UNICEF Exec.Director, Grant congratulates Marathon Runners 1981 Oct 27

on 27 October 1981, James Grant, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) opened the meeting with all the staff at Headquarters in New York by congratulating the staff that had completed the NY City running Marathon on the weekend.

After the Staff meeting in the UN’s Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium, Mr Grant joined a for a congratulatory picture with some of the runners. The runners had participated as part of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team and regularly attend the Peace Meditations sessions at the United Nations led by Sri Chinmoy.

Mr Grant , Executive director of UNICEF is shown appreciating medals New york Headquarters staff received for finishing the New york City Marathon ( 26 Miles 385 yds). Mr Grant is a running enthusiast. All the staff runners pictured are members of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

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A proud Smile FOR A HAPPY GROUP

Displaying winning smiles and medals are NY UNICEF staff who completed
the challenging New York City Marathon, 26.2 mile running race, held
on 25 October, 1981.

Standing proudly in the center is UNICEF’s number 1 running enthusiast, Executive Director James P. Grant, who is known to jog 5 miles a day himself. All six marathoners ran for the Sri Chinrnoy marathon team.

The UNICEF marathoners share another common interest: The meditation
group at the United Nations, whose leader, Sri Chinmoy also a
marathoner, encourages his students to use regular physical
exercise to complement their U.N. work and personal development.

Excerpt from : ADDRESS TO THE STAFF BY Mr. JAMES P. GRANT

27 October 1981

In any organization there are pluses, minus, historic points, warm memories, I must say that one of my great pleasures yesterday morning; was to arrive in my office and discover that Cherie Hashi Roberts had run the marathon, from beginning to end, which caused me to ask who all ran from UNICEF and I discovered there was quite a number, including one very skillful UNICEF staff member who managed to get her picture in the New York Times.

And, I just wonder if there are here, Cherie, would you please stand? and stay standing Cheer I should note that (the marathon is) twenty-six miles, and two hundred meters.

,,,

Which one you was the masterful of most from the least by managing to get _-on front line in the New York Times? Congratulations!! Thank you. I would hope that afterwards we could get a picture outside of the group of you together, and maybe one of you just by yourselves, and one which I would hope I could join also.

My objective, of course, is that next I would like to see us figure out how we can leverage this for UNICEF, and if nothing else, I think we ought to put a stake and finance out own runners, the ones who can do it. But maybe ,:we can get the different divisions in competition, and I will, I right now volunteer, at least one who bears the Executive Director thing in part of their title. The Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director, for Director.

And I hope that each of the divisions and offices can do something similar next time. But I do want to congratulate those did this, And I must say I do think of Cherie as one of the twenty-six milers. Congratulations.

Second, I am told that UNICEF is now In the unique position of passing the minimum goal for women in the organization that was set by the United Nations, and I think this is a very great accomplishment of UNICEF to be the first of the major agencies to do so, and maybe very timely as we have joining us as our Deputy Executive Director for Operations succeeding Dick Heyward, Margaret Catley-Carlson, Maggie would you want to stand at this moment!.

Those are all pluses. Now this is all of course a preface for the Executive Board meeting which we finished Saturday afternoon, two and a half day meeting 22 to 24 October, and it was, like the last Board meeting in May a difficult one – but I would say that in this one we had the major accomplishment of having negotiated In such a way that at the conclusion of it, I believe that we had in the best traditions of UNICEF reestablished a working base between The Executive Board and the Secretariat – which really is the starting point of the work of UNICEF and to me that was the strongest accomplishment of this meeting.

We also got out of the meeting on the plus side, course to corollary of an effective written relationship between the Secretary of the Board, the type of support from donor countries that will enable us in my judgement to very significantly increase our resources at the 1982/83 the first of which I hope we would see at the Pledging Session that takes place on November third.

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