There has also been an accompa-
ten children from two-parent families
likely to be poor and 200 percent more
nying erosion in traditional moral
avoid poverty, but half of the children
likely to drop out of school than
values. The television and movie
living in single family households are
children who live with both parents.
industries often depict scenes of casual
poor. The vast majority of single
Absent fathers also take their toll
sex, violence, lack of responsible
parents are women raising their
on the physical, mental and emotional
behavior and defiance of legitimate
children without any male support at
health of children. A recent study by
authority. The legacy of the "Sexual
home. The increase in the proportion
the National Center for Health
Revolution" of the 1960s and 1970s is
of mother-only families accounted for
Statistics found that children living in
an epidemic of sexually transmitted
about half of the overall increase in
single-parent or step-parent families
diseases, unwanted pregnancies,
child poverty from 1979 through 1987.
suffer from more health problems and
shattered lives and children lacking a
It would be an over-simplification to
emotional distress. Even after control-
moral compass. For the middle class,
say that two parents are always better
ling for age, gender, race and socioeco-
the majority have survived this sea
than one. Not all absent parents are
nomic status, children from disrupted
change in social mores. But many of
willing, or able, to make a positive
families were 20 percent to 40 percent
the poor, with a less secure family life,
contribution to family life. And there
more likely to suffer health problems
have not. The inter-generational
are many courageous and loving
than children living with their biologi-
poverty now plaguing America's
single-parents who are able to balance
cal parents. These children were also
inner-cities is the legacy of a break-
4
down of the traditional family
lies with Dependent Children
and of family values.
(AFDC) program have able-bodied
A series of initiatives has been
absentee fathers, but only 10
proposed by President Bush that would
percent receive any child support
reward instead of discourage family
from these fathers. The Bush
formation, and discourage instead of
Administration believes the law
reward the break-up of families. These
should be tough on these delin-
Improved Child Support
include:
quent fathers. The U.S. Depart-
1. Project KIDS: Making absent
ment of Health and Human
"Americans want to see government
parents responsible for their
Services' new Administration on
at every level work together to track
chidren.
Children and Families has dramati-
down the deadbeat dads - the ones
In families where one parent
cally stepped up child support
who cannot be bothered to pay child
is absent. the parent who cares for
enforcement. Child support
the children can seek from the
payments during the first three
support. They wan to NEC in breath
courts a judicial decree that the
years of the Bush Administration
this cycle of dependency that destroys
absent parent should financially
have increased by S3 billion. But
dignity and passes down porerty from
support his or her children. Pres-
more must be done.
one generation to the next."
ently, only half of women legally
President Bush recently
entitled to receive child support
announced a new initiative, Project
- President Bush
receive the full-amount owed, a
KIDS. Its goals for 1996:
March 16, 1992
quarter receive partial payment,
Three quarters of absent parents
and a quarter receive nothing. Most
will be required to support their
significant is the behavior of
children, up from half now.
fathers among low-income Ameri-
Three quarters of absent parents
cans. More than 90 percent of
will pay child support in full, on
children now in the Aid to Fami-
time, up from half now.
U.S. Population
Children in Poverty
by Age Group 1989
Under 18 Years of Age: 1989
Source (I 1) U.S. Bueau of the Census
Source (1.2) US Bureau of the Census
<1 Years (1.6%)
Percent of Children Below Poverty
1-4 Years (60%)
5-9 Years (7.3%)
Children
80
Hispanic
10-14 Years (6.8%)
31.8%
(Data not collected
White
15-17 Years (4.1%)
prior to 1973)
60
18-19 Years (3.1%)
Black
20-21 Years (1.6%)
Elderly 65+ Years (12.5%)
40
Adult 22-64 Years (55.7%)
20
Population of Children
in 1989, there were 79 million children through the age of 21 in the United States,
representing 31.8% of the total population
0
Between 1980 and 1989. there was a 13.9% increase in the number of children under
5 years of age Although there were 23 million more children younger than 22 in 1998
1959
1969
1979
1989
than in 1950. this age group is declining relative to other age groups in the population.
Year
In 1989, persons aged 65 and over represented 12.5% of the total population By the year
2000. this group is expected to increase by 12.6% whereas the child population is
expected to increase by only 2.1%
5
Two out of three children bom to
Planning grants to assess viability
single mothers will have their fathers
and provide technical assistance to
identified. up from one in three.
prepare public and American Indian
Half of absent parents will cover
housing residents for home
their children on their health
ownership:
coverage plans, up from one in five.
Implementation grants for the
rehabilitation of public housing
Absent parents who do not
projects. as well as counseling and
support their children would lose many
training, capital and operating
HOPE
of the privileges State and Federal
reserves, and helping to cover the
governments extend to citizens and
costs of actually buying the
promote new hope
would be subject to stiffer criminal
properties at heavily discounted
penalties. The Internal Revenue
prices.
Service would collect overdue child
support along with taxes owed the
Families with incomes below 80
of
Federal government.
percent of the local median income
value taht can pass'along De
would be eligible for Federal assistance
their kids. And that's what the
2. Fully funding HOPE (Home
to buy their homes in public or Indian
HOPE initiative does. It turns
Ownership for People Every-
housing facilities. HOPE would also
public housing tenants into
where).
make grants available to organizations
Under the HOPE program
that help families in public housing or
homeowners."
proposed by President Bush and
FHA distressed multi-family buildings
President Bush
Housing and Urban Development
to buy and maintain their homes and
May 8, 1992
Secretary Jack Kemp, residents of
properties.
public housing would be empow-
By providing opportunity for
ered to purchase their units in
home ownership, HOPE would give
public or American Indian housing
low-income families greater control
properties. Assistance would be
over their homes and neighborhoods;
made available in the form of two
help expand the supply of decent
types of grants:
housing: and promote economic self-
sufficiency. HOPE will help give low-
rty Rate of Children by Living Arrangement
income Americans a stake in the
American Dream. Home ownership is
ercentage
U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, series P-60,
5 and earlier reports.
one of the most powerful equity-
building, wealth-creating investments
families can make. HOPE would allow
Children Living with Mother Only
low-income families an opportunity to
reap the benefits of home ownership.
Home ownership helps provide
All Related Children in Families
Children Living with Father Only
stability and security to family life - -
essential to healthy child development.
ildren Living with Two Parents
) 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990
CPS data
Estimate
SUPPORTING COMMUNITY ACTION
he Administration has
when encouraged to do so. A
T
proposed a new ap-
successful attack on poverty must
proach, one that would
foster self-sufficiency instead of
strengthen community
need. It must highlight and
and family life and encourage
strengthen the many positive
local, grass-roots initiatives.
aspects that already exist in
President Bush speaks often about
communities. For this reason,
the "Points of Light," meaning
community action is one of three
people who pull together and
great engines of progress -
volunteer to aid a neighbor in need.
together with economic growth
The residents of a particular
and government action. In order to
neighborhood understand their
ensure that government fully
needs far better than the remote
supports the initiatives of groups
bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.
and individuals at the community
And, for the most part, residents of
level, the Bush Administration has
neighborhoods are better equipped
proposed the following plan of
to deal with their own problems
action:
7
1. Creating enterprise zones in
Wisconsin. through a program
poor areas.
called Learnfare. requires students
Enterprise zones will attack
to attend school for their parents to
poverty by promoting investment
receive maximum welfare benefits.
in economically distressed neigh-
Maryland officials have announced
Thousand Points of Light
borhoods. These designated areas
a plan to encourage more respon-
will be given tax incentives and
sible behavior among the poor by
These individuals and groups
regulatory relief to attract new seed
paying bonuses to those who get
raelize that we build better
capital for small business start-ups
preventive health care, keep
America not by protesting or
and to make risk-taking possible.
children in school and pay their
Many people are deterred
rent.
demanding that others assume
from starting a business because
New Jersey no longer pays
taxes are too high and regulations
mothers additional AFDC benefits
are too complicated. The Adminis-
if they have more children out of
tration has proposed eliminating
wedlock. but allows mothers to
costly legal barriers that discourage
continue to receive benefits if they
low-income people from starting
marry ("wedfare"). New Jersey's
President Bush
their own businesses. Barriers that
welfare law allows mothers to get a
September 28, 1991
small businessmen must overcome
job and earn up to 50 percent of
include: zoning ordinances that
their total benefits without being
prevent people from running a
forced off welfare. The New Jersey
business out of their home;
law also requires mothers with
occupation licensing and bonding
children over the age of 2 to work
Welfare Reform
requirements; property taxes,
or get job training. This is the kind
inventory taxes and other business
of innovation the Bush Adminis-
"It's time to replace the
taxes. By removing all non-health
tration is encouraging. Govern-
assumptions of the welfare state
related government barriers to
ment works best when it's closest
and help reform the welfare
private enterprise in enterprise
to the people. State and local
zones, we will be better able to
governments are much better
system.
when able-bodied people
provide additional incentives to
positioned, strategically, to address
receive government assistance,
expand the economy.
the real needs of their people than
they have responsibilities to the
is distant Washington, D.C. Each
taxpayer; a responsibility to seek
2. Giving greater authority to
project will be carefully evaluated
work, education, or job training, a
State and local government to
to determine its effectiveness.
experiment with new ap-
responsibility to hold their families
proaches to fighting poverty.
3. Full funding for Head Start.
together and refrain from having
The Bush Administration has
One Federal anti-poverty
childre out of wedlock."
been waiving many Federal
program that has worked very well
restrictions on AFDC and other
is Head Start. Head Start offers
President Bush
public assistance programs to
preschool experience to children
January 28, 1992
allow State and local governments
who live in poor households. Head
to experiment with new ap-
Start works because it relies on
proaches to alleviating poverty.
parents and volunteers in the local
community to run the program and
old to participate in Head Start. It
make it work.
will also enable Head Start to open
Neighborhood volunteers at
Family Service Centers. which will
Head Start centers outnumber paid
assist parents who are involved in
Head Start
staff three to one. Head Start
the program and face problems
"Everyone agrees Head Start is a
attempts to give poor children
such as illiteracy. unemployment.
some of the advantages they may
and drug or alcohol abuse. By
program that works for children -
be missing at home. advantages
addressing these problems. the
by enhancing their educational
that have enabled other kids to
Centers will help parents create a
performance and really fostering
arrive at kindergarten and first
more positive, nurturing home
success in life. Head Start also
grade ready to learn. Head Start
environment for their children.
works for families by offering child
teaches disadvantaged preschool
children basic values. values such
care and child development pro-
as respect for teachers and author-
grams for parents which build self-
ity. integrity. hard work. patience.
confidence by encouraging a
and service to others.
commitment to improve the lives of
President Bush is a strong
the children."
believer in the value of Head Start.
which is why he has proposed and
- President Bush
Congress accepted a record $600
May 24, 1990
million increase in Head Start
funding for Fiscal Year 1993. This
will enable every eligible 4-year
9
CREATING A STRONGER ECONOMY
he best anti-poverty
groups were better off as a result of
T
program is a growing
the 19 million jobs created by the
economy. The historical
longest economic expansion in
record shows that
American history. The average
poverty in America has declined.
income of the poorest fifth of
not when spending on social
American families increased by
programs has increased, but during
10.4 percent during this period.
periods of economic expansion.
The average income jumped 9.5
Poverty plunged during the post-
percent for the second lowest fifth:
war period while the economy was
11.7 percent for the middle fifth:
growing at a rapid pace. In 1959.
12.2 percent for the second highest
the poverty rate was 22.4 percent.
fifth: and 13.6 percent for the
Balanced
Badget
and dropped to 12.1 percent by
highest fifth. As President
1969. But then the decline in the
Kennedy often said, "a rising tide
e'vergorto remember,these
poverty rate stopped in 1969, just
lifts all boats." And that was
aren't government dollars, they're
as the Great Society's War on
certainly the case during that
taxpayer dollars. And when it comes
Poverty programs were kicking in.
period of economic growth, from
to the deficit, let's remember who
The poverty rate began to climb
1983 through 1989. If we are to
from 11.7 percent in 1979 to 15.2
give our children a bright and
foots the bill our children, our
percent in 1983 when the economy
prosperous future in which their
grandchildren. We need a balanced
slowed and sank into a recession.
opportunities are limited by their
budget amendment."
