Over a year ago, I attended the Special Session on Children at the United Nations Headquarters. What struck me so profoundly from the event were the children who participated from all over the world. They were bright, articulate, full of energy and they presented their views on what they wanted for their future.

While representing diverse backgrounds, cultures and experiences, they were not surprisingly single-minded in their quest. In their session with Ms. Anan, the UN Secretary-General’s wife, they had an opportunity to express their views. They all wanted security - security in their family lives, in their local communities and in the global environment that they shared. Much was made of the planet that they will inherit from us and the challenges that we pass on to them.

The unique challenges that face children in Bangladesh are undertaken by a number of different UN agencies with UNICEF spearheading many of these efforts. What risk factors do Bangladeshi children in order to reach adulthood in a healthy state and fully participate in the future development of their society and themselves?

On June 8, our UNWA guest speaker, Mr. Morton Giersing, UNICEF Country Representative, will share with us the key issues as identified by UNICEF and how UNICEF seeks to address them in its country programme. I urge you to attend this presentation and learn more about the challenges facing Bangladesh’s most precious resource, its children. I, personally, look forward to this presentation.

The June meeting is also a time of farewells. We will be wishing Godspeed to some of our cherished members as they move on to new postings and assignments. It will give all of us an opportunity to share some last moments and fond memories with those leaving Bangladesh.

I will take this opportunity to thank our new Board for energetically tackling the tasks of making the organization more efficient and effective. We hope to have a full agenda for the upcoming fall prepared over the next several months.

Please SAVE THE DATE, Saturday, October 25, for the UN BALL. This is our most important fundraising event. It gives us an opportunity to celebrate and at the same time increase our ability to support those initiatives where UNWA support can make a difference.

See you at the June meeting!