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 Page 5 of 17 |
Programme Priorities |
| Emergency assistance in refugee situations | |
Reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health Adolescent reproductive health Reducing maternal mortality Emergency assistance in refugee situations HIV/AIDS Population and development strategies Advocacy Women's empowerment and gender issues Strengthening programme effectiveness Decentralization National capacity-building Monitoring and evaluation Training Contraceptive requirements and logistics management needs Partnership with NGOs and civil society ICPD+5
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Nineteen ninety-seven was an eventful year for UNFPA assistance to reproductive health in refugee situations, as UNFPA developed close operational links with the main agencies providing humanitarian assistance, in particular UNHCR and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), as well as with other partners with which it works closely, such as WHO and UNICEF. As a result, in part, of Executive Board decisions 96/3 and 97/7, which enhanced UNFPA's ability to respond promptly to emergency requests, UNFPA's participation at the country level increased significantly during the year, primarily through the initiatives of UNFPA Representatives and CST Directors. For example, UNFPA is participating in United Nations Consolidated Appeals in several countries -- Bosnia, the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Tajikistan. The Fund has also developed reproductive health activities for, or provided assistance to, local emergency task forces in response to natural disasters in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea and Viet Nam. In 1997, 30 UNFPA projects addressing reproductive health in refugee situations were operational in 21 countries: 7 in Africa; 5 in Asia and the Pacific; 5 in the Arab States; and 4 in Europe. Ten projects addressed the needs of the general population or returnees; 12, the needs of refugees; and 8, the needs of internally displaced persons. Twenty-two projects sought primarily to create, rehabilitate or improve reproductive services; 4 addressed the reproductive needs of adolescents; 3 dealt with various aspects of information, education and communication (IEC); 1 was a survey on the health and socioeconomic factors of refugees; and 1 was a micro-enterprise project with reproductive health and training components. An important feature of the Fund's work during the year was the distribution of Reproductive Health Kits for use in emergency situations. The kits were assembled by the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Refugee Situations (WHO, UNHCR, UNFPA, IFRC and others) in response to the crisis in the Great Lakes region. The need for proper reproductive health kits was first felt during the Bosnian crisis in 1992. This and subsequent experiences in emergency situations revealed thousands of cases of sexual violence and brutality against women, unwanted pregnancy due to unplanned or forced sex, poor care or lack of care during pregnancy and childbirth, and the breakdown of law and order and the increased risk of rape, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation that often accompanies it. The purpose of the kits is to help ensure that women, and men, in all situations, including emergencies and crises, can have access to reproductive information and services if they want or need it. But more importantly, they save women's lives. The kits were crucial in meeting emergency reproductive health needs in such countries as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Rwanda. In response to a widely circulated brochure on the kits, UNFPA country offices in Cambodia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda and Viet Nam sought additional information on the kits as well as on how to use them. And two new projects, in Afghanistan and the Republic of Congo, included the kits as part of their basic reproductive health equipment. To ensure a ready and timely supply of the kits, UNFPA has allocated $500,000 to stockpile the kits in warehouses in the Netherlands. The aim is to be able to deliver the kits in less than one week after they are ordered.
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| Foreword | Introduction | UNFPA in 1997 | Programme Priorities | |