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A key objective of UNFPA assistance has been, and remains,
the reduction of rates of maternal mortality. However, reducing those rates has proven to
be more difficult than was envisioned when the Nairobi conference met 10 years ago to
launch the Safe Motherhood Initiative. During 1997 the Fund participated, along with
specialists from such organizations as WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank, in several regional
and global technical conferences on this topic to see what successes had been achieved and
how they could be replicated. A new UNFPA activity in this area is the "Save the
Mothers" project, which is being implemented in seven countries with high maternal
mortality rates.
The Fund continued its cooperation with other agencies and organizations in providing
assistance in what is becoming an increasingly critical area – meeting reproductive
health needs in emergency and refugee situations. During 1997, the Fund worked closely
with the main organizations providing humanitarian assistance, particularly the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), as well as with other partner organizations, such
as WHO and UNICEF. In another critical area, the Fund, as a member of the Joint United
Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS), participated in UNAIDS theme groups in 119 countries
and supported HIV/AIDS-prevention activities in 132 countries, up from 124 in 1996 and 114
in 1995.
The Fund also undertook noteworthy activities in its other core programme areas –
population and development strategies, and advocacy – during the year. These included
a first "Expert Consultation on Operationalizing Advocacy in Support of Population
and Development Programmes at the Country Level". The Fund's Goodwill Ambassadors,
Waris Dirie, Linda Gray, and Keiko Kishi, made several well-received visits to both
programme and donor countries, where they focused public attention on important
reproductive health issues. Ms. Dirie's courageous stand against female genital mutilation
was widely reported.
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