UNICEF’s Goodwill Embassador
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. children’s agency said singer Harry Belafonte was speaking as a private citizen, not a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, when he called President Bush “the greatest terrorist in the world.”
But (sigh) why should anyone expect anything different from the UN(ICEF)? Whose head is none other than …. drum roll ….
President: H.E. Mr. Mehdi
Danesh-Yazdi (Islamic Republic of Iran)
Any good organization with back bone would have shoved Mr. Belafonte into Chavez’ arms, pulled his passport, and filed to have him removed from their ranks.
I say pull all your money back from the organization, refuse to support it. Let’s show Mr. Belefonte that he DOESN’T speak for all Americans when he spouts off ….
Category : News, Politics | Tags :During a television broadcast, Belafonte told Chavez, “No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we’re here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people … support your revolution.”
1Trelaina
wrote on 10 January 2006 at 8:41
Some humor along the same lines:
Kim Jong Il, Zarqawi Protest Belafonte’s Bush Remarks
2Rick Moran
wrote on 10 January 2006 at 13:08
Any good organization with back bone would have shoved Mr. Belafonte into Chavez’ arms, pulled his passport, and filed to have him removed from their ranks.
Excellent point. It reveals something about the UN that if someone were to say something gushingly nice about Bush, they would probably be fired for playing politics.
3Matt Raymond
wrote on 11 January 2006 at 15:52
You have the “head of UNICEF” and the president of the executive board confused. Ann Veneman, former Secretary of Agriculture under Persident Bush, is the “head of UNICEF.” What’s more, there will be a new president of the executive board in about a week because his term is ending.
See also:
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_30663.html
Private Statements of Goodwill Ambassadors
9 January 2006 — Comments over the weekend by Harry Belafonte in Venezuela were made as a private citizen, and not in his role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, nor in an official capacity on behalf of the organization. UNICEF does not endorse these comments.
UNICEF has a vital mission of saving and improving the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children. That important work includes providing children with life-saving medicine, better nutrition, clean water and sanitation, quality basic education, and emergency relief in many of the neediest areas around the globe.
The world has agreed to these priorities in the Millennium Development Goals, which must continue to be a central focus of the international agenda for children.
4Jo
wrote on 11 January 2006 at 18:36
I copied that information straight off the UNICEF website of Executive Board members.
http://www.unicef.org/about/execboard/index_13225.html
5Matt Raymond
wrote on 12 January 2006 at 10:00
At the risk of getting attacked again as some blue-stater trying to “educate” red-staters (I grew up in Wyoming), as with a coroporation, no one wuold ever say the chairman of the board was running the company. The chief executive of the compnay (President and/or CEO) makes teh day-to-day businses decisions, who is, in this case, Veneman.
I understand your being upset about what Belafonte said, and UNICEF does not endorse those comments. But it is short-sighted to cease giving money to UNICEF, which is entirely reliant on voluntary contributions, because of it.
The lives of literally millions of children are saved every year by the work we do to immunize kids, provide clean water and sanitation, provide proper nutrition, respond to emergencies, help protect them from trafficking/prostitution/forced labor or military service, etc. After the tsunami, for instance, there was not a single additional death due to disease outbreaks or starvation in the aftermath, thanks in part to the work of UNICEF and others.