UNICEF representative at Davos urges private sector to adopt child-centered approach

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Updated 19 January 2024
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UNICEF representative at Davos urges private sector to adopt child-centered approach

  • UNICEF’s engagement with the private sector is not a transactional relationship but an approach that seeks to be transformational, Carla Haddad Mardini tells Arab News

DAVOS: Carla Haddad Mardini, director of UNICEF’s private fundraising and partnerships division, has highlighted the importance of integrating “a child-sensitive lens” in all aspects of the private sector’s work.

In an interview with Arab News at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Haddad Mardini said that children’s rights must be at the core of everything the private sector does — from supply chains and decision-making to policies and boards.

“Otherwise, we are failing the next generation,” she said.

The UNICEF’s child-centered approach is a holistic strategy designed to positively impact every stage of a child’s growth and development, spanning infancy to adulthood.

Describing UNICEF’s engagement with the private sector as “advanced,” Haddad Mardini said: “It is not a transactional relationship where we ask for funding to fund that project or that initiative. It is an approach that wants or seeks to be transformational.”

Through this approach, she said, UNICEF seeks global shared value partnerships.




Carla Haddad Mardini,

The UNICEF expert urged the private sector “not only to approach us from a corporate social responsibility lens or from emergency funding.

“We need the private sector, and we do vet our partners very carefully,” she said. “We need them to step up and really leverage their core expertise, their core business, to align with us, and to really scale.”

Haddad Mardini said that the private sector’s efforts are especially instrumental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, adding that the UINCEF devotes considerable attention to SDG 17.

The United Nations SDG 17 seeks to leverage effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships for sustainable development.

“We work a lot at the intersection of the private sector and the public sector because this is where magic happens,” she said.

Elaborating on the importance of harnessing the strengths of the public and private sectors to bring their assets to bear and scale some of the transformational global initiatives, Haddad Mardini said that global challenges are immense.

“No one institution can tackle them alone, no government can tackle them alone, and no private sector entity can tackle them,” she said. “And it’s really this coordinated, intentional approach to collaboration that is needed.

“It’s painful at times because you have different languages. And now we have the common grammar, which is the SDGs and agenda 2030, and everything we’re trying to do together in the different COPs.”

The UN’s 2030 Agenda provides an action plan for countries, the UN system and other actors to protect the planet and human rights, end poverty, achieve equality and justice, and establish the rule of law.

Haddad Mardini said that private sector efforts have been “stepped up massively,” especially post pandemic.

Citing the COP28 and WEF panels she attended, Haddad Mardini also noted that private sector engagement has become central at the CEO level and in core business, “not just on the periphery.

“So, the momentum is here; there is readiness, and we need to find ways that the private sector, the public sector, and multilateral agencies have a common grammar and scale,” she said.

The UNICEF representative said that despite all the advocacy and the work on the ground, the needs are immense, especially across the Middle East, the Arab region and Africa.

“When we think of Sudan and the silent emergency that no one is talking about… our big challenge is the protractedness of these armed conflicts,” she said. “They last, on average, 30 years.”

Citing the prolonged conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, Haddad Mardini said that the lack of progress was “very worrying.”

She stressed that UNICEF’s first appeal is for “political solutions to these conflicts.

“This is not in our hands,” she said. “We’re a humanitarian development agency; we will do our best, but there needs to be resolution of these armed conflicts.

“In the meantime, we need to save lives in humanitarian emergencies, and make sure we fight multi-dimensional poverty in countries that are on the development trajectory.”

Haddad Mardini said that after the pandemic, which “created massive reversals in development,” several mass-scale emergencies took place in 2023. These included the earthquakes in Turkiye, Syria and Morocco, as well as floods in Pakistan, cholera outbreaks in Haiti and, most recently, the onslaught on Palestine’s Gaza Strip.

In the absence of collaboration and a political resolution, she added, it is “very difficult to really make a change,” especially due to “the compounding effects of all this, and the fact that it is such complex, multi-faceted emergencies that drag on.”

She also said that the aid currently provided in Gaza “is a drop in the ocean” of needs.

Expressing deep concern over the state of children in Gaza and Sudan, Haddad Mardini demanded that humanitarian aid be promptly allowed into these embattled areas.

“These are very complex political situations, and it is a moral imperative for the international community to find a solution,” she said.

In November, UN chief Antonio Guterres described Gaza as “a graveyard for children.”

Since Oct. 7, Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza have killed at least 10,000 children, according to the Palestinian enclave’s ministry of health. Thousands more remain missing, presumed trapped and buried under rubble, Save the Children said.

In Sudan, more than 435 children were killed in the clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces. In September last year, UNICEF expressed fears that children in Sudan were “entering a period of unprecedented mortality” due to the devastation of lifesaving services in the country.

Haddad Mardini said: “Every single death across the region is one too many. Every child separated, every child killed, maimed, injured is one too many.

“We hope that there will be a ceasefire and that humanitarian aid can trickle in faster.”

