Concerns that Ann Veneman, new head of UNICEF and a former member of the Bush administration, would implement a more conservative policy on HIV/AIDS prevention, sexual health and condoms were quelled last week when she announced that policies would remain as they are.

"We're not going to change UNICEF's position," Veneman, a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary, told Reuters late on Thursday at a feeding centre in Malawi where the U.N. is feeding AIDS orphans and other vulnerable groups.

Veneman raised concern in January when she said she believed social issues such as reproductive health were "irrelevant" to UNICEF's mission, a remark some interpreted as signalling a change in UNICEF's drive to promote family planning.

Let's hope Veneman really doesn't change UNICEF's policies...I'm a tad wary of anyone who thinks reproductive health is "irrelevant."