Poverty fell again throughout the
dreams and not their circum-
1980s to 12.8 percent in 1989 as
stances, we must have a growing
President Bush
the economy improved. This was
economy. The Bush Administra-
May 27, 1992
certainly true of the period be-
tion has proposed an economic
tween 1983 to 1989 when Ameri-
growth program to lessen the
can aggregate output grew by a
burden of government on those
staggering 24 percent, the equiva-
who pay the country's bills -
lent of creating another economy
families and businesses:
the size of Germany's inside the
United States. The facts show that
1. A Balanced Budget Amend-
the poor did not get poorer be-
ment to the Constitution.
tween 1983 and 1989, when the
We have a moral responsibil-
economy was growing. All income
ity not to leave a legacy of debt to
our children and grandchildren.
3. A moratorium on new regula-
We cannot give the next generation
tions.
the same opportunities our parents
President Bush. in his State
and grandparents gave us so long
of the Union Message to the
as the Federal Government
Nation on January 28. 1992.
continues to run up yearly deficits
announced a 90-day moratorium
in excess of $300 billion. Wash-
on Federal agencies issuing new
ington must stop spending more
regulations. The President has
than it takes in.
since extended that moratorium
Nearly 15 percent of the
indefinitely. Meanwhile, the
entire Federal budget is spent just
President's Council on Competi-
on paying interest on the Federal
tiveness, chaired by Vice President
debt. A Balanced Budget Amend-
Dan Quayle. is conducting a
ment is clearly needed. Sadly. the
comprehensive review of existing
House on June 11. 1992. once
regulations to identify unnecessary
New Regulations Moratorium
again rejected a Balanced Budget
government red-tape that can be
Amendment to the Constitution,
streamlined or eliminated. The
"I won't neglect my responsibility
this time by only nine votes. We
regulatory burden on business and
for sound regulations that serve the
owe our children better leadership
enterprise is crushing economic
public good, but regulatory overkill
and more responsible fiscal policy
growth.
than this.
A growing economy is vital
must be stopped."
not just to the economic well-being
- President Bush
2. Tax relief for first-time home
of families and children. but to
January 28, 1992
buyers.
their emotional well-being as well.
The Administration has
Life at home is more secure and far
proposed allowing the use of
less stressful if dad, mom or both
Individual Retirement Accounts by
have decent jobs that provide the
first-time home buyers to purchase
necessary financial support for the
a home. In addition, the Adminis-
family. Children cannot achieve
tration has proposed a $5,000 tax
their full potential in life without
credit for first time home buyers.
opportunity, which results from the
President Bush has also recom-
continuous creation of new
mended efforts to provide a much-
businesses and industries.
needed boost to the real estate
industry, the backbone of the
American economy.
11
MAKING THE STREETS AND SCHOOLYARDS SAFE
he threat of violent
absolutely necessary pre-condition
T
crime constitutes an
for any social progress. The
assault on family and
following three-part plan has been
community. The basis
launched by the Administration to
of community is the confidence
make America's streets and
that we can live, work and play in
playgrounds safe:
our neighborhoods free from the
threat of violence. If a single
1. Stronger law enforcement.
mother in an inner-city neighbor-
There is no mystery as to
hood must worry about drugs
how to protect our families from
being sold outside her home on the
violent crime. Study after study
street corner or whether her
shows that only a small segment of
children will get drawn into joining
our population commits violent
a gang, this makes the already
crimes, and that almost all violent
difficult job of motherhood nearly
crimes are committed by repeat
impossible.
offenders. A 1980 study of just 240
More than tough law enforce-
habitual offenders found that this
ment is needed to address prob-
small group was responsible for
lems in the inner-cities. But ridding
over 500,000 crimes over an 11-
communities of violent crime is an
year period - an average of 190
12
crimes per year per offender. A
- Mandatory 10-year term for use
1982 study by the Rand Corpora-
of a semi-automatic firearm in a
tion found that the average state
Federal crime of violence or a
inmate committed between 187
drug trafficking crime.
and 287 crimes per year while on
- A workable Federal death
the street (not including drug
penalty for murders implicating
deals). A recent study by the
Federal interests or responsibili-
Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and
ties, including substantially all
Firearms found that criminals
drug-related murders.
serving time for firearms offenses
- A workable Federal death
averaged 160 crimes per year prior
penalty for certain non-homi-
to being incarcerated. These are
cidal offenses. including "drug
career criminals who began their
kingpins" and those convicted
careers in crime as juveniles and
of treason and espionage.
continue to commit crimes as
- An objective reasonableness
adults. There is only one way to
("good faith") exception to the
Crime Bill
make America's streets safe. and
"exclusionary rule."
that's to make sure that chronic
"It's time for a criminal justice
violent offenders are not released
2. Expand the Administration's
system that allows us to see the
from prison until they have served
"Weed and Seed" program.
truth come out, the guilty punished.
their full sentences.
Operation Weed and Seed is
the law upheld, and justice done.
a new initiative to combat violent
And that's what I believe our crime
The Bush Administration's
crime and drug trafficking in
Crime Bill now before Congress
targeted distressed neighborhoods.
bill stands for."
includes the following reforms:
Weed and Seed improves the
- President Bush
- Mandatory 5- and 10-year
circumstances of children living in
October 16, 1992
prison terms for firearms
these neighborhoods by reducing
possession by a person with one
crime and providing social ser-
or two prior convictions for
vices. President Bush requested
violent felonies or serious drug
from Congress $500 million for the
offenses.
Weed and Seed initiative for 1993.
- Override of State negation of
The key to Weed and Seed
convictions for armed career
is not so much in new spending as
criminals.
in a new way of operating. It
- Broader definition of serious
involves the integration of Fed-
drug offense for armed career
eral, State and local law enforce-
criminals to include State
ment activities to "weed" out
offenses where conduct would
violent criminals, drug traffickers
have carried a maximum term
and youth gangs. It then provides
of 10 years of more if federally
community revitalization and
prosecuted.
social welfare programs to "seed"
- Broader Federal jurisdiction
the areas for long-term economic
and adult prosecution for
growth and revitalization of low-
juvenile offenders
income communities. The Weed
13
and Seed initiative involves
the criminals and street gangs.
four basic elements:
These programs include access
to primary and prenatal health
Eliminating violent crime.
care, drug abuse treatment and
The Administration is working
prevention. Head Start. job
to build on a partnership among
training. and after-school
State. local and Federal law
education programs.
enforcement agencies to target
aggressively violent street
Creating jobs and economic
Weed & Seed
criminals and street gangs.
opportunity.
Families can't thrive, children
Programs such as the Justice
The Administration has
Department's "Project
earmarked up to $400 million in
can't flourish ù
Triggerlock" target violent and
its weed and seed proposal
armed offenders for prosecution
budget for enterprise zones
in Federal court to take advan-
(described above). In poor areas
can reclaim
tage of tough Federal firearms
designated by the Department of
our crim -ravaged neighborhoods
laws. Between April 1991 and
Housing and Urban
February 1992, Project
Development as enterprise
through a new initiative that we
Triggerlock resulted in approxi-
zones, taxes and regulations
call Weed & Seed."
mately 4,500 cases charged with
discouraging business activity
a conviction rate of 91 percent.
would be eliminated or
President Bush
dramatically reduced.
May 8, 1992
Providing hope and assis-
Stimulating economic growth in
tance.
economically distressed areas
Weed and Seed coordinates
(especially in the inner-cities) is
social programs and services to
critical to breaking the cycle of
help residents reclaim their lives
drug use, poverty and
and their neighborhoods from
unemployment.
Trends in Student Drug Use
Housing and community
Percent of 12th graders who reported using the following
development.
during the previous 30 days, 1980 to 1990
Public housing developments in
Source: University of Michigan, 1991
Weed and Seed areas would be
80 - Meohol
eligible for assistance through
60
the HOPE program. HOPE
gives more authority to resi-
Marijuana
40
dents of public housing to
manage their own buildings and
20
Cocaine
to evict drug users and trouble-
0
makers. In addition, HUD,
1980
1985
1990
under the Weed and Seed
Drug and alcohol use by high school seniors has declined noticeably since 1980
initiative, would provide
housing vouchers, community
development block grants for
recreation areas and other
treatment available.
with drugs. With continued
community infrastructure
- Worked closely with our allies
vigilance, we can achieve victory.
improvements.
in Latin America to close
Some complain that the
Riot-torn South Central Los
America's borders to drug
Administration's anti-crime and
Angeles is an important test site for
traffickers.
anti-drug policies are too tough.
the Weed and Seed program. On
But if we truly are to have a kinder
May 7. 1992, President Bush
The President has committed
and gentler America. if America is
announced a $19 million Weed
huge. unprecedented funding to the
truly to be a brighter and happier
and Seed operation designed to
War on Drugs. Since taking office,
place for our children tomorrow.
revitalize the burned, looted and
funding has increased 81 percent to
the perpetrators of violence and
terrorized communities of South
nearly 12.0 billion for Fiscal Year
drug trafficking must be removed
Central Los Angeles.
1992. The United States has added
from our communities. We cannot
nearly 26.000 employees. includ-
have social progress in the midst of
3. Commitment to a drug-free
ing agents. attorneys. and preven-
chaos. We cannot raise our
America.
tion and treatment specialists to the
families. educate our children.
President Bush on September
Federal effort. Federal funding for
build our businesses and enjoy the
5. 1989 declared a "War on Drugs."
drug treatment has nearly doubled
blessings of liberty without law
announcing a two-pronged attack to
since 1989. so that now 1.8 million
and order.
make America's school yards,
Americans can be treated for drug
streets and workplaces drug-free.
dependence.
First, the President said he would
The results of these efforts in
strike aggressively at those who
this short period of time have been
supply illegal drugs. Second, the
impressive. Overall drug use has
President said he would work to
dropped by 13 percent since 1988.
provide greater prevention and
Occasional use of cocaine has
treatment programs to reduce the
dropped by 23 percent. Current
demand for drugs. Over the last 3
adolescent cocaine use has
years, the Bush Administration has:
dropped by 63 percent; and student
- Enforced drug laws with greater
approval of drug use dropped by
certainty and regularity, both to
28 percent. Drug-related crime
make our neighborhoods safer for
rates have also started to fall.
War on Drugs
those who do not use drugs, as
Despite stepped up law enforce-
well as to hold drug users strictly
ment efforts, drug-related arrests
"To win the war against addictive
accountable for their actions.
are down by 24 percent from 1989
drugs like crack will take more than
- Tried to prevent drug use before
to 1991, indicating major gains in
just a Federal strategy. It will take a
it starts by requiring every
the War on Drugs in the inner-
national strategy, one that reaches
elementary, secondary and post-
cities.
secondary school to adopt,
There is certainly much more
into every school, every workplace,
implement and enforce tough
to be done. But these trends show
involving every family."
anti-drug polices and effective
that the Administration has
- President Bush
drug education programs.
adopted the right strategy. We have
- Expanded opportunities for
sent out the message that Ameri-
September 5, 1989
treatment each year so that those
cans will not permit the drug
who might benefit would have
traffickers to poison our children
15
A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON
mortality rates. Each community is
HEALTHY CHILDREN
given the flexibility to design their
own programs and strategies
America prepares for the
tailored to the needs of its people.
future by paying special attention
The goal is to reduce infant
to health of our young ones,
mortality in these communities by
especially in poor communities
at least 50 percent over a 5-year
where children are more likely to
period. The practical knowledge
be neglected. This year alone,
gained from these demonstration
40,000 babies will die before their
projects can then be used as models
Healthy Start
first birthday, and a quarter of a
for communities across the nation.
million will be born with low birth
Healthy Start emphasizes the
weight. making them susceptible to
importance of personal responsibil-
early death. disability and lifelong
ity. Many factors leading to high
chronic illness. Black babies are
infant morality rates, especially in
Programa
more than twice as likely as white
low-income urban areas. stem
babies to die. The Bush Adminis-
Presidential Initiative
from the behavior of the expectant
tration has made healthy children a
national priority.
mother. Drug and alcohol abuse
national priority through the
and smoking during pregnancy
President Bush
following initiatives:
account for about 20 percent of
September 18, 1991
infant deaths. Other factors
1. Healthy Start.
jeopardizing a healthy start for
The strategy behind this Bush
America's children include unwed
Administration initiative is to
teen pregnancy, poor nutrition,
concentrate resources in 15
inadequate prenatal care and the
communities throughout the Nation
absence of family or community
with stubbornly high infant
support.
