Press centre

Executive Director's Corner

Ann M. Veneman, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, assumed the leadership of UNICEF on 1 May 2005, becoming the fifth Executive Director to lead the UN children’s agency in its 60-year history.

UNICEF Executive Director’s Togo visit focuses on education
LOME, Togo, 2 September 2008 – Ann M. Veneman, on the first-ever visit by a UNICEF Executive Director to Togo, promoted the importance of education to advance development.  

UNICEF Executive Director concludes visit to Madagascar
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, 30 July 2008 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman concluded her visit to Madagascar by launching a...

Religious leaders meet in Hiroshima to reaffirm their commitments to children
HIROSHIMA, Japan, 6 June 2008 – Over 1,300 religious leaders and UN officials from around the world recently participated in the Third Forum of the Global Network of Religions for Children...

  POINT OF VIEW / Ann M. Veneman: Child survival in Africa – seven signs of hope
YOKOHAMA, Japan, 28 May 2008  - The Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), opening today in Yokohama, will bring together African governments and their

Executive Director visits UNICEF-supported projects on first official visit to Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, 7 January 2008 – Executive Director Ann M. Veneman has just completed her first trip with UNICEF to Haiti, the country with the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality in the Western Hemisphere.

Progress for Children’ – UNICEF launches five-year report on Special Session goals
NEW YORK, USA, 10 December 2007 – Five years after world leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children, UNICEF today launched ‘Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children Statistical Review’.  

International Year of Sanitation 2008: A plea for dignity and health for all
NEW YORK, USA, 21 November 2007 – Almost 2.6 billion people worldwide, 980 million of them children, lack access to even the most basic water and sanitation facilities – a situation that affects all aspects of their lives, from education to national development.

On CRC anniversary, Ishmael Beah appointed UNICEF Advocate for Children Affected by War
NEW YORK, USA, 20 November 2007 – UNICEF’s first Advocate for Children Affected by War, Ishmael Beah, has pledged to give a voice and hope to children whose lives have been scarred by violence.

Nelson Mandela and Executive Director Ann M. Veneman unite for children
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 5 October 2007 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman met with Nelson Mandela today to discuss the importance of partnerships to address children's issues, particularly HIV and AIDS.

UNICEF and Special Olympics partner in China to raise disability awareness
SHANGHAI, China, 3 October 2007 – Competitors from over 160 countries converged on Shanghai this week as the city offered up a glowing welcome for the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games.  

Leaders at Clinton Global Initiative renew commitments to health and education
NEW YORK, USA, 26 September 2007 – A $30 million pledge to help educate children affected by conflict, especially in Iraq and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and a pledge of $1 billion to help improve maternal and child health worldwide were announced at the Clinton Global Initiative today.

Child deaths fall below 10 million for first time
lNew York, 13 September 2007 - New figures show solid progress on child survival, including a decline in the annual number of under-five deaths, according to UNICEF. Global child deaths have reached a record low, falling below 10 million per year to 9.7 million, down from almost 13 million in 1990.

UNICEF Executive Director says female genital cutting must be “consigned to history”
NEW YORK, USA, 6 September 2007 – In an opinion piece yesterday in the Modesto Bee, a daily newspaper published in her home state of California, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman assailed female genital cutting as “one of many harmful practices that have their roots in discrimination” against girls and women.

V-Day and UNICEF urge protection for women and girls in eastern DR Congo
NEW YORK, USA, 6 August 2007 – Highlighting the issue of violence against women and girls, renowned US playwright and ‘V-Day’ founder Eve Ensler has chronicled her firsthand encounters with women in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

UNICEF Executive Director joins Starbucks and Ethos ‘Walk for Water’
NEW YORK, USA, 22 March 2007 – Marking international World Water Day, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman today joined more than 250 schoolchildren and hundreds of other New Yorkers in a ‘Walk for Water’ to highlight the global water crisis.

