Dispatches - June
UNFPA Workshop Commits to Gender Mainstreaming in Early Recovery Phase of Humanitarian Response
GENEVA – Representatives of UN country teams from a dozen crisis-affected countries have agreed on measures to help integrate gender equality into early recovery, the initial phase in the transition between humanitarian relief and development efforts.
The workshop is part of the UN reform as it applies to the area of humanitarian response. Nine areas or ‘clusters’ have been identified to be in need of further strengthening, including one on early recovery. Within the early response cluster, UNFPA is responsible for promoting gender equality.
“The period after an emergency, in cases of recovery from both conflict and from natural disasters, when a country is rebuilding itself, offers a window of opportunity for positive change in the area of gender equality,” said Riet Groenen, UNFPA Gender Adviser, who organized the meeting.
“National institutions and communities are rebuilt and, as shown in several countries, direct action can be taken to empower women and support their full participation in society. In Rwanda, for example, 48 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women. The main concern is how to ensure women remain empowered after peace has been reached, which is often when traditional gender roles are reinforced,” she added.
The workshop looked at a variety of venues and issues – from the workplace to governance to violence against women – and examined how gender equality can be promoted and integrated into these various areas during early recovery.
Each country team ended the workshop with a set of three commitments to meet over the next six months to promote gender equality in their early recovery work in their respective countries.
“We hope this is the beginning of a network that links early recovery and gender,” Ms. Groenen said. “We need more exchange of experiences and cooperation, especially in the area of collecting and analyzing data disaggregated by sex.”
The sessions on gender were part of a four-day workshop from 18-21 June, of which the last two days, ‘Promoting Gender Equality in Early Recovery’, were organized by UNFPA. The first two days were organized by UNDP.
State of World Population 2007 launched throughout Europe
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GENEVA – UNFPA’s flagship report, The State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential Urban Growth launches today in 18 European cities from Helsinki in the north to Lisbon and Rome in the south – as well as in more than 100 countries around the world. This year’s report addresses the challenges and promises of urbanization and calls for pre-emptive action to prepare for the future urban growth.
In 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of world population, some 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas. By 2030, this number is expected to swell to almost 5 billion. The population of towns and cities in developing countries is set to double in the space of a generation. Many of these new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of developing countries – in fact, the future of humanity – all depend very much on decisions made now.
For the second time, a youth supplement, this one entitled Growing Up Urban, will accompany the main report. This supplement features the stories of seven young women and men growing up in cities of the developing world.
Read the report, or find out where it will be launched near you.
Investment in Adolescent Reproductive Health is Key to Achieving MDGs
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COPENHAGEN – Scaling up efforts to ensure universal access to reproductive health is necessary if we are to reach any of the Millennium Development Goals, said Ms. Kirsten Brosbøl, chairman of the Danish Parliamentary Network on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, at a Danish parliamentary conference recently.
The conference, entitled “How universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is a necessity in order to fulfil the Millennium Development Goals”, was opened by the Danish Minister for International Development Cooperation, Ms. Ulla Tørnæs. In her speech, Ms. Tørnæs reaffirmed Denmark’s strong support for the new target of universal access to reproductive health under MDG 5: Reducing maternal mortality. 
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UNFPA Deputy Executive Director Stresses Need for Investment at the G8 Parliamentarians' Conference
Berlin – The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) most closely related to reproductive health cannot be achieved unless greater investments are made in sexual and reproductive health, said Ms. Mari Simonen, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA.
She was addressing an audience of more than 40 parliamentarians from G8, African and European countries on the issue of "Making Health a Reality by Meeting the Reproductive Health Supply Needs" during the G8 Parliamentarians' “Conference on the Economic Rewards of Investing in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Health”, which took place in Berlin 30-31 May 2007.
Conference participants also adopted a forward-looking declaration recommending steps parliamentarians could take to promote and monitor the implementation of G8 and donor commitments.
Parliamentarians play a key role in advancing the development agenda and mobilizing necessary support, Ms Simonen said. Noting that family planning had dropped down the list of international development priorities, she called on Parliamentarians at the conference to ensure the G8 strengthens its commitment to reproductive health for all and earmarks a fair share of Official Development Assistance for reproductive health services and supplies.
Participants discussed the influence of the AIDS epidemic on Africa, with particular attention to HIV prevention and treatment, sexual and reproductive health issues and best practices and lessons learned in the fight against AIDS. High-level speakers included Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, MEP Anne Van Lancker, President of European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, and Dr. Gill Greer, Director General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
The conference follows in the footsteps of two earlier parliamentary conferences held during the British and the Russian G8-Presidencies.
Luxembourg and UNFPA sign $1.4 million agreement to make motherhood safer in rural Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan – Luxembourg and UNFPA have signed a cooperation agreement worth US$1.4 million to make motherhood safer for women in remote areas in Afghanistan, where maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world.
The project, which will support the government's annual work plan on reproductive health, will put in place a Comprehensive Reproductive Health programme in the provinces of Badakhshan, Daikundi and Faryab. The programme is designed to improve the quality and accessibility of reproductive health services for vulnerable populations, build the capacity of service providers in the provinces, and increase community awareness and involvement in making pregnancy safer. more...