Healthy Start is a major
Infant Mortality Rates, Blacks and Whites
initiative to improve the health of
Deaths Per 1,000 Live Births
those American children who are
Source: National Vital Statistics System and National Linked Birth and
Infant Death Data Set, CDC
born into low-income and high-
risk situations. President Bush has
35
asked Congress for a total of $314
Blacks
30
million for Healthy Start over the
25
past 2 fiscal years. Regrettably,
20
Whites
Congress has fallen short of
15
10
providing the full amount re-
5
quested by the President.
0
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2. Attacking childhood diseases.
(projected) (projected)
Children in the United States
receive vaccinations against eight
diseases: Diphtheria, tetanus,
pertussis, polio, Hemophilus b
influenza, measles, mumps and
Improved Childhood
Immunizations
"Today we're announcing a new
action plan to get our children
vaccinated when it makes the
greatest difference - by the age of
rubella. This series of vaccinations
children, especially in high-risk,
two. We're also announcing new
starts when infants are 2 months
low-income inner-city areas. The
standards for pediatric immuniza-
old. President Bush has called on
President has increased the federal
Secretary Sullivan to ensure that all
immunization budget from $141
tion - the work of an expert panel
of America's children receive their
million in 1989 to $344 million in
representing many private and
vaccinations on schedule. This
Fiscal Year 1993 - an increase of
public sector organizations. And
program has produced one of the
over 140 percent. The President
they're going to help clinics
great child health successes of the
has asked Congress for an addi-
improve their methods to provide
20th century. In 1900, these
tional $40 million for the next
vaccinations to kids who need them
infectious diseases were among the
fiscal year.
leading causes of death in children.
the most."
These diseases have now either
3. Food and nutrition.
- President Bush
been completely conquered or are
The U.S. government has
in sharp decline. We can be proud
established programs to ensure that
May 11, 1992
of the fact that 97 percent of
no child goes hungry. The U.S.
American children entering school
Department of Agriculture will
are immunized.
spend more than $30 billion this
But the immunization rate
year on food assistance efforts, the
among 2-year-olds in some inner-
largest being the Food Stamp
city areas is still an abysmal 20
Program. The Food Stamp Pro-
percent. President Bush is leading
gram allows low-income house-
an effort to increase the number of
holds to obtain a more nutritious
fully immunized infants and
diet by increasing their purchasing
19
power. The Special Supplemental
4. Continued vigilance in public
Food Program for Women. Infants
and child health.
and Children (WIC) serves low-
Public health advances such
income pregnant women and
as clean water, sanitation systems
mothers with young children, as
and food preservation have saved
well as infants and children up to
the lives of untold numbers of
the age of 5 at 8,200 sites through
children who otherwise might
the United States. The program
have died young or been disabled
served about 3.8 million infants
for life.
and children each month in 1991.
Each year, the Federal
Meanwhile, the fortification
Government spends over $7
of staple foods. general national
billion on maternal. infant and
prosperity. and the widespread
child health. But there is only so
availability of public assistance
much government can do. As
ensures that the vast majority of
Secretary Louis Sullivan has said.
Americans are well nourished.
America 2000g 172 Education
"It is the responsibility of each
Diseases caused by nutritional
American to give every child the
Strategy
deficiency have been virtually
best opportunity for a healthy start
"Education has always meant
eliminated in the United States,
and the best possible protection
although nutritional problems
from childhood diseases, problems
opportunity. Today, education
among children still remain.
and harm." Ultimately, says Dr.
determines not just which student
For most American children,
Sullivan, "we must rely on the
will succeed, but also which nations
diseases from nutritional defi-
core institutions of family, school,
will thrive in a world united in
ciency have been replaced by other
church and community to band
pursuit of freedom and enterprise.
health problems related to dietary
together to make sure each child is
excesses and imbalances. Over-
immunized, healthy. well fed,
Our greatest national resource lies
consumption and poor selection of
emotionally secure, and is able to
within ourselves... Think about
food ranks among the leading
socialize with other children and
every problem, every challenge we
causes of illness in the United
adults. Then we have done our job
face. The solution to each starts
States and generates substantial
and they are ready to learn."
with education."
health costs. In 1991, the Food and
Drug Administration issued new
President Bush
regulations governing food labels
Introduction to "AMERICA 2000"
to help consumers make wiser and
healthier choices in the foods they
consume.
IMPROVING EDUCATION
mericans believe
solving problems involving
A
strongly in the power of
fractions, decimals, percentages or
education. Almost 90
simple algebra, and some are
percent, according to a
unable to figure the cost of a meal
recent Gallup poll, rate a world-
from a menu. More than one-
class education system as critical to
quarter of American young adults
the Nation's future. America has
cannot read well enough to
some fine elementary and second-
interpret the instructions from an
ary schools, and many of
appliance warranty, and 43 percent
America's children are performing
couldn't follow instructions using a
well. But too many are not. In
street map to travel from one
comparison with their peers
location to another. About 500,000
internationally, too many Ameri-
young people drop out of school
can thirteen-year olds have trouble
every year.
21
100
The connection between
In his 1990 State of the
responsibilities of citizenship;
poverty and inferior education is
Union Address, the President, for
6. Students will be provided a safe,
also clear. The 1991 poverty rate
the first time in our history,
disciplined, and drug-free
for high school graduates is 9.0
announced six National Education
environment in which to learn.
percent; while, among those who
Goals to be met by the year 2000:
fail to get their high school diplo-
AMERICA 2000
mas, the poverty rate shoots up to
1. All children will start school
In April 1991, the President
24 percent. An under-educated
ready to learn;
announced AMERICA 2000, his
child is a child at risk. Inferior
2. The high school graduation rate
innovative four-part strategy to
education breeds poverty.
will increase to at least 90
help the U.S. achieve the National
percent;
Education Goals community by
National Education Goals
3. Students will leave grades 4, 8,
community.
In September 1989, President
and 12 having demonstrated
The AMERICA 2000
Bush called a historic two-day
competency in challenging
movement is spreading like
Education Summit with the
subject matter;
wildfire. Over 2,000 communities,
Nation's Governors at
4. U.S. students will be first in the
44 states, and 1,000 Chambers of
Charlottesville, Virginia, to
world in science and mathemat-
Commerce across the U.S. have
formulate an action plan for
ics achievement;
accepted the President's challenge
education reform. The President
5. Every adult American will be
to adopt the national goals. Presi-
and the Governors agreed to a
literate and will possess the
dent Bush is promoting four
decade-long Federal-State
knowledge and skills necessary
revolutionary ideas to help commu-
partnership to create and meet a set
to compete in a global economy
nities transform education:
of National Education Goals.
and exercise the rights and
22
Break-the-Mold New American
better address the needs of stu-
is working with experts and teachers
Schools
dents.
to develop a national consensus of
Academic standards and volun-
In Orrville. Ohio, home of the
world-class standards in other core
tary national exams.
J.M. Smucker Company. the
subjects: history. science, civics,
Flexibility for teachers and
Heartland Incorporated design team.
geography, English. and the arts.
principals.
with the help of CEO Tim Smucker.
These new standards will be ready
Educational choice for families.
is going ahead with its proposal even
for the schools by 1994-95. so
though they weren't funded by
parents will know what their
Break-the-Mold
NASDC. The community response
children need to learn to live and
New American Schools
in Orrville has been inspiring -
work in this world. A voluntary
At the President's request the
four hundred citizens working
national examination system is also
New American Schools Develop-
together for a year and "No one has
being developed to help states and
ment Corporation (NASDC) was
said no" when called upon to
communities assess whether our
formed to create break-the-mold
participate.
children are learning what they
schools. Eleven design teams. out
All these proposals have tough
should.
of almost 700 submissions. were
standards. They are all generating
chosen to move forward with their
bold new ideas: high schools in
Flexibility for Teachers
proposals for the 1993 school year.
corporate headquarters. kindergar-
and Principals
These proposals came from across
tens in banks, elementary schools
The President is seeking to
the United States from some of the
operated by museums. School
deregulate all 110.000 U.S. schools,
most creative minds in our country.
staffing would change and new
and make more flexible the Federal
For example, Bensenville, Illinois,
technology would be incorporated.
rules that follow the allocation of
is a small community with big
These designs will be a catalyst for
Federal money.
ideas. Their design was one of the
change.
Many states are already
eleven chosen by NASDC. This
deregulating their schools. In Lehigh
village of 17,000 plans to turn the
World-Class Standards
Valley, Pennsylvania, the first thing
entire community into a school,
President Bush has called for
the teachers told President Bush
with a Lifelong Learning Center at
the development of World-Class
was, "Help us get Harrisburg off our
the hub. Students will learn math at
Standards describing important
backs." Ohio and Texas are already
the bank and journalism at the local
knowledge and skills that all
easing state regulations, and other
paper. School facilities will be open
students should learn.
states, like Minnesota and Califor-
all year, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The National Council of
nia, are helping teachers create and
daily. The whole village cooperated
Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
charter new kinds of schools from
to make it all possible.
believes that high standards can
scratch.
In the Los Angeles design
provide a vision of what is possible
selected by NASDC, students will
for all children. Forty-one states
Choice - The GI Bills
have a "moving diamond" of
have revised, or are revising, their
for Children
support, linking each young student
math curriculum frameworks based
President Bush's "GI Bills for
with an older student, teachers,
on the NCTM standards. Already,
Children" would provide middle-
parents and a community volunteer.
about 40 percent of the classrooms
and low-income families with more
One day a week will be allocated to
in the United States are using the
choices for their children's school-
teachers to continue their learning,
new, tougher math standards NCTM
ing. "The GI Bills for Children"
to create teaching plans with
established.
would give families consumer
colleagues, and to find ways to
The Department of Education
power, $1,000 scholarships for each
23
child. to use at the school they feel
and operating schools. The Federal
best meets their children's needs.
Government will honor and
In Milwaukee. Mayor John
reward outstanding teachers in all
Norquist has joined with Governor
five ot the core subjects with
Tommy Thompson. State Represen-
honor and reward outstanding
tative Polly Williams, and an array
teachers in all five of the core
of business and community leaders
subjects with Presidential Awards
in a spirit of bipartisanship to put in
for Excellence in Education.
place a strong choice program. This
Life-long education. The
choice program is improving schools
President is asking adults to
in all sectors - - public, private and
become a nation of learners- to
religious. The recent Gallup Poll
"go back to school." The Presi-
shows 70 percent of Americans
dent is challenging every city.
support the President's plan.
town and neighborhood to
Colorado. Indianapolis. and San
become and AMERICA 2000
Antonio are also moving ahead to
community. emphasizing parental
provide more school choices for all
involvement and neighborhood
families.
commitment.
In July 1990, the National
Making sure children arrive at
Education Goals panel was created
school "ready to learn."
and charged with measuring
Ensuring that each and every
progress toward achieving the six
child starts school "ready to
National Education Goals listed
learn" is the first national
above. This panel includes eight
education goal. children arrive at
governors, two members of the
school ready to learn if they are
Federal Administration and four
immunized, healthy, well-fed and
Members of Congress. Progress
emotionally secure, and if they
being made includes:
can socialize with other children
and adults. The Department of
More rewards for achievement.
Health and Human Services has
Differential pay will be
taken a series of steps to address
encouraged for those who teach
preventable health conditions that
well, who teach core subjects, who
may impair a child's intellectual
teach in dangerous and
development, including: lead
challenging settings, and who
poisoning prevention and
serve as mentors for new teachers.
screening; ensuring increased
New ways of certifying teachers
access to prenatal care and
and principals will be developed
immunization; and expanding
so that those with strong subject
Medicaid to cover more children.
matter expertise will be
An unhealth child cannot begin
encouraged to enter into teaching
school ready to learn.
