Dispatches - October
PUSH Appeal Handed Over to Finnish Minister for Development
24 October
 From left to right, Mr. Paavo Väyrynen, Ms. Helena Hiila, Ms. Hellevi Hatunen and Mr. Asger Ryhl. |
Helsinki – Nearly 10,000 people have signed the ‘Push Appeal’ calling on Finnish leaders to ensure maternal health gets the attention, political backing and resources it urgently needs.
The signatures were handed over to the Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Mr. Paavo Värynen by the Push Team consisting of Mr. Asger Ryhl, Chief UNFPA’s Nordic Office, Ms. Helena Hilla, Director of the Family Federation of Finland and Ms. Hellevi Hatunen, Chief of International Affairs on Friday 24 October. The appeal is part of the “Push for Change” viral campaign.
Speaking to the minister on Friday 24 October, the Push team stressed the importance of ongoing support for women and mothers in developing countries, particularly during economic turmoil. Funding for women’s health has been cut drastically in the wake of the 1990s financial crisis. The team appealed to Mr. Värynen to ensure that this mistake was not repeated.
“The Push Campaign and not least the Push Appeal has been a great success,” said Mr. Asger Ryhl, Chief UNFPA Nordic Office. “With almost 10,000 signatures, the appeal strongly pushes for more political backing and resources for maternal health. And this is urgently needed. Giving birth is still a leading cause of death among women in developing countries. This adds up to more than 500,000 women annually!”
Mr. Ryhl thanked the government of Finland for its continuous strong support to UNFPA. In 2008, the Finnish Government proposed a Euro 5 million funding increase for women’s health for the 2009 fiscal budget. Mr. Ryhl also thanked the Family Federation of Finland for its efforts in raising awareness about maternal health issues in Finland.
Related Links:
UNFPA Executive Director addresses Population and Sustainable Development Conference in Berlin
16 October
 UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya A. Obaid. |
BERLIN, Germany – Achieving human rights requires working with a wide range of people and groups, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya A. Obaid told some 300 participants from around the world attending a conference here.
“In all cultures, people are critical agents of change. If we are serious about eradicating poverty, promoting the human rights of women, including the right to health, and in particular sexual and reproductive health, then we have to work with this range of agents of change and support cultural change from within,” Ms. Obaid said. She delivered the opening address at the 7th International Dialogue on Population and Sustainable Development entitled “Exploring Cultural Diversity and Gender Equality: Towards Universal Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.”
“While we may disagree with certain practices, all cultures are unique and valuable and represent the diversity of human life,” she added.
While in Berlin, Ms. Obaid also met with the Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul and with Michael Freiherr von Ungern-Sternberg, Deputy Director-General for the United Nations at the Federal Foreign Office.
EuroNGOs Elect Executive, Discuss Environment and Population
2-3 October
 Ms.Safiye Çağar, UNFPA Director of Information and External Relations Division. |
LYON, France – A three-day meeting of the EuroNGOs, the network of European NGOs for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development, has ended with the election of a new executive and an improved understanding of the links between population and environment.
The meeting, hosted by the French NGO, Equilibres & Populations (E&P), combined the group’s annual general meeting, a strategy session on ICPD +15, and a conference entitled “The Interface between Population, Environment and Poverty Alleviation: Possibilities and Challenges for SRHR Advocacy against the Background of ICPD and the MDGs”.
In opening the meeting, Safiye Çağar, UNFPA’s Director of Information and External Relations Division, warned that population size is not at the heart of environmental, fuel and food crises, as some believe.
“Population growth may be a factor in these crises, but it is not the main factor. These crises are largely caused by consumption patterns. They are largely caused by trade distortions. They are largely caused by bad economic and social policies,” she said.
During the meeting, UNFPA moderated a panel on SRHR,
Population, Environment – Challenges and Opportunities for Poverty Alleviation, which included presentations and interventions by Martha Campbell (UCB and Venture Strategies), Christine Magistretti (IFPD), Irene Dankelman (WEDO), Caroline Kwamboka Nyakundi, (DSW Kenya) and Maaike van Min (Marie Stopes/RAISE). The meeting concluded that population and environment have strong linkages, and that these cannot be ignored.
One day of the meeting was also dedicated to ICPD+15, which marks the 15 years since the adoption of the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. A number of issues raised during the discussion included the challenges of linking it to the MDGs; the importance of youth involvement; the use of new media; the importance of visibility for ICPD; the need to better link with developing country partners; a focus on new states; and information on specific NGO campaigns.
EuroNGOs also elected new executive members. Hilkka Vuorenmaa, Senior Advocacy Officer of the Finnish NGO Väestöliitto, replaces Frans Baneke of WPF as chair. Two of the four members of the EuroNGOs Steering Committee were introduced, Anne Quesney, Head of Advocacy for MSI in the UK and Iveta Kelle, Executive Director of the Latvian Family Planning Association.
