Khadija, born to Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands, balances her parents’ traditions with the Dutch lifestyle. She is part of a generation of young Muslims who are trying to find a way of being Muslim without turning their backs on the Western world where they grew up; a generation in which girls have acquired new social roles, and opportunities that their mothers never had. UNFPA told the stories of 10 young people touched by migration in Moving Young, the first State of World Population Youth Supplement, adding the voices of youth—and their needs and rights—to the discussion on international migration.

Population dynamics infl uence every aspect of human, social and economic development. The core areas of UNFPA’s work, namely, reproductive health and rights and women’s empowerment, powerfully infl uence population trends. Data analysis is central to global goals to end poverty and achieve sustainable development.

In 2006, UNFPA and the World Bank developed a country-based framework linking population, reproductive health and gender with poverty, to become operational in 2007. The Fund also focused on tracking and monitoring HIV/AIDS, and collecting and using gender-disaggregated data in national policies and programmes. UNFPA’s work in population and development supports the Paris Declaration on Harmonization and Alignment, which reinforces the need for easily available, appropriate and functional data in order to better deliver results-oriented and accountable humanitarian aid.

Calling on World Leaders to Protect
the Human Rights of Female Migrants

International migration was high on the global agenda in 2006, beginning with the meeting of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development in April and continuing through the High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in September. With international and national partners, UNFPA advocated the orderly fl ow of migration, with a view towards maximizing its benefi ts and minimizing its negative consequences to countries of origin, countries of destination, and to the migrants themselves. UNFPA also advocated the need to value the contributions and human rights of migrants, especially women migrants, who are more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

• Just a week before the High-Level meeting in September, UNFPA launched A Passage to Hope: Women and International Migration, the 2006 edition of The State of World Population. The report examined the scope and breadth of female migration, the impact of remittances sent home to support families and communities, and their disproportionate vulnerability to traffi cking, exploitation and abuse. It found that while female migration can enhance equality and offer women opportunities not available at home, it can also lead to terrible human rights violations— cases of migration gone bad.
• In 2006, UNFPA worked with young people to produce Moving Young, the fi rst-ever youth companion to the annual The State of World Population. First-hand accounts of 10 young people highlighted the social, economic and demographic aspects of youth migration.

Providing Population Data for Use in Policies and Programmes

A sound foundation for development planning begins with accurate information—much as accurate medical treatment depends on a correct diagnosis. Reliable data disaggregated by age and sex represent a powerful tool for building stronger policies and programmes. UNFPA assists countries in using data to reduce poverty and enhance national efforts to achieve the MDGs. In 2006:

• UNFPA engaged in inter-agency collaboration to ensure that key measurements for issues such as maternal mortality and international migration are included in population and housing censuses and surveys. Preparations accelerated for the 2010 round of population and housing censuses, with UNFPA organizing a donor meeting and two regional advocacy and resource mobilization workshops.
• Within UNFPA, a new web-based toolkit to monitor and evaluate the MDGs was developed to help our Country Offices better engage in the MDG-based national poverty reduction plans. The Fund encouraged countries to promote and facilitate the use of DevInfo, a data exchange module.
• To more accurately capture the realities of women’s lives, gender-sensitization and “census engendering” workshops were conducted in Iran prior to the 2006 housing and population census. Fifteen newly trained master trainers then trained 65,000 enumerators. In Bangladesh, 150 government officials learned how to analyse census data with an emphasis on the use of data specific to age and gender.
• Lack of research about very young adolescents (ages 10-14) has contributed to the failure to address their needs. To better serve this neglected population, UNFPA, the Population Council, UNICEF and UNAIDS developed and published a guidance document and toolkit, Investing When it Counts: Generating the evidence base for policies and programmes for very young adolescents, which explores data-gathering approaches.

A young couple from Viet Nam, where one-third of the population consists of young people under the age of 24.

