The Religious Consultation
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation, March 23, 2005 ABC Online Head of UN Children's Fund Carol Bellamy retires Reporter: Peter Lloyd Ms Bellamy, who's about to be succeeded by one of the US President, George W, Bush's first-term Cabinet Secretaries, made a series of self-critical comments on the eve of a UNICEF meeting in Cambodia that will highlight a multitude of problems facing children in developing countries. South-East Asia Correspondent Peter Lloyd reports from the northern Cambodian town of Siem Reap. PETER LLOYD: Five weeks from retirement, two-term UNICEF chief Carol Bellamy is expressing the accumulated regrets of a decade trying to improve the lot of children. CAROL BELLAMY: Well, I think we do respond better and faster in crises, perhaps we still respond too slowly. I deplore the fact that HIV/AIDS and war are falling so heavily on kids these days, so I sure wish that after 10 years the world was a better place for children than it was 10 years ago. I'm not sure that it is. PETER LLOYD: In a few week's time, former US Agriculture Secretary, Ann Veneman, will take over as Executive Director of UNICEF. Her nomination was negotiated secretly by Kofi Annan with the Bush administration. Ms Veneman has no background in public health, children's welfare, or the rights of disadvantaged people. Her work history shows her to be an advocate of agribusiness, both as a private lawyer and later in government. At UNICEF, the Bush appointee is expected to reflect the kind conservative administration views on family planning that have so dominated debate and spending priorities in the fight against HIV/AIDS. But UNICEF under Carol Bellamy is an organisation well versed in criticism. Recently, the British medical journal the Lancet, published a withering commentary saying, UNICEF has lost its way during Bellamy's term of office, neglected its "central mission" of reducing the 10 million child deaths around the world every year, while focusing instead on guaranteeing children's rights. It is a critique Ms Bellamy contests. CAROL BELLAMY: We are a rights based organisation and I think this is the way to go. I've moved it in conjunction with the Convention on the Rights of the Child away from seeking those that we attempt to influence to act in a charitable way to understand that they have obligations. I think perhaps we don't explain it as well sometimes. I think it's important to recognise that a child rights approach isn't just a soapbox and a flailing of the fingers, it really is holding governments and leaders accountable to meet their responsibilities. TONY EASTLEY: The outgoing head of the UN Children's Fund, Carol Bellamy.
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