UNICEF Executive Director inaugurates Ethiopia’s first Plumpy’nut factory
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, 21 February 2007 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman inaugurated Ethiopia’s first Plumpy’nut therapeutic food factory in Addis Ababa yesterday.

Republic of San Marino honours UNICEF and Belizean children’s group
NEW YORK, USA, 2 February 2007 – The Republic of San Marino last night honoured UNICEF for being a leading advocate for children over the past 60 years.

UNICEF Executive Board opens its first regular session of 2007
NEW YORK, USA, 16 January 2007 – UNICEF’s Executive Board today convened its first regular session of 2007 at United Nations headquarters in New York.

NBA hosts announcement of Gates funding for ‘Nothing But Nets’ malaria campaign
NEW YORK, 4 January 2007 – ‘Nothing But Nets’, a campaign to fight the scourge of malaria in Africa, today announced its first-ever challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation...

Executive Director Ann M. Veneman's visit to Senegal
KEUR SIMBARA, 13 November 2006 – On a visit to Senegal, Executive Director Ann M. Veneman has witnessed firsthand how UNICEF and its partners are using a community-based approach...

Executive Board Annual Session
NEW YORK,  9 June 2006 - Veneman delivers closing statement.

‘Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition’
NEW YORK, 2 May 2006 – "It is clear that nutrition is the foundation on which all human progress is built," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman.

UNICEF Executive Director’s Women’s Day message
NEW YORK, USA, 8 March 2006 – In a wide-ranging and impassioned keynote speech at the Annual International Women’s Day Luncheon in Washington, D.C., UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman delivered a powerful message...

Veneman, other UN leaders, urge aid to Africa's Great Lakes region
BUJUMBURA, 2 March 2006 – The heads of three of the largest United Nations humanitarian agencies today urged the international community to match political progress in the Great Lakes region with a new commitment to end...

UNICEF Executive Director Returns From Mission to Four Countries
Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF’s Executive Director, has just returned from a nine-day four country mission to the United Kingdom, Italy, Rwanda and Tanzania.  After just 10 months as UNICEF Executive Director she has already...

UNICEF Executive Director visits Tanzania
"We must do all we can to support communities—improve education and health care systems, ensure access to clean water and sanitation, as well as adequate nutrition—to strengthen the ability of communities and families..."

Veneman says world not doing enough to protect children affected by AIDS
“Children are missing from the world’s response to the global AIDS pandemic,” said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman. “Less than 10 per cent of the children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS receive...”

Drought creating crisis for children in Horn of Africa
The drought has left an estimated 8 million people in need of emergency assistance in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti.  UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said that UNICEF is responding now in an effort to...

Veneman recaps year of increased humanitarian relief work
The major earthquake in Pakistan, a potential Avian Flu outbreak, new partnerships in the fight against AIDS and Malaria, and striving to meet the Millennium Development Goals, by attending to the world's most vulnerable children...

More speeches, press releases, and video

Veneman remarks at dedication of Carol Bellamy Operations Center
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Veneman remarks at launch of SOWC 2006: Excluded and Invisible

Veneman on her visit to quake-ravaged Pakistan

Veneman remarks at "Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS”

Ann M. Veneman addresses African Health Ministers

UNICEF Executive Director says children are key to development

Ann M. Veneman highlights plight of children in Uganda’s conflict

New UNICEF Chief Heads to Kenya, Uganda

Veneman visits northern Sri Lanka to discuss tsunami relief

Veneman visits tsunami-affected areas in Sri Lanka

Ann M. Veneman's remarks to UNICEF's Executive Board

Video: Veneman visits Southern Africa

Veneman remarks in Johannesburg during Southern Africa visit

Veneman calls for action as southern Africa enters a critical phase

Veneman is first UNICEF Executive Director to visit Swaziland

New UNICEF Exec. Dir. begins three-country visit in Southern Africa

Veneman at launch of the joint UNICEF-WHO World Malaria Report

Remarks of Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director to WHA

Ann M. Veneman becomes UNICEF Executive Director

 

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