24
INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGES
he ability of developing
well-being of children a centerpiece of
T
nations to advance is to the
its international activities since it is an
productivity, health,
investment in a brighter future for all of
education and general well-
our citizens.
being of their children - tomorrow's
The United States has mar-
leaders. The United States recognizes
shalled the skills and commitment of
that its place in the world is more
its universities, its nongovernmental
secure when other countries are
and voluntary organizations, its
prospering through open markets, free
commercial sector and its research
economies and democratic govern-
institutions to mount an aggressive
ments. The United States has made the
international program for the survival,
25
development and protection of
nearly doubled from 35 percent in
children.
1984 to 63 percent in 1989. As a
The United States Agency for
result. one million lives are being
International Development (USAID) is
saved each year.
the major U.S. agency providing
Current measles vaccination
development services. technical
programs are preventing some 1.9
assistance and relief to the developing
million deaths annually. Over the
world. USAID conducts programs in
next five years, USAID plans to
the areas of nutrition, agriculture,
provide substantial funds as part of
energy, health (including child survival
a global effort to reduce the threat of
and HIV/AIDS prevention). education
measles, which now claims the lives
and training. family planning. human
of more than one million children a
rights. private enterprise and disaster
year.
and refugee assistance. In FY 1992.
USAID has been an active supporter
USAID committed more than $1.2
of and participant in the Children's
billion for child survival. HIV/AIDS
Vaccine Initiative. which was
prevention. nutrition. family planning
launched in response to the World
and education and other programs
Summit for Children to accelerate
directly designed to help children and
the development of new and
their families in the developing world.
improved vaccines. In Fiscal Year
The United States, principally
1992, USAID committed more than
through USAID, has played a role in the
$15 million for vaccine research.
following achievements:
most of it focused on the diseases
most threatening to children.
Overall, mortality rates of infants
Since 1987, USAID has commit-
and children under five declined by
ted about $358 million for AIDS
10 percent and 12 percent respec-
prevention activities through work
tively between 1995 and 1991. In
several USAID-assisted countries,
Reduction in Infant Mortality
the percentage decline has been
USAID-Assisted Countries by Region, 1980 1990
more than 50 percent.
Source World Population Prospects 1990
USAID-funded immunization
programs and treatments for
140
119
120
114
114
diarrheal diseases are saving the
109
100
102
100
lives of more than three million
90
90
86
80
children every year. In 1980, only 20
66
60
58
percent of the world's children were
51
40
fully immunized, as compared to 80
20
percent immunized in 1992.
0
USAID support led to the develop-
Africa
Asia
Near East
L. America
ment of oral rehydration therapy
& Carib.
1980
(ORT) for the treatment of dehydra-
1985
tion due to diarrhea. Largely due to
1991
USAID's efforts, access to ORT has
26
bilateral assistance. support for the
couples used family planning as a
more than 100 countries over the past
World Health Organization's
direct result of U.S.-sponsored
30 years.
Global Program on AIDS, and
programs. USAID provides 45
Today. the Corps has about
support for community-based and
percent of all the family planning
7,000 volunteers working in nearly 90
other non-governmental organiza-
funds in the world. As the world's
nations. Peace Corps volunteers teach
tions in more than 70 countries.
leading donor in the development
villagers in remote corners of the
Over the next five years, USAID
and delivery of contraceptives.
world how to build efficient water and
expects to invest $400 million in
USAID has increased the ability of
septic systems, how to grow their
HIV/AIDS prevention activities
parents to plan families that they
crops more efficiently, how to eat
worldwide.
can afford to keep healthy.
better, how to start profitable busi-
USAID is continuing its support
USAID is the largest bilateral
nesses, and how to create the laws and
for a major research effort to
donor to primary education
institutions needed to institute a free-
develop a malaria vaccine. an effort
programs. Primary school enroll-
market economic system.
made more urgent by the résur-
ment in USAID-assisted countries
Over the years. Peace Corps
gence of the disease. USAID is also
has increased by 50 percent. and
workers have taught English to 5
a leader in the treatment and
enrollment for girls has doubled.
million people. and have launched
prevention of other tropical
As the largest food aid donor in the
water and sanitation projects that have
diseases that cause half of the
world. the United States continues
benefitted millions more. Many
world's illnesses, such as Guinea
to lead in the innovative, develop-
volunteers now have highly special-
worm. river blindness,
mental and life-saving uses of food
ized skills as doctors, engineers,
schistosomiasis, Dengue fever,
assistance. Since 1954, the United
horticulturists, and members of other
yellow fever and Chagas disease.
States has provided $44 billion
technical professions.
USAID supports a variety of
worth of food aid, or about half of
The Peace Corps is also a major
nutrition programs for women and
worldwide food contributions to
player in the battle against childhood
children. Vitamin A, iron and
developing countries made each
death and illness worldwide. Nine
iodine are viewed as key elements
year. U.S. food aid is equivalent to
years ago, the Peace Corps, in
of USAID's comprehensive
13 billion meals a year, or enough
association with the Agency for
approach to improving nutritional
to feed 35 million people annually.
International Development, launched a
status. The Agency has also been a
program aimed at reducing levels of
pioneer in demonstrating the
It is through the partnership of
infant mortality and morbidity,
impact of vitamin A supplementa-
public and private agencies as well as
especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This
tion in reducing childhood mortal-
though the effort and commitment of
effort was developed as part of a larger
ity and morbidity, reducing
hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens
program called Combatting Childhood
nutritional blindness and improving
that the United States has been able to
Communicable Diseases (CCDC)
nutritional status.
remain focused on the needs of
initiated by the World health Organi-
USAID will continue its efforts to
children everywhere. One of the most
zation and the Centers for Disease
improve the nutritional status of
successful partnerships of governmen-
Control.
females, especially those of
tal and private efforts on behalf of the
Over 1,000 Peace Corps
childbearing age, to enhance their
world's children is the Peace Corps.
volunteers are involved in agricul-
potential to breastfeed, improve
Established in 1961 as part of
tural development. Another 1,000
their productivity, health and well-
President John F. Kennedy's objective
volunteers are working on mater-
being, and reduce the number of
of expanding American assistance to
nal and child health, nutrition, and
low birth weight infants.
the developing world, the peace Corps
community health education. More
In 1990, well over 30 million
has sent nearly 140,000 people into
than 2,200 Peace Corps volunteers
27
Peace Corps
"For nearly 30 years, the men and
women of America's Peace Corps
have built bridges of understand-
ing and goodwill between the
peoples of the United States and
the peoples of scores of other
nations. And today, we launch a
new people-to-people effort
through which the citizens of
America. Poland. and Hungary
can work together in the exhilarat-
ing process of building new
democratic societies."
- President Bush
June 15, 1990
work on education projects, of
brighter futures for all the world's
which more than 1,000 teach
children is to continue to promote the
children in pre-primary, primary
free market system in developing
and secondary school programs. In
nations and to emphasize America's
addition, special education volun-
belief that unshackling the entrepre-
teers work with blind, deaf.
neurial spirit is the key to achieving
mentally retarded, and learning
prosperity. In keeping with this
disabled children in 13 countries.
philosophy, the United States will
Another successful USAID -
continue to urge other nations to
private sector partnership involves
remove regulatory barriers and to lower
programs targeted for children
taxes that discourage business forma-
orphaned by natural or man-made
tion and prevent the creation of jobs.
disasters. In Fiscal Year 1992 USAID
Without a growing economy, a nation
provided $10 million to support
cannot afford to feed and clothe its
nongovernmental organizations in 15
children. nor to provide a modern
countries that aid orphans, displaced
health care system, universal education,
children and street children.
or environmental protection.
The needs are great, but so too is
These are important issues for all
the U.S. commitment to help. Over the
of us. Children may be only 25 percent
long run, the United States government
of the world's population, but they are
recognizes that the best way to promote
100 percent of its future.
28
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PETER T. KING, New York
PAT DANNER, Missouri
JAY KIM, CALIFORNIA
EARL F. HILLIARD, ALABAMA
STEVENJ. CHABOT. One
WALTER H. CAPPS, CALIFORNIA
MARSHALL "MARK" SANFORD, SOUTH CAROLINA
TELEPHONE: (202) 225-5021
BRAD BHERMAN, CALIFORNIA
MATT SALMON,ARZONA
ROBERT WEXLER, PLOMIDA
AMO HOUGHTON, New York
FACSIMILE: (202) 225-2035
STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, NEWJERSEY
TOM CAMPBELL CALIFORNIA
BOB CLEMENT. TENNESSEE
JON FOX, PENNSYLVAMA
BILL LUTHER MINNESOTA
JOHN M. McHUGH, NEWYORK
JIM DAVIS, FLORIDA
LINDSEY o. CRAHAM, SOUTH CAROLINA
ROY BLUNT, Missoum
MICHAEL H. VAN DUSEN
JERRY MORAN. KANSAS
DEMOCRATIC CHECK or STARF
KEVIN BRADY. TEXAS
RICHARD J. CARON
CHIEF OF STATE
June 18, 1997
Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary General
United Nations
New York, New York 10017
Re: UNICEF and WFP
Dear Secretary General Annan:
We are writing to express our concerns about proposals that may be made to
consolidate the United Nations Children's Fund ("UNICEF") or the World Food Program
("WFP") into a new United Nations Development Group.
As you know, both the House and Senate recently passed versions of the Foreign
Relations Authorization bill for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 (H.R. 1757). The Senate version
of the bill contains an authorization for the appropriation of arrears owed by the United States
to the United Nations and other international organizations and conditions on the payment of-
those funds based on reforms outlined in the bill. Nothing in either the House or Senate bill
calls for UNICEF or WFP to become part of a UN Development Group.
As we approach conference on our bill, we will work to provide clear guidance from
the Congress in the final bill that the process of U.N. reform does not include merging
06/18/97 WED 13:47 FAX 202 225 2035
HOUSE COMM/INIL RELINS
----
2
UNICEF or WFP into a UN Development Group. We believe that such a move would be
counterproductive and could diminish the strong financial support the U.S. provides to both
organizations.
With best wishes,
Sincerely,
Bade
Chic Smik
BENJAMIN A. GILMAN
CHRIS SMITH
Chairman
Chairman
Commitee on International Relations
Subcommittee on International Operations
and Human Rights
MAJORITY MEMBERS
MINORITY MEMBERS
BOB LIVINGSTON, LOUISIANA, CHAIRMAN
DAVID R. OREY, WISCONSIN
JOGETH M. McDADE, PENNSYLVANIA
SIDNEY R. YATES. ILLINOIS
C.W. BILL YOUNG, FLORIDA
LOUIS STOKES, OHIO
RALPH REGULA, OHIO
JOHN P. MURTHA, PENNEYLVANIA
JERRY LEWS. CALIFORNIA
NORMAN D. DICKS, WASHINGTON
JOHN EDWARD PORTER ILLINOIS
Congress of the Anited States
MARTIN OLAV SABO, MINNESOTA
HAROLD ROGERS. KENTUCKY
JULIAN c. DIXON. CALIFORNIA
JOE SCEEN, NEW MEXICO
VIC FAZIO, CALIFORNIA
FRANK R. WOLF, VIRGINIA
W.G. MILLI HERNER, NORTH CAROLINA
TOM OKLAY, TEXAS
JM KOLBE, ARIZONA
house of Representatives
STENY R. HOYER, MARYLAND
ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, WEST VIRGINIA
RON PACKARD. CALIFORNIA
MARCY KAPTUR, OHIO
GONNY CALLAHAN. ALABAMA
Committee on Appropriations
DAVID & SKAGGS. COLORADO
JAMES T. WALER, NEW YORK
NANCY PELOSE CALIFORNIA
CHARLES H. TAYLOR, NORTH CAROLINA
PETER J. VISCLOSKY, INDIANA
DAVIDL HOBSON, OHIO
Washington, DC 20515-6015
THOMAS M. POGLETTA, PENNSYLVANIA
EANEST J. ISTOOK, JR., OKLAHOMA
ESTEBAN EDWARD TORRES, CALIFORNIA
HENRY BONILLA TEXAS
MITA M. LOWEY, NEW YORK
JOE KNOLLENBERG. MICHIGAN
JOSÉ E. SERRANO. NEW YORK
DAN MILLER, FLORIDA
ROSA L DELAUNO. CONNECTICUT
JAY DICKEY, ARKANSAS
JAMES P. MORAN, VIRGINIA
JACK KINGSTON, GEORGIA
MIKE BARKER MISSISSIPPI
June 12, 1997
JOHN W. OLVER, MASSACHUSETTS
ED PASTOR, ARIZONA
RODNEY F. FRELINGHUYSEN, NEW JERSEY
CARRIE P. MEEK. FLORIDA
ROGER F. WICKER, MISSISSIPPI
DAVID E. PRICE, NORTH CAROLINA
MICHAEL P. FORBES, NEW YORK
CHET EDWARDS, TEXAS
GEORGE R. NETHERCUTT, JR., WASHINGTON
MARK/W. NEUMANN. WISCONSIN
CLERK AND STAFF DIRECTOR
RANOY "DUKE" CUNNINGHAM. CALIFORNIA
JAMES W: PYER
TODO TIAHRT, KANSAS
ZACH WAMP, TENNEGGEE
TELEPHONE:
TOM LATHAM. IOWA
(202) 225-2771
ANNE M. NORTHUP, KENTUCKY
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, ALABAMA
Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General
United Nations
New York, New York 10017
Dear Secretary-General Annan:
I am writing to express my grave concerns about proposals being developed
within the United Nations Secretariat that would dismantle the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) and merge its functions with a new United Nations Development Group.
