Former director Carol Bellamy completes her ten-year office in Kazakhstan
UNICEF welcomes new executive director
ALMATY. May 3. KAZINFORM. The new executive director of UNICEF Ann M. Veneman proceeds to her duties this week. Former director Carol Bellamy completes her ten-year office in Kazakhstan.
As fourth Executive Director of UNICEF, Carol Bellamy led the agency from 1995 to 2005. During her tenure, Ms. Bellamy focused on five major priorities: immunizing every child; getting all girls and boys into school, and getting all schools to offer quality basic education; reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and its impact on young people; fighting for the protection of children from violence and exploitation; and introducing early childhood programs in every country.
Under Ms. Bellamy's leadership, UNICEF became a champion of global investment in children, arguing that efforts to reduce poverty and build a more secure world can only be successful if they ensure that children have an opportunity to grow to adulthood in health, peace and dignity. She challenged leaders from all walks of life to recognize their moral, social, and economic responsibility to invest in children - and to shift national resources accordingly.
She encouraged the General Assembly to allow children to take part in the UN Special Session on Children in May 2002, and hundreds did, meeting directly with Heads of State to discuss the issues affecting their lives. The ground-breaking summit adopted new global goals for children and provided world leaders with ideas and inspiration for achieving them.
On her first day as UNICEF’s new Executive Director, Ann M. Veneman pledged to play a key role in helping the world meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Veneman, who was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to succeed outgoing Executive Director Carol Bellamy, said that among her top priorities will be ensuring that UNICEF works to advance the Millennium Development Goals.
“The Millennium Development Goals reflect the wishes and the will of governments around the world,” Ms. Veneman said. “And because they place such important emphasis on the well-being of children, UNICEF has a vital role to play in helping meet the goals.”
Veneman, a former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, assumed the leadership of UNICEF today, becoming the fifth Executive Director to lead UNICEF in its 60-year history.
“It is a great honor to have the opportunity to lead UNICEF, which is truly one of the world’s great institutions,” Ms. Veneman said on her first official day at UNICEF. “Too many children in the world face hardships and challenges that should never be a part of childhood. I look forward to continuing UNICEF’s mission of serving children around the globe.”
