What challenges does the incoming UNICEF chief face?

When Henrietta Fore steps down from the top job at UNICEF later this year, she will be leaving an agency that faces an ever-growing number of challenges, from protracted conflicts to various health and educational setbacks for children caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has yet to announce Fore’s successor, who will likely be an American and will be chosen behind closed doors, just as other top U.N. officials and agency heads are typically selected. But some experts see this moment as an opportunity for a new process, with greater transparency.

“Anyone who comes into the role will need to continue to grapple with what these challenges mean and what strong leadership is needed to really help move forward through this moment to better protect the health and well-being of the world’s children,” said Kiki Kalkstein, director of advocacy and engagement at Global Health Council.

Fore announced her planned departure from the U.N. agency on July 13, citing her husband’s health problems. By the time of her departure, Fore will have served the shortest term of any of the agency’s previous executive directors.

In an email to UNICEF staff members, Fore said she promised Guterres that she would stay on through the U.N. General Assembly in September and until her successor has been chosen.

UNICEF’s next leader must address unanticipated global challenges presented by COVID-19. U.N. data shows that the number of vaccines and immunizations reaching children dropped significantly after the start of the pandemic, with about 23 million children under the age of 1 not receiving basic vaccinations in 2020. During lockdowns, domestic violence and sexual assault against girls intensified and school closures affected 1.6 billion learners worldwide, while nearly 370 million children were deprived of school meals.

“When you think about the impact on young people’s lives, when they can’t access a variety of routine health services — the impact that has on their lives and well-being is hard to wrap your head around,” Kalkstein continued. “You add the disruption in health services that school-age children across the globe experienced over the course of the pandemic, and you add that to the education disruptions, and the impact on their life trajectories is substantial and hard to quantify.”

Global disruptions in children’s health and education also created a greater need for funding. UNICEF, an extensive agency with a presence in 190 countries and territories, is financed independently of the general U.N. budget. Funding comes through voluntary contributions from governments and private donors, with a significant portion raised by UNICEF national committees.

The agency’s budgets are based on a quadrennial strategy plan, which — like many other aspects of its operations — the pandemic rent asunder. In 2020, UNICEF had a shortfall of $232 million between its forecast income and actual expenditure of $6.57 billion. The agency projects that its total income will decline by 4% in 2021.

Fore’s legacy

UNICEF staff members and outside observers described Fore, a former business executive who served as director of U.S. foreign assistance under former President George W. Bush and the first female administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, as a leader who was largely well received within the U.N. system.

One staffer, who asked for anonymity because of their position, characterized Fore as the “calm, cool, and collected” leadership that UNICEF needed during the pandemic.

Another UNICEF staff member said she was a “way better [executive director] than could have been, considering the [former President Donald Trump] administration appointing her.” And a U.N. expert familiar with the agency said that, especially given the other potential picks, Fore was an outstanding choice who brought energy, ambition, and dedication to the world’s children.

She joined UNICEF during a tumultuous period in the U.N.-U.S. relationship, with the Trump administration defunding or pulling out of several U.N. agencies, pacts, and accords.

“Although Henrietta Fore’s appointment as UNICEF’s Executive Director can be directly linked to her activities as a Republican,” wrote Daniel Naujoks, interim director of the international organization and U.N. studies specialization at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, in an email to Devex, “she did not shy away from criticizing the Trump administration.”

Fore publicly criticized the Trump White House’s policy of separating immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border. She also advocated for COVAX to accelerate the production and disbursement of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, as the former administration declined to join the international vaccine-sharing initiative and continued to prioritize inoculating Americans.

In 2019, Fore announced plans for structural changes at the agency to reform an office culture marred by “unacceptable workplace behaviors,” as revealed by an independent task force on gender descrimination, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority.

According to several sources, Fore worked to implement systemic adjustments that aligned with larger cultural changes, adapting to shifts wrought by movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter.

Another American?

The Trump administration nominated Fore for the UNICEF post in 2017 and Guterres appointed her to serve as UNICEF’s seventh director later that year.

“Seven U.S. citizens, including Henrietta Fore, have served consecutively as the UNICEF executive director since the role was established in 1947,” said a spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the U.N., when asked about Fore’s departure and replacement. “We are hopeful that another highly qualified American citizen will be selected to continue leading UNICEF.”

The one name that has been publicly floated as Fore’s successor is Cathy Russell, director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, according to several U.N. sources and outside experts.

The U.S. has routinely been the agency’s largest donor and typically nominates the person who runs the organization. In 2020, the U.S. government contributed $801 million, while UNICEF USA was the largest private sector donor, raising $286 million.

But Guterres, who is set to assume his second term in January, may not feel as obligated to abide by the traditional standards for appointing an American UNICEF chief. U.S. President Joe Biden, almost 200 days into his first term, may also have the freedom to provide a list of qualified, nonpartisan potential replacements. One U.N. expert said it would be disappointing if Russell was the only person put forth by the administration.

“It is laudable that the US has been supporting UNICEF -- though it is also the only UN Member State that is not a state party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” wrote Columbia University’s Naujoks. “But this should not give the US the eternal right to determine who leads the agency.”

Experts hope that the current U.S. administration will avoid the temptation to appoint someone to the position as a political reward.

“In light of the decolonization movement in global health, particularly with growing calls for racial and geographic diversity in global health organizational leadership, I do think it’s fully understandable that there will be calls to consider a wider range of qualified candidates with different perspectives and different backgrounds,” Kalkstein said. “It’s hard to predict how that will move forward, unless there are more names in the mix.”

Both Kalkstein and Naujoks said Fore’s successor will need to continue charting a new way forward at the agency.

“In a way, the plight of children can be an important issue to rally around,” Naujoks wrote.

“To restore the global community’s trust in a meaningful UN, UNICEF needs to promote sweeping policy reforms and truly push for a rights-based approach to address the vulnerabilities of minority, refugee, and other vulnerable children and youths. It will depend on the political and technical acumen of UNICEF’s next leader to build a coalition on these issues.”