As I understand it, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). and the
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) would be consolidated into this new
organization.
As you know, UNICEF is a unique organization within the United Nations
system. It has a focused mission, and enjoys broad support within the United States and
on Capitol Hill. Indeed, it is able to raise millions of dollars from private individuals and
groups.
As chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House
Appropriations Committee, I have been a strong supporter of international children's
programs. Last year I led efforts to establish a Child Survival and Disease Programs
Fund within the United States Agency for International Development. As part of the
fund, Congress provided our voluntary contribution for UNICEF at a level of
$100,000,000.
I would strongly oppose efforts to eliminate UNICEF, or to merge its vital
functions with any other organization that is not committed to assisting the children of the
world as its primary mission. UNICEF has broad, bipartisan support within the Congress
due to the nature of its mission and due to its reputation. Frankly, other organizations
within the United Nations system do not enjoy this same support.
-2-
I strongly support efforts to reform the United Nations. However, any attempt to
dilute the mission of UNICEF, or to destroy its integrity, would undoubtedly be met with
universal opposition in the Congress. Speaking for myself, I would find it extremely
difficult to recommend the appropriation of any funds for a voluntary contribution to a
United Nations Development Group if it meant the elimination of UNICEF, in name or in
fact.
I appreciate the opportunity to share my views with you. I encourage you to
carefully review any proposals that would adversely affect the ability of UNICEF to
assist the world's children, and I further urge you to make no recommendations to the
General Assembly that would jeopardize its existence.
Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Sonny Callahan, M.C.
cc: The Honorable Madeleine Albright,
Secretary of State of the United States
TOTAL P.03
OPENING STATEMENT by CAROL BELLAMY
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND
TO THE UNICEF EXECUTIVE BOARD
ANNUAL SESSION
Headquarters - 2 June 1997
I'm very glad to welcome all of you to this, our third Executive Board gathering of 1997.
Ordinarily, my Statement at our Annual Session is aimed at reviewing the work of the past year and :
addressing the entire range of issues that are facing UNICEF.
But today I've decided to dispense with the usual format to focus on a single issue that is of
over-arching importance for all aspects of UNICEF's work. That issue is, of course, UN reform -
what has happened to date, what is currently under way and what we may expect; what we have
accomplished and how can we do even more in the future.
Before we go any further, it should be clearly understood that UNICEF strongly supports the
current reform process. We recognize the need for it, we have seen the benefits of it, we know how
speedily it must be achieved and we are active participants.
As Executive Director, I am deeply committed to the reform process both within UNICEF
and in the UN System as a whole. UNICEF strongly supports the Secretary-General's view that
reform must transform the Secretariat, the Funds and Programmes and all the component parts of the
System. Our experience to date. with the harmonization of budgets and with the Common Country
Assessment, for example has revealed a UN System that is hungry for good ideas. A System where
proposals for reform, if properly conceived and carefully considered, will enjoy widespread support,
including, I might say, the support of the specialized agencies.
Our Management Excellence Programme is only the most obvious evidence of UNICEF's
commitment to the goals of reform. In conjunction with Management Excellence, UNICEF has
developed a clear set of principles and professional standards for all of its staff. We have clarified
accountability and overall interrelationships among Country and Regional offices and Headquarters.
We have streamlined oversight of UNICEF programmes; increased effective field management
through the use of management teams; and developed new programme and financial-management
information capabilities. Management Excellence is helping UNICEF create a new internal
management culture, one that reflects enhanced standards of performance and accountability. And
all of this has made it possible for UNICEF to coordinate its work even more effectively with other
parts of the UN System.
As part of the Joint Consultative Group on Policy (JCGP), the chair of which UNICEF
assumed just this past April, we have joined in several significant achievements with the core grouping
of UN field-based operational bodies: UNDP, UNFPA, the World Food Programme and IFAD.
A common budget format has been approved, as you know, by the Executive Boards of
UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF. Policy guidelines have been developed for payments to national
project personnel and for the mainstreaming of gender concepts from the Beijing Plan of Action.
Draft guidelines now exist for the Common Country Assessment, a common data base and situation
analysis by the JCGP organizations. The first prototype Assessment was prepared in Ghana, and two
I
more are scheduled for completion by the end of August of this year. And we now have common
guidelines for field-level monitoring and evaluation.
It's in this spirit of accomplishment that we've entered into discussions on the prospective
wider reform of the UN's Funds and Programmes. We recognize the need for closer collaboration
and coordination with our sister agencies, for greater coherence in planning, programming and
implementation - and we are involved in energetic discussions on just how to make that happen.
In this process, we are guided by the belief that our strongest support should go to reforms
that enhance our capacity to promote the protection of children's rights, and to work for the survival
and full development of children.
As you know, the Secretary-General has established four Executive Committees to serve as
policy development and management instruments to strengthen the overall management of the UN
System and to support the strategic planning process in each of the participating organizations. These
Committees also represent the main paths along which reform will advance in the upcoming period.
UNICEF is represented on two of them: the Committee on Development Operations, and the
Committee on Humanitarian Affairs.
We have asked to join the Committees on Economic and Social Affairs and on Peace and
Security - and while we are not presently represented on them, we nevertheless expect to be invited
to join their deliberations whenever issues of direct relevance to UNICEF are raised.
I am also a member of the Policy Coordination Group -- often referred to as the Secretary-
General's Cabinet. This is a group that meets every other week and where reform issues are discussed
regularly. In the five months of its existence, the Policy Coordination Group has also addressed
issues as diverse as the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and gender issues in
the UN, the Special Session of the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation
of Agenda 21, as well as budgets, staffing, and oversight issues.
The Secretary-General has also created a Steering Committee on Reform, chaired by his
Executive Coordinator for UN Reform, Mr. Maurice Strong. While UNICEF is not a member of this
panel, we have made our presence felt - most recently at a key meeting that I attended on May 9th
at which the main topic was the reform of the development operations bodies. The experience was
a good one and provided an opportunity for me to express some of UNICEF's views and some of
its concerns. We understand that UNICEF will be a participant in all future meetings.
Up to now, the reform groups in which UNICEF has participated have been focusing on the
Track One proposals. As you are no doubt aware, these are the proposals for action announced on
March 17th that the Secretary-General considers within his power and prerogative, and which can
be implemented quickly. The main objective, which we entirely share with the Secretary-General, is
to reduce administrative costs, streamline Secretariat functions, and better integrate UN activities at
the country level.
It is this last category - country level operations - that is obviously of greatest relevance to
UNICEF.
Let me bring you up to date on where we stand with Track One:
At the country level, the Secretary-General has announced reforms in four areas. First, he
intends to strengthen the role of the Resident Coordinator. Second, he will ask that the UN Funds
and Programmes involved in development work prepare a common Development Assistance
Framework Third, he will step up the drive for common premises and services. And fourth, he will
2
request that the heads of the Funds and Programmes ensure that their country staffs are headed by
leaders who will meet the needs and requirements of developing countries.
These are significant measures, aimed at making operations more effective, particularly at the
country level. The Development Assistance Framework, for example, is designed to provide the
context for all UN activities in a country and to promote the harmonized development of individual
Country Programmes. UNICEF is chair of the sub-group that has taken the lead in developing this
Framework. It will be prepared in consultation with Governments and outline the major themes and
sectors for achieving goals set out at past UN conferences.
The concept of an overall framework was recently put to the test in Ghana. Here, the JCGP
partners at country level, with support from other UN agencies, prepared a Common Country
Assessment identifying social and economic trends and highlighting key issues that the agencies
jointly consider vital to the UN's efforts to support Ghana's social development programme.
On the strengthening of the role of the Resident Coordinator, we want to benefit from the
experiences of the past to develop a strengthened and more effective system. Through the Executive
Committee on Development Operations, we are designing a management model for the Resident
Coordinator System that remains based on current arrangements - namely funding and management
links to UNDP. However, there will be major improvements aimed at meeting the concerns of partner
Funds and Programmes.
Coordinators would generally come from an operational agency and would normally also
serve as UNDP Resident Representative. Issues concerning the Resident Coordinator's authority,
as well as reporting lines and accountability, are currently being addressed.
At present, two UNICEF staff members are serving as Resident Coordinators and two more
will soon assume posts. UNICEF has increased the numbers of staff nominated for Resident
Coordinator posts - and we have seconded a senior officer to work with UNDP's Office of UN
System Support and Service, which is responsible for the Headquarters servicing of the Resident
Coordinator system.
On another matter, we strongly support the Secretary-General's initiative to accelerate the
drive for common premises and common services. Again, as chair of a sub-group on this issue within
the Joint Consultative Group on Policy, UNICEF has endorsed a "fast track" approach.
UNICEF, on behalf of the JCGP agencies, is developing a collective data base to track and
monitor field-office operations more effectively. A presentation of the proposed system's capabilities
was made to representatives from UNDP, UNFPA and WFP approximately six weeks ago. I think
it is appropriate to say that they were enthusiastic in their response and all are committed to getting
the new data base up and running.
We think that each case for common premises should be examined in terms of cost-
effectiveness and if there are additional costs, they should be very clearly identified.
UNICEF already benefits from government-provided premises in many areas - and the most
desirable option, of course, would be for governments to offer common premises in all locations.
Overall, Track One is proceeding at a good pace and all outstanding matters appear well on
the way to resolution. We are confident that these reforms will improve UNICEF's working
relationships with the other Funds and Programmes, and will lead to more cost-effective programme
delivery.
Let me turn now to the Track Two initiatives. They are to be announced toward the middle
3
of July - and UNICEF is committed to helping advance these more far-reaching reforms. The details
of the Track Two proposals are still being developed, and as part of the consultative process leading
to more specific ideas, I would like share with you my views on the nature of these broader reform
proposals - as well as to pose several key questions.
There are two key areas of reform currently under discussion with direct relevance to
UNICEF - development operations and humanitarian affairs. Let me deal first with humanitarian
affairs.
The options under discussion include alternatives as far-reaching as the creation of a new
humanitarian affairs agency into which the agencies handling emergencies would be consolidated.
This would include UNICEF, the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees - and possibly the World Food Programme.
In this scenario, UNHCR would effectively become the UN's humanitarian organization,
with wider powers than it presently has.
UNICEF, as you know, has already set out a strategic framework for strengthened inter-
agency coordination in humanitarian operations, and we have been actively engaged in discussions
to work out the possible inter-relationships between agencies under any new arrangement.
Besides basic child survival, development and protection imperatives that arise in humanitarian
crises, UNICEF works for the care and protection of unaccompanied children; recuperation of child
combatants; the reintegration of child soldiers into society; the maintenance of basic education for
children in time of war; peace education; and trauma counseling.