Nevertheless, she believes the potential for collaboration across multilateral organizations, NGOs on the ground, and both the private and public sectors creates optimism for the future.

“I think we need to keep optimistic, but we need to challenge each other to accelerate the response,” she said.

“We need to also make sure that humanitarian aid is depoliticized because we have an impartial approach, and we need to help every child everywhere, depending on their needs.”

Stressing the need to address every emergency, Haddad Mardini said that some emergencies receive great funding from donors while others get “completely forgotten.”

She said: “The same applies to the media. Some emergencies make it to the headlines, and everyone is focused on them and obsessing about them, and others are completely silenced or forgotten and neglected … and funding does not go there.”

On behalf of her organization, the UNICEF representative called for “unearmarked, flexible funding, so we can channel the funding where the needs are greatest and where you have the most vulnerable children so that we have an equitable approach to that.

“It is about every child,” she said. “And in that sense, it is a complex situation right now.”

 


India in mourning after over 240 killed in deadliest aviation disaster in decades

Updated 13 June 2025
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India in mourning after over 240 killed in deadliest aviation disaster in decades

  • Sole flight survivor Ramesh Viswashkumar a British national of Indian origin, is being treated at a hospital, airline confirms
  • London-bound Dreamliner with 242 people on board also killed dozens more when it crashed into a medical college hostel

NEW DELHI, India: Indian authorities were combing the site of one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters on Friday, after an Air India plane crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad less than a minute after takeoff, killing all but one of its passengers. 

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which had 242 people on board, also killed dozens more people when it crashed into a medical college hostel located just outside Ahmedabad airport and burst into flames on Thursday afternoon. 

The sole survivor, a British national of Indian origin, is being treated in a hospital, the airline confirmed. 

“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words. Condolences to all the bereaved families,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media after visiting the crash site in the capital of his home state of Gujarat. 

The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese and one Canadian. 

The surviving passenger, who was in seat 11A next to an emergency exit in front of the plane’s wing, reportedly managed to jump out. He told Indian media that he had heard a loud noise shortly after flight AI171 took off. 

Various footage showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then sinking and disappearing from the screen, before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses. 

Those killed on board include a family who was visiting India for Eid, a newlywed who is moving to the UK and Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of Gujarat. 

Health authorities are conducting DNA tests to identify bodies, which were mostly charred beyond recognition, as relatives take part and wait for officials to release the remains. 

Suresh Khatika, who was waiting at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital where the DNA testing was taking place, said his niece Payal Khatika was among the passengers. 

“Payal was going for further studies and she has taken a loan for it. She was really preparing herself for the day when she would go to the UK for studies,” Khatika told Arab News. 

“It is really tragic that her dream crashed like this. We are in deep pain, and don’t know how to react.” 

Many Indians have also taken to social media to mourn the victims, as their stories circulated widely. Among them is Dr. Pratik Joshi, who was reportedly bringing his wife, Dr. Komi Vyas, and three young children to move to the UK. A picture of the family, believed to be taken on the plane and shared with relatives before takeoff, has garnered millions of views online as messages of condolence poured in. 

In addition to the passengers and crew, dozens more people perished as they were caught in the path of the plane crash. 

Thakur Ravi, a cook at B.J. Medical College, said his mother and two-year-old daughter, who had been on the side of the building where the plane had crashed, were missing. 

“Other helpers and cooks managed to escape but my mother and daughter have been missing since yesterday,” Ravi told Arab News. 

“We are frantically hoping against hope to have my family back. It was a horrible incident. It seemed as if the sky had fallen on us.” 

Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said a formal investigation headed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been launched. 

Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood “ready to support them” over the incident. The UK and US air accident investigation agencies also announced they were sending teams to support their Indian counterparts.

India, the world’s third-largest aviation market, has endured several fatal air crashes on its soil, including in 1996, when two planes collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing around 350 people. In 2010, an Air-India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in south-west India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew onboard. 


Judge blocks Trump’s election executive order, siding with Democrats who called it overreach

Updated 13 June 2025
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Judge blocks Trump’s election executive order, siding with Democrats who called it overreach

ATLANTA: A federal judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to overhaul elections in the US, siding with a group of Democratic state attorneys general who challenged the effort as unconstitutional.
The Republican president’s March 25 executive order sought to compel officials to require documentary proof of citizenship for everyone registering to vote for federal elections, accept only mailed ballots received by Election Day and condition federal election grant funding on states adhering to the new ballot deadline.
The group of attorneys general said the directive “usurps the States’ constitutional power and seeks to amend election law by fiat.” The White House has defended the order as “standing up for free, fair and honest elections” and called proof of citizenship a “commonsense” requirement.


