Continued from the previous post where we were starting to look at a UNICEF contribution called "State of the World's Children 2007".

The "Women and Children: The Double Dividend of Gender Equality" title does have a lovely ring to it, but it's hollow, folks.

UNICEF director Ann Veneman says in a press release, “If we care about the health and well-being of children today and into the future, we must work now to ensure that women and girls have equal opportunities to be educated, to participate in government, to achieve economic self-sufficiency and to be protected from violence and discrimination."

Anyone want to join me in a "Duh!"?

How about in a hint that her "we must work now" ruse doesn't fly when it so obviously and completely neglects the fact that they've done so little up until "now" that woman and children are in terrible shape even though millions of dollars have gone through UN hands, and that anyone who buys the "now" part of that probably has something to gain, and that the seven "key interventions to enhance gender equality" fail to address any place that the amazingly expensive UNICEF machine will contribute effectively "now", if at all.

Once again, there is much to find about the hoo-haa of data collection, report writing, public relations and website updating, but, gee, I can't find anything that will tell me how much this whole shebang cost or where anyone is accountable for either getting some bang for a buck or making sure what was discussed has more impact than a couple of column inches in publications here and there.

At this moment, I am, like so many others, very concerned about the state of the world's children who happen to have been born in Guatemala. Having just read the sample letter Families Without Borders has encouraged concerned people to send out that details UNICEF's roll in the mess that is the present situation in Guatemalan adoptions ... one that could very well end up sacrificing hundreds if not thousands of children on the alter of whatever high and mighty pie-in-the-sky concept that has nothing to do with real life they tout, I'm finding their "State of the World's Children" report smug and disingenuous.

Can we talk about the 60 under-five kids that die every day in Guatemala? Should we? How about the thousands of street kids like the ones in the book Lisa wrote about yesterday?

Continued in the next post.