Reproductive Health,
including Family Planning and Sexual Health
Adolescent reproductive
health
Reducing maternal mortality
Reproductive Health in Emergency Situations
HIV/AIDS
Population and Development
Strategies
Advocacy
The role of new
technologies
Empowering women and eliminating violence against
women
Reproductive health effects of gender-based
violence
Male involment
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Women and their young children waiting
outside a clinic in Jordan.
UNFPA is helping countries to integrate reproductive health components
into primary health care services
Nineteen ninety-eight was one of UNFPA's most productive years ever. Carrying out
activities in some 155 countries, the Fund achieved the highest implementation rate in its
history. Such success is indicative of the quality of UNFPA-assisted reproductive health
and population programmes and of the Fund's efficiency in implementing them. It not only
reflects the high level of need for such programmes, but also suggests that the Fund could
effectively utilize more financial resources if they were available.
The year was also one of review and assessment. Particularly useful was the five-year
review of the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD). Informally known as the "ICPD+5" process, the
review provided UNFPA with an opportunity to assess what had been learned to date during
the course of ICPD implementation efforts and to consider how those lessons could be
applied to future programmes.
As part of the ICPD+5 process, the Fund organized three round tables on major themes
connected with implementing the Programme of Action: adolescent reproductive health (New
York, 14-17 April); reproductive health and rights, including gender concerns (Kampala,
Uganda, 22-25 June); and partner-ships with civil society (Dhaka, Bangladesh, 27-30 July).
The Fund also sponsored a series of technical meetings and symposia on international
migration (The Hague, the Netherlands, 27 June-1 July); ageing (Brussels, Belgium, 6-9
October); population change and economic development (Bellagio, Italy, 6 November);
reproductive health in emergency situations (Rennes, France, 3-5 November); and the use of
new information technologies (Ankara, Turkey, 1-4 December).
The ICPD+5 process also prompted UNFPA to conduct a global Field Inquiry. This survey,
sent to developing countries and countries with economies in transition, collected
information in four areas: population and development policies and programmes; gender
equality, equity and the empowerment of women; reproductive rights and reproductive
health; and government partnerships and collaboration with civil society. Out of 139
countries receiving the inquiry, 114 responded, for an overall response rate of 82 per
cent.
A smaller inquiry was conducted among developed countries. It focused on the countries'
experiences in implementing the Programme of Action; their views on progress achieved and
constraints encountered by developing countries; and issues related to resource
mobilization. There were 18 responses out of 21, for a response rate of 86 per cent.
The responses were coded and entered into a database for analysis, and the results were
compiled and published. The resulting database allows for a comparison of changes in
policies and programmes since ICPD and can be used as a barometer to measure progress made
in implementing the Programme of Action. Its focus on lessons learned and constraints
encountered provides valuable guidance for the further implementation of the Programme of
Action, as well as useful insights for UNFPA programmes.
During the year the Fund also published a series of technical reports and programme
advisory notes. Particularly relevant to the assessment of the implementation of the
Programme of Action were: a technical and policy paper on "Issues in Measuring and
Monitoring Maternal Mortality"; technical reports on "The Sexual and
Reproductive Health of Adolescents" and "Operationalizing Advocacy in Support of
Population and Development Programmes at Country Level"; programme advisory notes on
"Reducing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity" and "Reproductive Health
Effects of Gender-Based Violence"; and a publication on "Indicators for
Population and Reproductive Health Programmes".
UNFPA also undertook thematic evaluations of UNFPA-sup-ported safe motherhood strategies
and HIV/AIDS-prevention interventions. In addition, the Fund carried out a study to assess
progress in implementing the integrated reproductive health approach set out in the ICPD
Programme of Action.
In 1998, the Fund began to systematically collect and analyse its best, most successful
practices as well as lessons that have been learned. To do so, it relied on input from
UNFPA Country Support Teams (CSTs). The teams, which visited countries with
UNFPA-supported programmes around the world, provided information that is expected to have
considerable impact on the Fund's future work.
All of these review, evaluation and technical activities were designed to strengthen
UNFPA's work in its three core pro-gramme areas: reproductive health, including family
planning and sexual health; population and development strategies; and advocacy in such
cross-cutting areas as the promotion of gen-der equity and equality and the empowerment of
women.
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