Dispatches - October
Germany Pledges $1.95 Million for Maternal Health in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The German government has pledged 1.35 million EUR (1.95 million USD) to UNFPA to help reduce maternal mortality in Cambodia.
The grant will be channelled through UNFPA to the Cambodian Ministry of Health, which will work to improve maternal health in Cambodia.
The maternal mortality rate in Cambodia is 472 per 100,000 live births, with only 44 percent of all births delivered with the assistance of trained providers, according to the Cambodian Demographic Health Survey 2005
“The support represents yet another major step forward in narrowing critical gaps in funding, and complements other reproductive and maternal health funding and technical assistance from other development partners,” said Ms. Alice Levisay, UNFPA Representative in Cambodia.
Last year the German Government also committed Euro 1.3 million to UNFPA to help prepare the 2008 Census in Cambodia.
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European Development Assistance for Family Planning Falls Short
BRUSSELS — A new study reveals that Europe’s development assistance for family planning has been falling even though the youth population has increased.
“Despite the largest youth population ever entering child-bearing years, European aid for family planning has been falling from 30 per cent to 9 per cent between 2001 and 2004, leaving millions of people suffering unnecessarily from maternal and infant deaths, unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions,” concludes the study ‘Euromapping’, which was released today.
The study, carried out by the German Foundation for World Population and the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development said while funding for sexual and reproductive health by European donors has been steadily increasing, much of the new funds were for fighting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
The European Commission’s earmarked aid for sexual and reproductive health (not including HIV /AIDS prevention and treatment) dropped from 18.5 million EUR annually (2003-2006) to 12.3 million EUR annually (2007-2013).
“European governments proudly affirm their commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights – so what is happening to the funds for family planning?” asked MEP Anne Van Lancker in the report. “Europe must do everything it can to stop poor women dying needlessly, by supporting family planning and reproductive health programmes in developing countries.”
UNFPA Representative Sietske Steneker welcomed the research initiative. “It is estimated that demand for family planning services will grow by some 40 per cent during the next 15 years. The trends in ODA appear to be in stark contrast to these increasing needs,” she said. “In the poorest countries, childbirth is the leading cause of death for young women aged 15-19. Preventing early pregnancy can literally save the lives of young women.” Recent figures show that the decline in maternal mortality is much too slow to achieve the Millennium Development target (a 75 per cent decline by 2015).
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Gender Film in Film Festival Finals
GENEVA – ‘Gender Bender’, a film promoting the UNFPA India campaign against pre-natal sex selection and women’s empowerment, was selected for competition at the recent International North-South Film Festival.
The film, directed by Indian filmaker Poojita Chowdhury, looks at women’s empowerment in India through the eyes of women who have found unusual jobs as locomotive or heavy equipment drivers, handpump mechanics, barbers and other non-conventional positions.
“I had to think out of the box to portray women’s empowerment in the film,” said Ms. Chowdhury. “A huge barrier remains around women’s ability and social norms about what they should and should not do, and this film tries to break the gender barrier in common life by looking at how ordinary women have found extraordinary jobs.
“The women in this film are pioneers,” Ms. Chowdhry continued. “They were stuck in the trap of low-income jobs and have now broken a path towards empowerment with a sense of pride at being the equal of men in the workplace. It is society that conditions girls to have a ‘lower value’ and then blames the girls for it. The flaws are in the lack of investments in the girl.”
The film was followed by a debate on the status of women in India and included several notable women, including Christine Magistretti, Chair of the Board of the Swiss-based International Foundation for Population and Development, and Aruna Roy, a well-known rural activist in India.
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UNFPA Named as Beneficiary of Europeans of the Year Award
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BRUSSELS – UNFPA has been named the beneficiary of funds raised in connection with the prestigious ‘Europeans of the Year’ award for 2007.
The ‘Europeans of the Year’ award, called EV50 for short, is conferred annually by the EU affairs newspaper European Voice. There’s still time to cast your vote for outstanding leadership in ten categories, including journalism, business and statesmanship. The list of the EV50 nominees for 2007 includes personalities such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and entrepreneur and philanthropist Richard Branson.
The award winners, who will be honoured for having most influenced the European agenda over the past 12 months, will be announced at a gala dinner in Brussels on Tuesday, 27 November 2007. Financial benefits from the event will support the UNFPA-led Campaign to End Fistula.
"We are honoured and proud to be the beneficiary of the EV50," said UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid. "Support from Europe has been essential to UNFPA's ability to advance the right to sexual and reproductive health as a cornerstone of sustainable development.
“The recognition of UNFPA’s work by EV50 comes at the halfway point to the Millennium Development Goals and the 20th anniversary of the Safe Motherhood Initiative, reminding us that a lot remains to be done 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."
UNFPA works to ensure that women can give birth as safely in developing countries as they can in Europe, and that all young people have equal access to information and the means to protect themselves from HIV.
The Global Campaign to End Fistula, led by UNFPA, helps women in more than 40 countries worldwide by preventing fistula, treating affected women, and supporting women after surgery. Since 2003, the Campaign has grown to include a wide range of non-governmental partners and foundations.
