| UNFPA IN THE NEWS - WEEK OF APRIL 19-25,
2003 GLOBAL: Population Growth In an April 20 letter
in The Star Tribune (MN), Stirling D. Scruggs, Director of United
Nations Population
Fund's Information and External Relations, wrote: "We were
happy to see your editorial, "The
People Problem / When will the world face it?" (Editorial,
April 14), which reminds everyone of the need to provide resources
to enable individuals and couples to make their own decisions
on the number and spacing of their children and to have the means
to implement them. Recent population projections have shown that
free decisions on family size by large numbers of individuals
and couples are
helping to slow population growth. The results have been helpful
not only to individuals, but also to their families, communities
and nations." Read: The
Star Tribune GLOBAL:
Funding for Microbicides AIDS Weekly reported on April 21 that
the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation gave $60 million to the International Partnership
for Microbicides (IPM) in Silver Spring, Maryland to help scientists
develop a cream or gel that prevents sexual transmission of
the AIDS virus among women in developing countries. IPM was formed
in March 2002 with a $15 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation
and
has secured pledges and grants from the World Bank, United Nations
Population Fund, and the governments of Norway, the United Kingdom
and Ireland. GLOBAL: Earth Day - Water Security In an April
22 op ed that appeared in The Detroit Free Press (MI), The Record
(NJ) and The Times Union (NY), Peter Kostmayer, President of
Population Connection, wrote: "Earth Day provides us with
an annual opportunity to focus attention on the environment
and the need to preserve and protect our planet. This year's
spotlight is on the problem of water scarcity. As the world's
population
continues
to grow, the amount of fresh water available for each person
continues to decline alarmingly, while consumption continues
to increase." He
noted, "Voluntary family planning programs can reduce
population pressures in [the Middle East]. Yet the United States
has backed away from its longstanding commitment to these vital
international efforts over the past several years. The Bush
administration has blocked funding for the United Nations Population
Fund, the nation's largest family planning organization, and
has imposed the highly restrictive Global Gag Rule on all recipients
of U.S. international family planning funds." Read: Times
Union (NY) The Patriot News (PA) ran an April 22 letter
by reader Ruth Davis that mentioned, "This Earth Day we
need to recognize the fact that over 1.2 billion people do not
have access to safe drinking water and half of the world's 6.2
billion people lack adequate water purification systems." She
asked, "Could it be that the present administration,
when it canceled the scheduled $34 million in funding to the
United Nations Population Fund that could have prevented nearly
2 million unwanted pregnancies and approximately 800,000 abortions,
wants thousands of people born into poverty so that they can
get cheap labor?" GLOBAL: Urbanization Increases Rainfall in Coastal Areas Phenomena
that influence weather include the jet stream and El Nino,
but Steve Burian wants to add Houston, Texas, to that list, reported
Life Science Weekly on April 21. Burian and J. Marshall Shepherd
of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center conducted a unique study
to quantify the impact of urbanization on rainfall. Their conjunctive
analysis, which used space-based and land-based rainfall data,
shows elevated rainfall amounts within and directly downwind
of Houston. Burian presented their results at the annual meeting
of the North-Central Section of the Geological Society of America
in Kansas City, Missouri, at the end of March 2003. Life Science
Weekly noted that understanding these phenomena becomes more
important as populations become more urbanized. At the beginning
of the 19th century in the United States, less than 5% of the
population lived in cities. By the beginning of the 20th century,
it had increased to 40%, and in 2001 more than 80% lived in urban
areas. The story also mentioned that United Nations Population
Fund estimates that by 2025, 60% of the world's population will
live in cities. BOTSWANA: Commonwealth Youth Ministers' Meeting Will Be Held
in Botswana Mmegi reported April 25 that Botswana will host the
Commonwealth Youth Ministers' Meeting, which will be attended
by a total of 54 Commonwealth countries from the 26th to 30th
May 2003. The story also noted that Assistant Minister for Labour
and Home Affairs, Lesego Motsumi, said relevant Government departments,
youth NGOs and development partners have been formed and preparations
are at an advanced stage for the meeting. "UNICEF and UNFPA
have also shown interest, which is quiet encouraging, " she
said. Read: Mmegi KYRGYZSTAN: UNPFA to Conduct Workshops with Spiritual Muslim
Department According to an April 22 story by Kyrgyz National
News Agency, Kabar, the United Nations Population Fund and
the State Commission on affairs of religion under the Kyrgyz
Government have discussed issues of organizing and holding of
trainings on family, children and women's health problems with
participation of the Spiritual Muslim Department of Kyrgyzstan.