We must ensure that these and other aspects of the child care and protection remain high on
the humanitarian agenda, and that UNICEF, with its special developmental perspective, continue to
be recognized as the leading advocate of "first call for children."
To this end, we are urging that measures be taken to guarantee the effectiveness and
impartiality of the Office of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, and that efforts continue to assure
a stronger decision-making and consultative role for the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. UNICEF,
meanwhile, will continue to solidify its support for the Coordinator by seconding experienced
UNICEF personnel to senior headquarters and field positions.
Now let me turn to development operations, where we have a number of concerns - concerns
that grow out of UNICEF's 50 years of experience in the field.
First, I can say without reservation that we in UNICEF enjoy working with our Executive
Board as it is presently constituted. Our discussions are frank, they are substantive and they are
knowledgeable. The level of mutual confidence and trust is high.
No doubt you have heard suggestions for the consolidation of several existing Executive
Boards into a single Board that would operate in a manner similar to that of the World Bank. It is our
hope that we can maintain the same degree of specialized knowledge, support and non-political
dialogue in any future structure.
But what most concerns UNICEF is what happens in the field, because what we do at the
country level is the paramount reason for this UNICEF's existence.
In order to fulfill our mandate as set out in our Mission Statement - to be an advocate for the
protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to
reach their full potential - UNICEF needs continued access to the senior political leadership of the
countries in which we work. UNICEF's voice must remain strong and identifiable in the social and
4
economic dialogue and in the planning process.
It is not an overstatement to say that our progress in ensuring the development and well-being
of children and women, and in building support for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, will
continue to depend on UNICEF's independent identity and voice.
Nor is it an overstatement to say that UNICEF's capacity for independent dialogue is the key
factor that made possible Adjustment With a Human Face; the campaign for Universal Child
Immunization; the convening of the World Summit for Children; the rapid near-universal ratification
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the institution of "Days of Tranquility" and "Corridors
of Peace" - and the Graca Machel study, the most comprehensive evaluation ever made of the effects
of armed conflict on children.
In order to carry out its mandate, UNICEF must be able to continue its Country Programme.
This means working in partnership with governments and civil society, with collaborative input from
the UN System. It means that UNICEF representatives, who are answerable to the Executive
Director, must remain responsible for development and implementation of the Country Programme.
And it means the retention of the capacity and authority to raise funds for UNICEF - for it
is also not an overstatement to say that the existence of a discrete and unique UNICEF programme
is the reason for our successful National Committee structure, a. network that is now established in
nearly 40 countries.
UNICEF's programmes are the basis for our consistently high public recognition. They
explain why, for over half a century, we have enjoyed the support of an unbroken string of Goodwill
Ambassadors, from Danny Kaye to Audrey Hepburn, Peter Ustinov, Roger Moore, Harry Belafonte,
Liv Ullman, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, and of the broader community, as well as religious leaders,
parliamentarians and representatives of many other non-governmental organizations.
But if UNICEF is obliged to seek permission or clearance before acting for children -- let us
say from an integrated field office, through which we would have to clear everything via a higher
authority at the country level, a matter quite distinct from coordination and collaboration - then this
organization would be a markedly different UNICEF.
We believe that within any collaborative and coordinated framework, it remains vital that we
retain our capacity and authority to speak directly for children everywhere, to develop and implement
discrete Country Programmes under your guidance, and to carry out our own fund raising. Those
capabilities are at the heart of what we do.
In fact, it was just a few weeks ago that Mr. Strong wrote a letter to us asking for our outline
of UNICEF's core functions. We provided one, in a formal reply on April 30th We have shared that
reply with you. We told him that the varied facets of UNICEF's role - as an advocate for children's
rights, as a provider of children's basic needs, and as a facilitator to expand their opportunities to
reach their full potential - all grow out of our distinct organizational identity.
We said that UNICEF's singular focus on the well-being of the "whole child" involves an
integrated approach to programming that no amalgamation of agencies could reasonably be expected
to duplicate. This all-embracing strategy - combined with our "brand name," if you will - has
allowed UNICEF to act as a moral force for children the world over. It has won us not only the
support of Governments, but of a public constituency as well.
We said that UNICEF's concept of children as "citizens," with the same enduring spectrum
of basic rights as adults, implies an approach to development that no other UN agency is likely to
5
employ. We said that no other UN agency can concentrate on issues of adolescence and youth with
the clarity that the Convention on the Rights of the Child gives us.
We also pointed out that no other UN agency has the mandate UNICEF can claim in
upholding the self-reinforcing principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
And all of this, we said, has enabled UNICEF to increase its private-sector fund raising to
more than $300 million a year, a blessing that helps sustain 8. worldwide structure of National
Committees supported by hundreds of thousands of community volunteers. This, in turn, has made
it possible to mobilize literally millions of people in the service of the UNICEF mandate - and by
extension, the mandate of the whole UN System.
It is self-evident that no other United Nations agency speaks directly for children, day in and
day out, globally and locally. If that voice is muted or even stilled, there is a real and present danger
that children will become a lesser priority. They will drop down on the list of development and human
rights concerns in country after country just as surely as night follows day. It is as grave and simple
a matter as that.
We ask you, therefore, to consider the Track Two reform proposals, whatever their ultimate
form, in light of a number of considerations.
So let me try to express these considerations forthrightly, but in a spirit of genuine respect and
inquiry.
What effect will the Track Two proposals have on the nature and role of UNICEF? How
would they work in detail? Will they improve operations in the field? Will they help mobilize
additional resources for basic social services? Will they improve governance? And, most importantly,
how will they serve the rights and the needs of children?
I admit it sounds rather stark to put it this way. But I do so in the knowledge that UNICEF,
from the very beginning, has demonstrated a remarkable capacity to re-invent itself as needed to
confront the shifting challenges of the global environment. We will surely do so again.
You've seen and reaffirmed what we've been able to achieve internally at UNICEF. We eat,
drink, and sleep reform. But reform requires careful thought and reflection on all of its possible
consequences, whether they are intended or not.
Above all, we must protect the things that work. That is part of my mandate as Executive
Director.
Thirty-seven years ago, Henry Labouisse accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for UNICEF. It was
a moment that summed up everything that UNICEF had become -- and everything that it is still
working to achieve.
The most important meaning of the Prize, Labouisse told the audience in Oslo, was "the
solemn recognition that the welfare of today's children is inseparably linked with the peace of
tomorrow's world."
That truth of that observation has not changed, nor has UNICEF's central and leading role
as a strong and independent voice for children the world over.
I hope, personally, that you will not mind my speaking in so frank and open a fashion. The
Secretary-General appointed me to this post. I feel that I do his bidding when I speak in support of
UNICEF as an agency that attempts to bring honour to the United Nations family.
Thank you.
6
unicef
Office of the Executive Director
United Nations Children's Fund
UNICEF House
Fonds des Nations L nies Dour l'enfance
Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia
3 United Nations Plaza
New York. New York. 10017
(212) 326-7035
Telex: 49620199 / Fax: 212) 326-7758
4 June 1997
Dear Ambassador Princetor Lyman,
I would like to follow up on my letter of May 14th and our conversation on the Secretary-
General's UN reform efforts. As you know, UNICEF strongly supports the need for reform
within the UN system and, in that context, I wanted to share with you a copy of my opening
statement this Monday to our Executive Board at it's Annual Meeting. My statement describes a
number of actions UNICEF is taking under the Secretary-General's Track 1 proposals. However,
the statement also raises serious concerns we have about some of the radical options under
consideration for Track 2. Actually, very little written information is available but given the fast
time-table and requests from numerous board members for our views, I felt it necessary to raise
several important questions concerning the possible impact on the ability of UNICEF to continue
its work.
I have also enclosed a copy of an internal working document identifying the essential
elements of UNICEF which need to be preserved in order for UNICEF to carry out effectively its
mandate as a global advocate for children.
I hope you find this information useful.
Sincerely,
CI
Carol Bellamy
Executive Director
The Honorable Princeton Lyman
Assistant Secretary
Bureau for International Organization Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.
DRAFT
"Child-Friendly" UN Reform: Minimum Conditions
For the past 50 years the world has recognized the need for special arrangements to
protect the interests of children. The existence of a unique United Nations organization for
children and the development of a special convention to protect childrens' rights illustrate this
conviction. Children's interests are at the core of all human development and represent one of the.
few human truths that unite the people of all nations. As we enter the 21 st century, continuing
conflict, the increasing gap separating rich from poor both within and among countries, and the
gaping inadequacies in care, shelter and education offered to the world's youngest citizens, make
the continued existence of special arrangements for children ever more essential.
Ensuring that the interests of children are fully met is a major challenge of UN Reform. It
is. in fact, the most fundamental rationale for the overall process: guaranteeing a strong, effective
and dynamic mechanism for global development and peace for future generations.
Within the United Nations system, UNICEF serves as the focal point for children,
advocating, programming, mobilizing resources and coordinating global efforts on their behalf.
As such, UNICEF welcomes the opportunity to improve the UN system in ways that strengthen
and reinforce its ability to act in children's best interests.
While fully welcoming the reform process, UNICEF recognizes a number of conditions as
essential to its continued effectiveness as the global advocate for children. These conditions are
summarized below.
Representation at Country Level
In his Track 1 proposals, the Secretary-General calls for the strengthening of the Resident
Coordinator system. UNICEF has indicated strong support for these efforts and has participated
in their development. As part of Track 2, the designation of one overall UN "Team Leader" is
proposed, which UNICEF also supports in principle. This Team Leader could, in consultation
with colleagues at country level, articulate UN positions on issues of development, governance
and other areas critical to creating an "enabling" environment for the promotion and protection of
children's rights. UNICEF believes that, in defining this structure, a number of options should be
explored, including the establishment of an entirely separate post (unconnected to a specific
organization) or periodic rotation of the coordinator among the representatives of the operational
agencies in each country.
1
Given both the immediacy and special nature of children's needs and interests, however,
UNICEF must, within the context of a better coordinated system, maintain:
direct access to government officials (up to and including the Head of State),
individuals and groups within civil society, bilateral organizations, embassies and
the media on issues directly related to children;
the Executive Director's authority to appoint heads of UNICEF offices, who are
directly responsible to her on all issues related to the planning and implementation
of the UNICEF supported country programme;
authority to speak out immediately and forcefully in all situations in which
children's interests or rights are threatened or in which their needs are not
adequately addressed; and
a direct role in supporting governments, civil society and the Committee on the
Rights of the Child in implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Country Programmes
UNICEF welcomes the further development of the Common Country Assessment (CCA)
and Development Assistance Framework (DAF) at country level. Through the JCGP mechanism,
UNICEF is, in fact, leading this process, drawing on well-recognized programme strengths and
experience. Enriched by the perspectives of a wide range of organizations and mandates, these
efforts will strengthen the coherence - and impact - of the UN's contribution to national
development.
UNICEF will work toward ensuring that the CCA includes a thorough analysis of the
situation of children and that the DAF embodies the recommendations of a "child-focused" CCA.
In order to continue to promote a holistic and comprehensive approach to meeting
children's needs at country level, however, UNICEF must also maintain:
a distinct country programme, negotiated with and formally approved by each host
government;
authority over the management of all aspects of that country programme ensuring
the most efficient use of human, financial and other resources for children; and
2
"R AR ,
supervisory authority of the UNICEF head of office over all staff recruited to
develop and implement the UNICEF supported country programme.
Fund-Raising
The progressive harmonization of programme and budgetary cycles and the adoption of
the CCA and DAF will facilitate the organization of Round Tables and other collaborative
mechansims for resource mobilization. UNICEF has considerable experience in fundraising and
could contribute substantially to these efforts.
In order to continue to mobilize maximum resources for children, UNICEF must also
maintain:
the authority/independence to raise funds specifically for UNICEF, both globally
and for individual country programmes. This authority is essential to UNICEF's
ability to raise the USD 300 million it receives annually from private resources. In
several countries there are laws prohibiting the "co-mingling" of funds raised in the
name of one organization with the funds of other groups, regardless of formal or
informal connections. Furthermore, the millions of volunteers who raise these
funds do so on behalf of children, viewing UNICEF as a viable partner through
which to channel their concern. It is almost certain that they would not view an
undifferentiated unified structure in the same way.
full accountability for funds contributed specifically to UNICEF, including
authority to allocate, expend and account for these funds in the best interests of
children and in line with the expectations of both public and private donors.