Collecting Accurate Demographic Data for Better Planning

While preparing a population census, UNFPA strengthens national capacity in cartography, country data collection, processing, data analysis and dissemination. Baseline information for development planning and policymaking is about more than numbers: It ensures that basic country needs are met. In 2006:

• The European Commission contributed 15 million euros to UNFPA to help organize Afghanistan’s first full population census. UNFPA will help Afghanistan’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) conduct the census, to be completed in 2008. In addition to mobilizing half of the total funding needed, UNFPA supported the planning process by establishing collaboration between the CSO, the Statistical Centre of Iran and the University of Tehran. UNFPA also played a key role in finalizing Afghanistan’s provincial socio-economic profiles, which are providing information for census planning, reconstruction and development, and are supporting the voter registration process.
• Results from the May census in Haiti, the first in the past 24 years, revealed that half of the country’s population is younger than 20 years old, unemployment is a staggering 33 per cent and the school attendance rate is an abysmal 49 per cent. A related study shows that Haiti’s maternal death ratio is the highest in the Western Hemisphere, with 523 deaths per 100,000 live births. The results of the UNFPAsupported census were helpful in determining where more resources will be needed—namely, in education and reproductive health services.
• UNFPA provided technical expertise for Nigeria’s first census in 15 years, a massive undertaking in Africa’s most populous country. UNFPA had census monitoring staff on the ground in 21 of the country’s 36 states during the weeklong event—the culmination of two years of preparatory work. The Fund trained 73 government officials and instructed 70 journalists on how to report data. European Union funding was channelled through UNFPA for a radio and television advertising awareness-raising campaign. UNFPA also provided technical assistance for the National Population Commission website.
• In Sudan, UNFPA continued to work closely with partners to coordinate the country’s census, mobilizing support and carrying out advocacy so that results will be widely accepted when they are released in 2008. In 2006, UNFPA supported the first meeting of the Monitoring and Observers Committee, carried out a quick household count and coordinated efforts to ensure that there was one census with harmonized methods and results.
• UNFPA conducted two regional advocacy and resource mobilization workshops for the 2010 round of population and housing censuses. The workshops were set up to identify problems during the different stages of the census undertaking. Topics included addressing problems such as under-utilization and poor dissemination of census results, identifying appropriate strategies to correct these problems and redefining the value of population and housing censuses in measuring progress towards achieving the MDGs.

WORLD POPULATION DAY

The unique challenges facing young people were the focus of the 2006 World Population Day, on 11 July. Countries around the world observed the day by proposing measures to include young people in decisions that keep them safe and healthy. Azerbaijan celebrated the day with a photography exhibition and a concert featuring young musicians. The Burundi Scout Association focused on activities to improve the health of young people, including out-of-school youth and former soldiers. In Cambodia, UNFPA and partners produced TV and radio spots on young people and migration. In Haiti, activities included poetry and musical contests. In Kyrgyzstan, young members of the Y-Peer network organized a six-day summer camp, while activities in the Philippines included youth forums, community caravans, a film festival, exhibits and concerts. And in Somalia, UNFPA sponsored a football match entitled “The World Population Cup”.

Meeting the Needs of an Ageing Population

Older persons are the fastest-growing population group, and among the poorest—with women representing the majority of them. Among the issues facing an ageing population are inadequate living conditions, lack of access to health care and social protection, and intergenerational violence and abuse. UNFPA supports the training of policymakers and programme planners to respond to the challenges posed by the consequences of population ageing and to meet the needs of older persons. It also provides policy, advocacy and technical support to ensure that population ageing is recognized as an important development factor, and that older persons are included in policy discussions. In 2006:

• The United Nations Secretary-General released a report in November highlighting major developments since the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing was adopted by the United Nations Member States at the 2002 Second World Assembly on Ageing. Speaking on the International Day of Older Persons, the UNFPA Executive Director called for a vision of a society for all ages.
• UNFPA sought to highlight both the needs of older people and their contributions to their communities. That same year, a UNFPA project in Thailand assisted approximately 400 elder caregivers of people with AIDS and their children. As part of this project, UNFPA demonstrated to local administrators and national authorities the value of assisting older people affected by HIV/AIDS and advocated policies and action plans to ease their economic, social and physical difficulties.
• UNFPA ensured that sex-disaggregated data were included in a booklet, Population Ageing in China—Facts and Figures. Statistics show that women outnumber men in old age and often live in poverty because they have generally worked outside the formal employment stream. This means few are able to collect a pension or access medical insurance.
• City officials from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam studied urban policy and ageing at a 12-day workshop in Kobe, Japan. The November event applied UNFPA policy guidelines on ageing to this urgent population issue: In the past half-century, the number of people over the age of 65 in Asia has nearly quadrupled.