OVERVIEW 

In this era of HIV/AIDS, individual reproductive health is more important than ever. For many people it is a matter of life and death. While we have made great progress, every day reminds us how far we have to go.

The United Nations Population Fund has a clear vision and commitment to improve reproductive health and to advance the empowerment of women. One of our greatest challenges is to forge a global network of alliances to ensure that people have the information, services and supplies they need to make informed, responsible and free choices about their sexual and reproductive health. Also critical is advocacy for better, more equitable laws and policies.

In 2000, UNFPA continued to support countries in the development of population and development strategies, and data collection, analysis and policy formulation. We helped launch 10 new country programmes in Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazahkstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

We developed a new system to track progress in reproductive health and other key national population indicators to better measure progress in meeting the international goals agreed at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the benchmarks established at the special session of the General Assembly on ICPD+5.

To address the challenges of HIV/AIDS, we mobilized resources to safeguard youth and intensified efforts to integrate AIDS prevention into reproductive health and family planning programmes. A $57 million partner grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation helps us protect youth through scaled-up projects in four hard-hit African countries. The five-year initiative will serve as a model for other national programmes worldwide.

A top priority in 2000 was the development of a new global strategy for reproductive health commodity security. Without adequate supplies, we cannot meet the international goal of universal access to reproductive health care by 2015 and cannot prevent HIV infection and unwanted pregnancies. 

In response to the new strategy, the Fund received nearly $80 million in contributions from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to meet the needs of developing countries for reproductive health commodities.

To help millions of people fleeing armed conflict and natural disaster, UNFPA strengthened emergency reproductive health services. We sent safe delivery kits to flood victims in Venezuela, safe motherhood supplies to cyclone victims in Zimbabwe, and reproductive health commodities to Eritrean refugees in Sudan. In all, UNFPA dispatched emergency reproductive health supplies to an unprecedented 30 crisis sites in 20 countries.

To protect the health of mothers and decrease maternal mortality, UNFPA joined with Columbia University and other partners in 2000 to expand the availability and use of emergency obstetric care for complications of pregnancy and childbirth. We mounted new initiatives in Asia, Africa and Latin America to promote skilled birth attendance at delivery and to make safe motherhood a reality.

All our efforts continue to build on the momentum created by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, the legacy of my predecessor, Dr. Nafis Sadik. We are mobilizing human and financial resources to provide universal access to primary education and reproductive health care. We are working with both men and women to break the vicious cycle of discrimination and gender-based violence. Many of our projects focus on young people, who need better information and services.

I begin my term as UNFPA’s Executive Director determined to strengthen existing partnerships and build new alliances so we can achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. We must work together for a world where human needs are met, well-being is ensured and the natural resources on which all life depends are protected.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid
Executive Director
United Nations Population Fund