Governance
UNICEF recognizes the advantages of common governance structures, including the
possibility of one Executive Board for the proposed UN Development Operations Group.
From UNICEF's perspective, whatever governance structure is developed must meet the
following three conditions:
decision-making in the best interests of children, free of political or external
interests;
a size and structure conducive to sound, technical decision-making, including
balanced and equitable representation of all geographic regions; and
3
DRAFT
specific consideration and approval of UNICEF policies and supported country
programmes, giving UNICEF the authority to manage those programmes and seek
funding for their full implementation.
Common Premises and Services
UNICEF is participating in the working groups set up by the Secretary-General to specify
the scope, nature and timing of Track 1 proposals with regard to common premises and services.
UNICEF welcomes the opportunity to improve cost-effectiveness and efficiency in these areas.
Nevertheless UNICEF believes that sufficient flexibility must be maintained to ensure successful
programme delivery for children.
In the discussions now under way, UNICEF will insist that:
cost-effectiveness be adopted as the most fundamental criterion to determine
which and to what extent premises and services are combined;
all proposals are carefully scrutinized for their potential impact on programme
delivery and effectiveness, especially at the country level;
sound and transparent processes are developed to determine each organization's
contribution to and involvement in common services, at both global and country
level; and
the common administrative, financial and personnel systems adopted allow
UNICEF to maintain authority to manage and account for programme funds and to
manage its own staff effectively.
HUMANITARIAN REFORM
UNICEF has consistently supported the goal of improved operational coordination
between the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations and also believes that a strong, effective
and impartial entity to ensure strategic coordination in the humanitarian field is important.
UNICEF continues to work with partners to ensure close collaboration and a clear division of
labour in complex emergencies. It has also developed a revised strategic framework for its role as
a partner in humanitarian action, with an increasing focus on ensuring the protection of children
from harm and on their rehabilitation in a protective family environment. UNICEF would wish to
ensure that:
The needs and rights of children are accorded the highest priority in emergency action and
in the allocation of resources; and that UNICEF continues to be able to play its key role as
an independent advocate for "a first call for children" under all circumstances.
4
DRAFT
As the humanitarian activities of the United Nations are consolidated, priority is accorded
to developing the capacity of local and national structures to ensure the well-being of the
child and to a longer term perspective which addresses the child's rehabilitation and
recovery needs, as well as immediate survival. UNICEF is well-placed to ensure the
linkage between humanitarian and developmental actions addressing the well-being of the
child.
A future Office of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, focussed on its core functions of
strategic coordination and humanitarian advocacy, and divested of operational functions,
will turn to UNICEF for reliable, effective design and implementation of child-centred
activities.
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee will play a strong role in decision-making in
relation to coordination of specific humanitarian operations and in ensuring interagency
consultation to achieve policy coherence.
Note: For further information on any of the above proposals, please contact Mr. Ado Vaher,
Director UN Affairs, ext. 7033
kc/2.6.97/17:45
5
THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1997
Unicef Says U.N. Reforms Could Harm the World's Children
By BARBARA CROSSETTE
UNITED NATIONS, June 2 - As
Unicef, until now, has maintained
Janeiro five years ago, say they are
Arthur C. Helton, a lawyer who has
the United Nations prepares for the
its own operations overseas, dealing
well aware of the importance of Uni-
specialized in refugee Issues and who
broadest restructuring in its history,
with governments on issues strictly
cef's appeal.
now directs migration programs for
the executive director of Unicef took
related to children; including immu-
"Everyone is very sensitive to the
the Open Society Institute in New
the unusual step today of warning
nization and education. Its reputa-
need to keep the brand name, so to
York, described the proposed
publicly that, under the proposed
tion has enabled Unicef, which de-
speak, and visibility of the individual
changes affecting relief and refugee
changes, the agency is in danger of
pends on voluntary contributions, to
components of the United Nations,
losing its independent voice for chil-
protection as inadequate.
raise more than $300 million annual-
many of which do have considerable
"I don't think there is the stomach
dren around the world.
ly from private sources in addition to
name recognition and public ap-
The director, Carol Bellamy, a for-
for the real visionary changes that
government donations. The United
peal," a high official involved in the
States contributes $100 million, a
restructuring said. "Of course Uni-
would make these institutions and,
mer New York politician, told Uni-
cef's executive board that, under
grant Congress protected this year
cef is at the top of that pile with
more importantly, the government
plans now being considered, the
after the Clinton Administration
generations of work and funding. The
sponsors in the background, capable
agency's activities would be folded
tried to cut it by 10 percent.
last thing that anyone wants to do is
of addressing emergencies at the
into a group dealing with social and
"If Unicef is obliged to seek per-
jeopardize that."
level of root causes," he said. "This
economic development. Other Unicef
mission or clearance before acting
This official said that in both devel-
is not just a technical question. It is
functions would be taken over by a
for children," Ms. Bellamy said,
opment and emergency relief, "the
far more fundamentally political."
separate emergency relief team.
"then this organization would be a
current situation is not adequate to
Unicef and the United Nations
markedly different Unicef."
the needs of the day." This widely
High Commissioner for Refugees
She said Unicef's effectiveness de-
shared view led to the proposal af-
are concerned that they will be sig-
pends on its "Independent entity and
fecting the High Commissioner for
nificantly altered in a reshuffling
voice."
Refugees.
that is intended to streamline and
Plans for restructuring the United
The proposal would abolish the
strengthen the United Nations. Both
Nations will be made public in mid-
United Nations Department of Hu-
have been widely praised for effec-
July by Secretary General Kofi An-
manitarian Affairs, which is based in
tiveness and both have the support of
nan, who has already proposed ad-
New York and has had trouble deal-
Congress, which has been generally
ministrative changes that are within
ing with International emergencies,
cool toward the United Nations.
his power to make. The larger reor-
and transfer those and other func-
In a separate proposal that raises
ganization must be approved by the
tions to the High Commissioner's
different concerns, the High Com-
General Assembly, the forum of the
headquarters In Geneva. The High
missioner for Refugees may become
185 member nations, and the interna-
Commissioner's job, now held by Sa-
the coordinator for all international
tional politicking and turt wars have
dako Ogata of Japan, would be ex-
relief, picking up new responsibil-
already begun.
panded to include responsibility for
itles that some officials believe could
The changes involving Unicef have
coordinating a wide range of emer-
dilute the image of the agency known
prompted meetings around the
gency programs.
as the world's strongest advocate for
world.
Some diplomats say it is a mistake
displaced people.
"Unicef has a very special rela-
to burden the commissioner with too
tionship with political leaders," said
Robert Smith, executive director of
many tasks at a time when refugee
Britain's Committee for Unicef, one
flows are at their highest peak in
of 36 national committees that raise
modern history, and reports of
money for the agency. "By having
atrocities are mounting from places
direct access to presidents, national
like Congo. The Security Council is
and provincial premiers and minis-
increasingly reluctant to put muscle
ters of health and ministers of social
behind the High Commissioner for
welfare, Unicef can get things done."
Refugees or the High Commissioner
United Nations officials planning
for Human Rights when those agen-
the reform under the direction of
cies want to investigate atrocities,
Maurice Strong, a Canadian who or-
protect refugee camps or call in an
ganized the Earth Summit in Rio de
armed force.
United Nations Reform
Secretary-General
Policy Coordination
Maurice Strong
Group
Executive Coordinator
(meets every other
Wednesday under SG)
Steering Committee
Management Reform
Heads Depts/Offices of
(meets every Friday AM
Group**
Secretariat Including:
under M. Strong
Joseph Connor
UNDP
UNICEF
J.-G. Speth, UNDP
UNFPA
J. Connor, DAM
Plus
UNHCR
K. Prendergast, DPA
N. Desal, DPCSD
Reform Groups In
Plus
Y. Akashi, DHA
each Department,
H. Corell, Legal Counsel
Fund and
FOUR SECTORAL
S. Ogata, UNHCR
Programme
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES
G. Rosenthal, ECLAC
(to assist In reforms
In each UN entity
Peace & Security
Humanitarian
Economic &
Development
Convenor:
Affairs
Social Affairs
Operations
Prendergast
Convenor:
Convenor:
Convenor:
Desal
Speth
Members:
Akashl
Members:
DPA, DPKQ OLA,
Members:
Members:
UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF,
UNHCR, UNRWA
DHA, UNHCR,WFP
DPCSD, DESIPA,
WFP, DDSMS, UNOPS,
UNICEF, DPKO, DPA,
DDSMS, UNCTAD,
UNIFEM, UNAIDS,
UNRWA
UNEP, UNCHS,
UNDCP AND UNCHS
UNDCP, Reg. Commissions,
UNU and research/training
Institutes (INSTRAW, UNRISD,
UNITAR)
THE ABOVE WILL BUILD ON PAST WORK OF GOVERNMENTS, GA WORKING GROUPS AND INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONS
** Replaces the Efficiency Board within Department of Administration and Management
unicef
United Nations Children's Fund
CF/UNA/1997-001
17 April 1997
UN REFORM UPDATE
FOR INFORMATION
To:
Regional Directors
PRESIDENTS OFFICE
Representatives/Assistant Representatives
For Information
Directors: Copenhagen, Brussels, Florence, Tokyo
JC, JD, MR, LS
New York Management Team; Chiefs of Sections
From:
Ado Vaher The
DATE
APR 2 8 1997 ch.
For Action
Director, United Nations Affairs and External Relations
File
Subject:
United Nations Reform: Secretary-General's Announcement of 17 March and Other
Recent Developments
INTRODUCTION
The Secretary-General's initiative for reform of the United Nations system is moving quickly
and will have major and far-reaching consequences for the entire UN family including
UNICEF. While the full extent of current changes will not be finalized until the General Assembly
reviews proposals and adopts resolutions in December 1997 - if even by then, given the on-going
nature of reform - the structures for managing and coordinating the process are in place and the
general direction of proposed measures is increasingly clear.
If reform should bring about any modifications in the nature of UNICEF field operations, the
structure of country offices or the responsibilities of country representatives, this will be
communicated to you directly by the Executive Director. Until such specific notice of changes
in operational practices or institutional arrangements, UNICEF field offices should continue
to operate as before. We in United Nations Affairs and External Relations (UNAERO) will keep
UNICEF staff informed of key developments, new ideas, output from working groups, etc and seek
views on important issues. However, as the pace of reform is extremely quick, it is inevitable, as
well as deeply regretted, that gaps in information sharing and consultation may occur.
Throughout the reform process, UNICEF's position will be guided by one over-arching
consideration - that proposals for change provide ultimate benefits for children, ie. that reform
enhances the capacity of UNICEF to advocate for the protection of children's rights and to work for
their survival, protection and development. UNICEF views on UN reform were set out by the
Executive Director in her letter of 14 November 1996 to the Secretary-General. A copy of this
correspondence is attached for your information.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
In January, the Secretary-General established a Policy Coordination Group, chaired by himself and
made up of the heads of UN departments/offices and the UN funds and programmes. This Group
meets biweekly and functions as a UN cabinet, contributing to enhanced coordination within the UN
Organization. In February, the Secretary-General established four permanent Executive Committees
to strengthen policy development and management within the Organization and to contribute to the
reform process. The subject areas of these sectoral groups are Peace and Security, Humanitarian
Affairs, Economic and Social Affairs and Development Operations. UNICEF is a member of thé
Committees dealing with Humanitarian Affairs, convened by Yashushi Akashi, Under-Secretary-
General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, and Development Operations,
convened by Gus Speth, Administrator of UNDP. In addition, Maurice Strong was appointed
Executive Coordinator for UN Reform and chairs the newly established Steering Committee on
Reform. A chart of the complete institutional structure for reform is attached.
