Unicef

Anywhere civil war or ethnic conflict breaks out, Dr. Carl E. Taylor says, the first victims are usually children.Dr. Taylor, 76, an expert in medicine in the developing world, is professor-emeritus with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and a senior adviser to the United Nations Children's Fund.The founder of Hopkins' Department of International Health, Dr. Taylor led UNICEF's efforts in the 1980s to help China's government replace Chairman Mao Tse-tung's famous cadres of barefoot doctors," wiped out by economic reforms, with a system of village doctors.

New York--Mohammed Siad Barre, the former despot of Somalia, frequently promised he would leave behind neither a country nor a people.To a large extent, he has succeeded. The current bloodshed is the work of rival factions of the Hawiye clan and, within the same rebel movement, the United Somali Congress. Hungry for power, their two leaders are exploiting the gun culture that developed during Mr. Siad Barre's time. In Somalia now, as in many other parts of the Horn of Africa, it is easier to obtain lethal weapons than an aspirin or something to eat.The United Nations has had a wonderful year, reviving its moribund reputation by intervening in internal conflicts in the headlines, such as Yugoslavia, Cambodia and El Salvador, and in facilitating the release of Western hostages in the Middle East.

The "peace dividend" made possible by the end of the Cold War could assure all the world's children adequate nourishment, basic health care and a primary education by the end of this decade. That is the premise of the optimistic "agenda for a new world order" put forth last week by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in its annual "State of the World's Children" report.One billion people live in near-absolute poverty. "For almost half a century," UNICEF says, "war and ideological division have distracted attention and diverted resources.

Washington -- As stately, sleek and elegant as the columns that surround her in the Capitol, she stands in front of the podium facing a throng of cameras, reporters and Hill aides who've come to "have a look at the old girl," as the old girl herself puts it.So let's have a look: navy blue suit and white blouse with blue stockings and sensible blue pumps. No earrings, no nail polish, no necklace or brooch; hair pinned back simply, only the slightest smidge of makeup.No frills. No need for them.