Those darn UNICEF boxes

Well, Halloween is almost over. The kids, over-stimulated and over-sugared, are having a last snack and then they’re going to bed — no doubt over their vociferous protests.

As is always the case in our neighborhood, it was a very nice Halloween. I know most of the kids who come by to trick or treat, and we always have a block party beforehand, so I can say hi to my friends.

What I noticed this year, though, was how much more ubiquitous those darn UNICEF boxes were. At least half the children held them out to me. I confined myself to a terse, “No, I don’t do UNICEF, but have some candy,” which more than satisfied the children. However, others in the neighborhood were stuffing those boxes, and one boy proudly showed me a completely full box, including a five dollar bill that someone generously handed them.

Do you think that all the people contributing to UNICEF would still give the money if they knew how that money was being spent? Here’s how much of that UNICEF money is distributed:

UNICEF has been a major financier of Palestinian “summer camps” which encourage children to become suicide bombers. One such camp is named for Wafa Idris, a female suicide bomber.

During the late 1990s, UNICEF served as a propaganda organ of the Saddam Hussein regime. Relying solely on Iraqi government statistics, UNICEF and the Saddam government co-authored a report asserting that over a million children in Iraq died because of U.N. sanctions. A map on the first page of the report depicted Kuwait as a province of Iraq.

UNICEF is the primary funder for the “Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation” (PYALARA), which UNICEF calls “a major strategic partner in Palestine.” Materials produced by the group are frequently used in schools operated by UNICEF.

PYALARA publishes a 16-page newspaper for young people, The Youth Times (TYT). It is distributed at Palestinian universities, colleges, community centers, and in the many U.N.-operated schools in Palestinian areas.

The organization claims that its mission is “expanding awareness of one’s roots and identity, environment and culture, as well as of other countries and the world at large.” Yet PYALARA’s products follow the typical line of terrorist propaganda, in which nothing is the fault of the Palestinians, everything is the fault of the Jews, and there is never any effort to consider the merits of Israel’s position on anything.  (Hyperlinks omitted.)

Now, some might say these things are this is a small price to pay considering all the good UNICEF does, but it’s questionable whether UNICEF does much good at all:

As for the actual needs of children, UNICEF is sometimes an obstacle to progress. For example, UNICEF has been pressuring Guatemala to stop allowing inter-country adoptions. That is, UNICEF would prefer a child to languish in a Guatemalan orphanage rather than be adopted by a loving family in the United States.

UNICEF’s focus on politics and political correctness has come at the expense of saving the lives of the approximately ten million children under the age of five who die each year from preventable causes.

According to UNICEF, the major cause of child poverty in the world is the free market—even though countries with free markets have vastly lower levels of child poverty than do the kleptocratic, statist economies extolled by UNICEF.

A 2003 report praised the North Korean dictatorship:

the particular strength of the DPRK’s policy framework lies in its comprehensiveness, integration and consistency in addressing the interests of children and women. It has been aligned with the collective production system. The Government has proactively broadened and updated its laws and policies on an ongoing basis, also making an effort to harmonize with international innovations and standards.

Given UNICEF’s affinity for the extreme left, it should be no surprise that UNICEF helps fund the gun- prohibition lobby in Brazil.  (Hyperlinks omitted.)

UNICEF’s role as enemy of the children is, of course, augmented by the role its “peace keepers” play as enemies of the  most helpless children.

The UN is, to my mind, one of the most truly corrupt organizations in the world, one that America funds heavily, but that is nevertheless devoted to anti-Americanism.  (And don’t even get me started on its systemic and violent antisemitism.)  But don’t take my word for it:  check out Eye on the UN, which carefully tracks the UN’s myriad failings and corruption at every level of operation.  And next year, when those sweet kids come by with their little UNICEF boxes, politely say “no” and pass them the candy.  You and they will both be happier.