TRACK 1 REFORM
In a letter of 17 March to the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General announced
a number of reform measures designed to reduce administrative costs, streamline Secretariat
functions, secure cost savings and integrate activities at the country level. These proposals, referred
to as Track 1 reforms, are within the prerogative of the Secretary-General and are designed for
speedy implementation:
United Nations at the country level: The Secretary-General will strengthen the role of
the resident coordinator, request all UN Funds and Programmes involved with
development activities to prepare a common UN Development Assistance Framework,
intensify the drive for common premises and services, request the heads of UN Funds
and Programmes to ensure that appointments of leaders of country staff meet the needs
and requirements of developing countries.
Integration of Secretariat functions in the economic and social areas: The Department for
Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, the Department for Economic and Social
Information and Policy Analysis, and the Department of Development Support and
Management Services will be merged into a single department.
Transfer of resources from administration to programmes: The UN regular budget for 1998-
1999 will be some $123 million lower than that for the current biennium with a reduction by
at least one third in the proportion of resources devoted to administration by the year 2001
and the reduction of 1000 posts by the 1998-1999 budget.
Other proposals: Other proposals provide for a Code of Conduct; limit documentation; call
for a review of existing arrangements for administrative, financial, personnel, procurement
and other services; reorient public information functions; and further integrate major
technical support services for the General Assembly and other inter-governmental bodies.
TRACK 2 REFORM
Future stages of the reform process include a Track 2 announcement scheduled for the end of June,
setting out proposals for future directions, generally requiring the concurrence of the inter-
governmental machinery. These latter proposals are intended for discussion by the General
Assembly in the fall of 1997 with approval expected in December 1997. While not yet defined,
Track 2 is expected to build on the work of the four Executive Committees, the Track 1 proposals
and the work of inter-governmental working groups on reform.
Topics for review under Track 2 are likely to include further secretariat improvements, securing of
greater financial resources for development, the functioning of the main inter-governmental organs
(General Assembly, ECOSOC and executive boards), enhanced relations with civil society,
strengthened inter-agency coordination mechanisms, changes to regional commissions, and a review
of relevant provisions in the UN Charter. It is expected this stage will encompass human rights
aspects of UN operations also. While direct action will focus on the UN secretariat and the Funds
and Programmes, it is hoped the specialized agencies and Bretton Wood institutions will adopt the
reforms on a voluntary basis. Implementation of Track 2 reforms, as with those of Track 1, will
follow the approval of specific guidelines.
NEXT STEPS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR UNICEF
While the Executive Committee for Humanitarian Affairs has concentrated on operational issues,
the priority of the Committee for Development Operations is implementation of Track 1 reforms,
and development of Track 2 proposals. The group, with its membership of UNICEF, UNDP,
UNFPA, WFP, UNAIDS, HABITAT and UNDCP, is expected to complete guidelines by 31 May
1997 for announcement by the Secretary-General in July.
It is envisaged guidelines will include clear deadlines for the establishment of a preparation and
approval process for the UN Development Assistance Framework, the formulation and approval for
the first 10 of these, a mechanism for ensuring that the leaders of UN offices and those of Funds and
Programmes are selected in a manner which results in a mix of skills compatible with the needs and
priorities of host countries, a timetable for implementation of common premises arrangements for
all UN Funds and Programmes, and proposals for establishment of common services arrangements.
Specific action or changes in current operational procedures of UNICEF offices, or of any other UN
offices, will follow completion and approval of these guidelines.
The preparation of specific Track 1 guidelines is being carried out by a Working Group composed
of all members of the Executive Committee with certain tasks being assigned to the JCGP sub-
groups.
BASIC DOCUMENTATION
There is already a large body of documentation, correspondence and other written material available
on this reform process and its on-going activities. A copy of all relevant material is being sent to
each regional office and will be updated on a regular basis. Field offices are encouraged to review
this material wherever possible.
22
97
(THU)
15:01
PFV UNIVER NI
unicef
United Nations Children's Fund
CF/UNA/1997-003
17 May 1997
UN REFORM UPDATE
FOR INFORMATION
To:
Regional Directors
Representatives/Assistant Representatives
Directors: Copenhagen, Brussels, Florence, Tokyo
New York Management Team; Chiefs of Sections
UNICEF National Committees
From:
Ado Vaher
Director, United Nations Affairs and External Relations
Subject:
Update on Recent Developments
UNICEF continues its participation in the reform process described in UN Reform Update
CF/UNA/1997-001 of 17 April 1997. This activity supports UNICEF's internal reforms
implemented through the Management Excellence Programme and ongoing collaboration in existing
bodies such as the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) and the Joint Consultative
Group on Policy (JCGP). This current note provides an update on events of the last month and
important new information on the Secretary-General's Track 2. Many representatives will no doubt
be asked by government contacts for UNICEF views on reform proposals and should feel free to
draw on the contents of this note in their responses.
1. Secretary-General's Announcements of March 17 - Track 1
UNICEF is working actively for the elaboration and implementation of Track 1 reforms,
largely through its participation in the Executive Committee on Development Operations and the
Executive Committee on Humanitarian Activities. These reforms are within the prerogatives of the
Secretary-General and the executive heads of the funds and programmes. and conform to existing
mandates and decisions of the inter-governmental machinery. Of particular relevance to UNICEF
in Track 1 are proposals for an improved and strengthened resident coordinator system, the
preparation of a UN Development Assistance Framework, increased use of common premises and
services. and appointments to representative posts that meet the needs off developing countries.
UNICEF, as current chair of JCGP as well as of several of its subgroups, has been requested to take
the lead on development of many of the new mechanisms.
IY. 22' 97 (THU) 15:08 PFO UNICEF NY
IDE:212 020 1100
Key aspects of Track 1 reform include the following:
1.1 UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF)
UNDAF is now defined as a succinct programmatic framework for harmonized
development of individual country programmes. It will draw on the goals of recent
international conferences as well as on other UN mandates to set out issues and
perspectives that are common to the UN system, and to define major areas of concern
and themes for UN action. It will provide the overall context within which individual
country programmes are prepared.
By mid-June, initial UNDAF guidelines will be developed with an emphasis on
flexibility and scope for experimentation and adjustment based on experience.
The first ten UNDAFs will be prepared by end-1997.
UNDAF is proposed as a UN document prepared in consultation with governments
but not requiring their formal approval.
1.2 Common Country Assessment (CCA)
This common database and country assessment will support the UNDAF process.
The first CCA was prepared for Ghana
Two more CCAs will be prepared before September.
While the CCA is a JCGP exercise, specialized agencies and the World Bank have
expressed interest.
1.3 Common Premises and Common Services
These should be cost-effective or, if not, there should be a clear estimate of additional
costs.
Next stage is to develop cost/benefit methodology, management procedures, methods
for cost allocation and data collection, develop timetables, review data. etc.
We have accepted "fast track" for introduction of additional common premises but
will quantify additional costs of such acceleration.
Most desirable option is government provision of "free" common premises.
Next stage will include preparation of guidelines for common services.
1.4 Resident Coordinator System (RCS)
We have agreed to strengthen the current RC system with resident coordinators
generally coming from an operational agency.
"Normally" the RC is also the UNDP representative but exceptions are possible.
Current problems of the RCS include unclear authority and lines of responsibility,
lack of RCs from widened pool, conflict of interest in roles as resident coordinator
and UNDP resident representative. These need to be resolved.
Resident coordinator system currently costs UNDP some $50 - $100 million per
year; may need more resources in future.
UNICEF has appointed Special Adviser for UN Reform and Coordination, Mr.
Kunio Waki, former Director of UNICEF Tokyo, to work closely with the Office of
UN System Support and Services, that office of UNDP responsible for administration
of the RCS.
22' 97 (THU) 15:08 PFO UNICEF NY
106:212 020 7100
2. Secretary-General's Report at end June - Track 2
Track 2 reforms will propose "a new UN", "a vision for the future", covering the UN secretariat,
funds and programmes, the inter-governmental machinery - particularly ECOSOC, and relations
among different UN organs. There will be no reform proposals in the political area nor will
proposals specifically address any of the specialized agencies. The options currently being canvased
with governments have the following general characteristics:
2.1 Development Operations
UN Development Group, a single development group with a common secretariat and
budget framework, allowing for retention of "distinctive programmatic features" of
the component organizations, ie. UNDP, UNICEF, WFP and UNFPA.
UNICEF would retain its distinctive "brand name".
A single organizational entity at both HQ and country levels.
Similar consolidation at inter-governmental level with a single Board, functioning
much like World Bank Executive Board, with senior representatives, for whom it
would be a primary and continuing responsibility.
Decentralized authority rests with Team Leader in the field.
2.2 Humanitarian Affairs
UNHCR becomes the humanitarian organization of the UN with a dissolution of
DHA and assigning its functions to UNHCR in Geneva.
Retain a direct link to the ,Secretary-General with a strong and high-level
humanitarian assistance liaison function in New York to ensure coordination with the
Office of the Secretary-General and the political departments.
World Food Programme (WFP) could become part of this structure but would need
to retain its development functions.
3. UNICEF POSITION ON REFORM
UNICEF recognizes the need for closer collaboration/coordination between UN funds and
programmes, as well as with other development partners. In this regard, UNICEF has fully
participated in many aspects of Track 1: RCS, common formats, harmonization, etc. We believe
Track 1 will provide significant improvements over the existing situation. In addition, UNICEF will
continue its internal reforms as part of the Management Excellence Programme (MEP).
With respect to Track 2, it is important to examine carefully the consequences of any
proposal to ensure that all concerned fully appreciate the impact and likely consequences,
particularly at the field level. It is at the country level that UNICEF effectiveness should be
determined. This call for careful consideration should not be construed as being against reform.
As a fundamental principle, UNICEF needs to maintain its distinct identity as the single
agency in the UN system that focuses on the well-being of the "whole child" and serves as the
leading moral force for the world's children. Unless there is a UN agency that speaks specifically
for children, there is a real danger that their welfare will be overlooked. Experience has shown that
Y. 22 97 (THU) 15:09 PFO UNICEF NY
IBC 212 020 /100
children are not automatically placed on the list of a country's development and human rights
priorities.
UNICEF can maintain its strong, constant and unyielding voice for children only if it has a
clear and distinct country level presence, with accountability to the UNICEF Executive Director, the
ability to advocate and generate political will at the highest levels of national governments, the
capacity to cooperate freely with governments in the development and implementation of country
programmes, the capacity to deliver identifiable essential services for children, and the ability to
mobilize resources.
It is not clear at this moment how UNICEF's strong interventions for children, globally and
locally, could continue within the context of a single consolidated development entity. What we
must protect, in addition to the centrality of country programming, is our capacity to achieve those
aspects of UNICEF's work which give us our unique identity and worldwide respect, such as:
World Summit for Children - first "world" summit with 70 heads of
state/government.
Successful policy dialogues: Structural Adjustment with a Human Face, debt relief,
child labour, anti-war agenda, forceful "seat at table" for consultative group
meetings.
Social mobilization: UCI, smallpox eradication, polio, "corridors of peace".
Support of national committees, goodwill ambassadors.
Private sector fundraising - more than $300 million per year.
Acceptable "critical partner" of governments.
Unique as UN agency with many characteristics of NGO. drawing the best from
both.
Advocacy directly with heads of state/government
Rapid, near universal ratification of Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Rights based approach to development.
Broad network of support from civil society, religious leaders, parliamentarians, etc.
Further consideration and reflection are required on several issues. What would these
proposals do to the nature and role of UNICEF? How would they work in detail? Would they
improve operations in the field? Would they help mobilize additional resources for basic social
services? Would they improve governance? What is a "brand name" when it describes a UN
organization?
Also, please refer to our last UN Reform Update CF/UNA/1992-002, with a copy of
Stephen Lewis' letter to Maurice Strong which amplifies many of the issues raised above: It has
been circulated to members of the Executive Board and can be shared with your government
contacts.
Finally, we would appreciate any comments and views on the issues raised in this note and
any feedback you may have.
UNICEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
DESIRABLE CRITERIA
Proven leadership experience, including the capacity to
instill a sense of purpose among employees in a large and
complex organization.
Experience in the management of a large and complex
organization.
Knowledge of development issues.
Experience with the UN system and ability to work in a
consensus environment.
National and international reputation.
Experience, commitment and track record in advocacy for
children (if possible).
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information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.