Dispatches - May
UNFPA Executive Director Calls for Action on Maternal Health MDG
Stockholm – UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya A. Obaid has called for a “special push” across all sectors in an effort to achieve Millennium Development Goal 5 to improve maternal health. Each year, more than half a million women still die due to pregnancy and childbirth complications.
“We need a broad global movement to accelerate efforts and increase investments because at the current pace, MDG 5 is the least likely of all the eight Millennium Development Goals to be met,” she said.
In her speech, Ms Obaid said more spending was needed on health and addressed the new dynamic partnerships needed to achieve the health-related MDGs.
“The right to sexual and reproductive health is essential to human development, to equitable growth and to women’s empowerment and gender equality,” Ms. Obaid said. She was the keynote speaker at a seminar organized by Sida Development Area, a forum that discusses new approaches to development. The seminar, entitled Successful Strategies for Women's Health And Rights, included speakers from different sectors who discussed how to contribute and collaborate more effectively in promoting women’s health and rights.
Ms. Obaid encouraged European countries to contribute to the new Thematic Fund for Maternal Health created by UNFPA, and commended the Swedish government for its active role in promoting women’s health and rights and for meeting and surpassing the commitment to official development assistance at 0.7 per cent of GNI.
The seminar was moderated by Barbara Voors, a noted Swedish author and development journalist. Other speakers included Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation, Gunilla Carlsson; Anders Nordström, Director-General and head of Sida; Jon O'Brien, President of Catholics for Choice (CFC); Renée Andersson, Director of Ethics and Environment at Indiska; Lawrence Oteba, Director of Programmes for the Family Health Options in Kenya; and Quazi Suraiya Sultana, Executive Director of Reproductive Health Services Training and Education Program (RHSTEP).
UNFPA Executive Director Receives 'MDG 3 Champion Torch
15 May 2008
COPENHAGEN – UNFPA’s Executive Director Thoraya Obaid today received an ‘MDG 3 Champion Torch’ from the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tørnæs. The torch symbolizes Denmark’s commitment to raising gender equality and women’s empowerment (MDG 3) higher on the international agenda so as to accelerate progress toward all of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“UNFPA is proud to contribute to the MDG 3 Call to Action and we commend the Government of Denmark for taking this important initiative,” said Ms. Obaid. “UNFPA will address critical issues which lie at the heart of women’s empowerment and gender equality.” She made the comments after accepting the torch.
The campaign, ‘MDG 3 Global Call to Action’, is a Danish government initiative in which at least 100 torches will travel the world. Torchbearers representing governments, the private sector, civil society, international organisations and the media will be asked to make a commitment to ‘Do Something Extra’ in support of MDG3. At the UN High Level Meeting on the MDGs in September in New York, all commitments will be presented to the UN Secretary General, who will be invited to accept the last torch.
"The commitment from UNFPA today and the strong personal engagement from Thoraya Obaid are crucial to highlight the importance of sexual and reproductive health,” said Minister Tørnæs, passing the torch to Ms. Obaid.
To further support MDG 3, Ms. Obaid has committed UNFPA to raising nearly $500 million through the Thematic Fund on Maternal Health, which focuses on improving adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and reducing maternal death and disability. Other related areas of focus include preventing unsafe abortion and managing its complications, preventing HIV transmission, and ending child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting.
“Addressing these issues will raise the profile of the broader development issue of women’s empowerment and gender equality”, said Ms. Obaid.
Related Links:
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2015 Call to Action |
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No Woman Should Die Giving Life |
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The Thematic Fund for Maternal Health |
$3 Million Requested by UNFPA to Help Women and Girls Displaced by Myanmar Cyclone
09 May 2008 NOTE: Please check the UNFPA Myanmar Situation Update page for the latest news. UNITED NATIONS, New York — UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is appealing for $3 million to address the urgent humanitarian concerns of cyclone-affected populations, particularly women and girls, in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions. The amount is being sought as part of a joint flash appeal to be launched by the United Nations today. Tens of thousands of pregnant women made homeless by the cyclone urgently need lifesaving assistance. UNFPA is working with humanitarian partners to mobilize emergency reproductive health supplies, including safe delivery kits, for those affected. Disasters like Cyclone Nargis put expectant mothers and their babies at special risk because of the sudden loss of medical support, compounded by trauma, malnutrition and disease. Among the estimated 1.5 million people severely affected by the storm, one in five women of childbearing age is likely to be pregnant; around 15 per cent of them will suffer from complications during labour. Teams from United Nations and non-governmental agencies are assessing the needs for food, water, sanitation, shelter and health among the displaced. As part of the coordinated international response, UNFPA will send supplies to make deliveries safer. These include individual kits containing a clean razor blade, a string for cutting and tying the umbilical cord, a plastic sheet, a bar of soap, and a blanket to keep the newborn warm. This would save infants and prevent life-threatening post-delivery infections in mothers who cannot reach a medical facility. Medicines and equipment will also be sent to help health workers take care of women with complicated pregnancies. These include intravenous drip sets, antibiotics, painkillers, syringes, sterile gloves and small sterilizing machines. In the emergency projects outlined in today’s flash appeal, UNFPA will work with key United Nations organizations and local and international partners to:
UNFPA is working closely with partners, including MERCY Malaysia, to provide additional support on the ground. The Fund is also working with the Myanmar Red Cross Society to establish services to meet the most basic reproductive health requirements, before comprehensive services can be provided when conditions permit it. *** UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. |
Contact information:
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| Omar Gharzeddine |
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William A. Ryan |