Hong Kong rights group shuts down after years of advocating for workers

Updated 13 June 2025
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Hong Kong rights group shuts down after years of advocating for workers

  • Founded in 1994, organization maintained a database tracking workers’ strikes, protests, workplace accidents and other labor rights incidents in China

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong group that advocated for workers rights for decades announced its shutdown abruptly on Thursday, citing financial difficulties and debt issues.
China Labor Bulletin planned to stop updating its website content and appeared to have deleted Facebook and Instagram social media accounts used by the nonprofit rights organization.
“The company can no longer maintain operations and has decided to dissolve and initiate the relevant procedures,” it said in a statement on an archived web page Friday.
Founded in 1994, organization maintained a database tracking workers’ strikes, protests, workplace accidents and other labor rights incidents in China.
As dozens of civil society groups disbanded or left Hong Kong in the wake of the 2020 Beijing-imposed national security law, China Labor Bulletin continued providing valuable resources for journalists and academics in the southern Chinese city.
Critics say the drastic political changes in Hong Kong indicated the decline of Western-style civil liberties that China promised to keep intact when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. However, Beijing and Hong Kong governments insisted the law was crucial to bring stability to the city following massive anti-government protests in 2019.
China Labor Bulletin’s founder Han Dongfang, a former railway worker who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. He told the Central News Agency of Taiwan that the shutdown was his decision and he would stay in Hong Kong.
Han’s decision appeared sudden to many Hong Kong civil society observers. Three weeks ago, he wrote on social media platform LinkedIn about his work anniversary and his team’s progress.
“Let’s keep our faith up at this abnormal time and continue our important work,” he said.


India in mourning after deadliest aviation disaster in decades

Updated 13 June 2025
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India in mourning after deadliest aviation disaster in decades

  • Sole flight survivor, a British citizen of Indian origin, is being treated in hospital
  • Family members provide DNA samples to help identify crash victims

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities were combing the site of one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters on Friday, after an Air India plane crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad less than a minute after takeoff, killing all but one of its passengers.

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which had 242 people on board, killed dozens more people when it crashed into a medical college hostel just outside Ahmedabad airport and burst into flames on Thursday afternoon.

The sole survivor, a British citizen of Indian origin, is being treated in hospital, the airline confirmed.

“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words. Condolences to all the bereaved families,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media after visiting the crash site in the capital of his home state of Gujarat.

The passengers comprised 169 Indian citizens, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese and a Canadian.

The surviving passenger, who was in seat 11A next to an emergency exit in front of the plane’s wing, reportedly managed to jump out. He told Indian media that he had heard a loud noise shortly after flight AI171 took off.

Various footage showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then sinking and disappearing from the screen, before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses.

Those killed on board include a family visiting India for Eid, a newlywed who was moving to the UK and Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of Gujarat.

Health authorities are conducting DNA tests to identify bodies, most of which were charred beyond recognition.

Suresh Khatika, who was waiting at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital where the DNA testing was taking place, said his niece Payal Khatika was among the passengers.

“Payal was going for further studies and she has taken a loan for it. She was really preparing herself for the day when she would go to the UK for studies,” Khatika told Arab News.

“It is really tragic that her dream crashed like this. We are in deep pain, and don’t know how to react.”

Many Indians have taken to social media to mourn the victims, as their stories circulated widely. Among them is Dr. Pratik Joshi, who was reportedly bringing his wife, Dr. Komi Vyas, and three young children to move to the UK. A picture of the family, believed to be taken on the plane and shared with relatives before takeoff, has garnered millions of views online as messages of condolence poured in.

In addition to the passengers and crew, dozens more people caught in the path of the plane crash perished.

Thakur Ravi, a cook at B.J. Medical College, said his mother and 2-year-old daughter, who were on the side of the building where the plane crashed, were missing. 

“Other helpers and cooks managed to escape but my mother and daughter have been missing since yesterday,” Ravi told Arab News.

“We are frantically hoping against hope to have my family back. It was a horrible incident. It seemed as if the sky had fallen on us.”

India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said a formal investigation led by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been launched.

Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood “ready to support them” over the incident. The UK and US air accident investigation agencies also announced they were sending teams to support their Indian counterparts.

India, the world’s third-largest aviation market, has suffered several fatal air crashes on its soil, including in 1996, when two planes collided in mid-air over New Delhi, killing about 350 people. In 2010, an Air-India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in south-west India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew onboard.


Japan’s foreign minister praises Djibouti’s work on maritime security

Updated 13 June 2025
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Japan’s foreign minister praises Djibouti’s work on maritime security

TOKYO: Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya met with Dileita Mohamed Dileita, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Djibouti, on Friday and praised the “deepening of cooperation between the two countries in the field of maritime security.”

Iwaya stated that Djibouti, located at the southern end of the Red Sea and an important sea lane linking Europe and Asia, is a strategically important partner in the quest for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP).”

Referring to the good relations between the two countries and his own special attachment toward Japan, President Dileita expressed his appreciation and gratitude for Japan’s development cooperation in various fields and for the Self-Defense Force facility in Djibouti, noting the strategic importance of his country.

The two sides exchanged views on issues that included the regional situation in Africa and in East Asia and agreed to further strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation in regional and international arena, with a view to TICAD 9 in August and Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

• This article originally appeared on Arab News Japan