According to the State Commission on affairs of religion, workshops
would be conducted in the frame of cooperation and support of
UNPFA. MALAWI: UNFPA Funds Project to Raise HIV/AIDS Awareness in Tourism
Industry The Ministry of Tourism, Parks and Wildlife has embarked
on a process to implement a Sexual Reproductive Health Program
for the Tourism and Travel Industry, Parks and Wildlife, according
to an April 20 story by The Chronicle Newspaper. The program
aims at improving the quality of life for employees, mostly young
men and women in tourism and travel industry and communities
around national parks and resorts areas through behavior change
in sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, alcohol and drug
abuse and gender equality issues. According to the ministry's
public relations officer Patricia Liabuba said the project will
run
for 3 years with funding from UNFPA. Read: The
Chronicle Newspaper SENEGAL: Villagers Join Campaign against FGM On April 22, Africa
Recovery, a UN communications division, reported that residents
of 10 Senegalese villages rallied in late October in Nemanding,
near the Gambian border, to openly discuss the generations-old
practice of cutting girls' genitals. The story noted that the
term "female circumcision," according to some
experts, implies a misleading analogy with male circumcision,
thereby obscuring the seriousness of its risks to women. The
story clarified that official UN documents use FGM, the earlier
term, while some UN agencies, such as the UN Population Fund,
use both FGM and female genital cutting. Read: Africa
Recovery SOUTHERN AFRICA: Drought and AIDS Worsening Food Shortage The
double burden of drought and AIDS has worsened food shortage
in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe
in Southern Africa, a United Nations Population Fund official
has noted, according to an April 22 story by The Herald (South
Africa). Addressing a public discussion in Harare last week,
Ms. Helen Jackson said understanding the inter-relatedness of
HIV and AIDS among human, economic development and particularly
food security was essential. Read: The
Herald UGANDA: Link between Population Growth and Poverty Must Be Recognized The
Monitor reported on April 19 that at the annual meeting of District
Population Officers in Mityana, Uganda, UNFPA country representative
James Kuriah said districts must recognize the link between uncontrolled
population growth and the fight against poverty. "The war
on poverty will not be won unless we direct more resources to
women and reproductive health," Mr. Kuriah said in a speech
read for him by Mr. Nestor Owomuhangi of UNFPA. Read: The
Monitor UNITED STATES AND CHINA: "No Woman
Should Be Forced to Have an Abortion" Peter Kostmayer, President of Population
Connection, wrote an April 22 letter to The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg,
VA), "We
agree with Scott Weinberg's recent letter ["U.N. Population
Fund sanctions forced abortion in China," April 6]." Kostmayer
continued, "No
woman should be forced to have an abortion. The United States
should be supporting agencies, like the U.N. Population Fund
(UNFPA), that are working to end coercive population policies
in China and elsewhere. We should also agree that no woman who
wants to choose a smaller family should be denied the means to
do so. By not funding UNFPA, the U.S. denies contraceptives to
women in the poorest parts of the world, thereby coercing them
to have children they may be unable to care for or bear healthily." Read:
The Free Lance-Star In
an April 19 letter to Buffalo News, reader, Sigmund Zakrzewski
wrote, "
While Saddam Hussein may have been a threat to peace in the Middle
East, President Bush is a threat to our nation and to humanity." Zakrzewski's
letter noted, "To prevent catastrophe on the
global scale, the whole world community should cooperate in slowing
down population growth and global warming. Yet Bush refuses to
cooperate. He withdrew U.S. support for the U.N. Population Fund,
the Cairo Compact on population and the Kyoto Protocol." Read:
Buffalo
News ZIMBABWE: UNFPA Staff Appointed to ZIPR The
Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations has announced several
new appointments, which have seen Ms. Anna Moyo becoming the
first black woman president and Ms. Elizabeth Karonga her deputy,
according to an April 22 story by The Herald. The new vice-president,
Ms. Karonga, currently working for the United Nations Population
Fund in the field of advocacy and public relations, is a fellow
of the Institute and has been an active public relations practitioner
for over 20 years. Read: The
Herald
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