World Bulletin
US Proposes Anthony Lake for Unicef Post By Dulcie Leimbach
Anthony Lake
|
March 3 -- Anthony Lake, a foreign policy expert for the United States and currently a distinguished professor in the practice of diplomacy at Georgetown University, has been backed by the US government to become the next executive director of Unicef.
Lake, 70, would replace Ann Veneman, whose five-year term expires on April 30 and is not seeking a second term. Veneman, a former US secretary of agriculture, was appointed by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan on recommendation from President George W. Bush.
The US is the largest donor to Unicef, which has always been headed by an American. The agency advocates for children worldwide through $4 billion programs on health and nutrition, education and other priorities, employing about 11,000 staffers in more than 150 countries.
Lake may be “well known for his national security experience,” said a spokesman for the US Mission to the UN, but what is not as well known, he added, is Lake’s background in development work, particularly with children. As a board member of the US Fund for Unicef for nine years and its chairman from 2004 to 2007, he oversaw “a significant increase in fund-raising and getting donor support from a range of sources,” starting with Unicef’s trick-or-treating campaign all the way up to country contributions, the spokesman said. The US Fund for Unicef, an independent charity that strengthens the work of the agency, raised more than $43.7 million last year from individual Americans, corporations and “gifts in kind” of medicine, school supplies and other materials.
Rice’s Recommendation of Lake
In a letter written by US Ambassador Susan Rice to numerous UN ambassadors recently, she extolled Lake’s “deep and longstanding commitment to Unicef,” including the organization’s mission to advance the “rights of the child, protection of children, reducing poverty and delivering results for children.” Unicef, Rice noted, “faces critical challenges and opportunities in the years ahead. Active support from member states will be crucial to seizing those opportunities.”
As a fund-raiser, Lake also gained experience as chairman of the Marshall Legacy Institute, which removes landmines primarily through trained dogs. In addition, in 1998, Lake was a member of the UN Panel of High-Level Personalities on African Development, which helped spur international support for development work.
Lake was the national security adviser for the Clinton administration from 1993 to 1997. More recently, he advised Barack Obama during his presidential campaign. Rice’s letter noted that Lake helped shape peace-seeking policies in Bosnia and Northern Ireland. Besides working in Ethiopia and Eritrea as a presidential special envoy, he was assigned to Haiti in that capacity as well.
Ultimately, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will make the recommendation to Unicef’s board to replace Veneman. As the US spokesman said, “We hope that the process will get done for a smooth transition and no lag.”
Dulcie Leimbach is the publications director of UNA-USA.
Keywords: Anthony Lake, Susan Rice, Unicef, US Fund for Unicef, Marshall Legacy Institute
|
The InterDependent:
UNA-USA’s online news magazine.
|