Pascal Villeneuve new UNICEF leader

On 29th December Pascal Villeneuve took charge as the new representative of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Bangladesh.

Villeneuve has 24 years experience of working for the welfare of children and women globally.Villeneuve, a French national, achieved a degree in Medicine from Rennes School of Medicine, France, in 1985, and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Human Nutrition from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1984.

Prior to his arrival in Dhaka, he served as the Associate Director of the Division of Programmes in UNICEF headquarters. Before that, he served as Chief of Health at UNICEF’s New York headquarters between 2003 and 2006.

He joined UNICEF in 1987 as Assistant Programme Officer in Brazzaville, Congo. In 1993, he was transferred to the headquarters in New York where he served until his appointment as Unicef Representative in Yaounde, Cameroon in 1998.

Villeneuve also served as UNICEF representative in Mali between 2000 and 2003. Prior to joining UNICEF, Dr. Villeneuve served as a nutrition adviser for the League of the Red Cross Societies in Mali in 1985 and in Niger in 1986.

Santa won't bother going to poor countries for Christmas this year

Santa don’t mind going to poor countries this year, so the United Nations Children's Fund will go instead -- or at least that's the message behind a satirical new UNICEF advertisement released in Sweden.

In a sometimes confusing and grammatically questionable rant, Santa then explains why health care doesn't make for good Christmas presents.

"This isn’t a Christmas gift. So, you buy this product for your friend, and all this stuff goes to poor kids? Like in Africa?" Santa asks, before skeptically examining a vaccine bottle with a magnifying glass, shaking a bottle of pills and squirting the contents of a syringe into the air. The Santa depicted in the commercial doesn't care much for the accompanying Christmas cards either. While holding up a card branded with the UNICEF trademark, Santa stated, "What am I supposed to say when I hand this out? Ho! Ho! Ho! Here's your picture of the gift you never got?".

"I don't do poor countries," Santa says in a villainous tone.The commercial closes with a written message from UNICEF saying "We go where Santa doesn't -- Buy your Christmas gifts at unicef.se."UNICEF's stocking stuffers include malaria tablets, rehydration bags and polio vaccines.