| UNFPA in the News: Week of July 19-25,
2003 United News of Bangladesh reported
July 22 that a visiting 12-member Sri
Lankan delegation discussed the UNFPA-assisted project, "Advocacy
on
Reproductive Health and Gender Issues through Department of Mass
Communication". A July 23 story by The Christian Science Monitor
(Massachusetts)
mentioned the number of teens in Cambodia coming of voting age
is only
expected to increase, with more than 60 percent of the total
population
age 24 or under, according to a recent UNFPA report. Read: Christian
Science Monitor South China Morning Post reported July 21 that
it is now widely
recognized that one of the greatest challenges the central government
faces is how to improve the lot of the burgeoning elderly population. "
If old people are healthier and are encouraged to plan for their
future
financially, many of the challenges posed by the ageing population
can
be met," says Siri Tellier, the China representative for
UNFPA. Business Line (India) reported July 25 that
national broadcasters,
Doordarshan and BBC, harbored dreams of using each other's platforms
for
showcasing content. But the deal seems to have fallen through
and is
unlikely to see the light of day. The story also mentioned that
DD
National, which currently doubles as a news and current affairs
channel,
would have more number of entertainment programs. A daily soap
on social
issues, co-produced by DD and funded by UNFPA, would be launched
shortly. Read: Business
Line IRNA reported July 24 that UNFPA has delivered
a new shipment of
emergency reproductive health supplies to key maternity hospitals
and
primary healthcare centers in Baghdad in an effort to restore
reproductive health services in Iraq. The shipment included much
needed
emergency obstetric care supplies, clean delivery equipment,
contraceptives, syringes, essential drugs and other medical supplies
sent by the UNFPA office in Iran, said a press release issued
by the UN
Information Center. Read: IRNA
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique reported
July 23 that UNFPA is
funding a three year project by the Association for Family Development
(AMODEFA) to strengthen community-based service in the sexual
and
reproductive health fields. AMODEFA spokesperson Humberta Pindule
said
AMODEFA is set to expand its service to Maputo and Gaza provinces
in the
south, and Zambezia in the center of the country. Read: Agencia
da
Informacao de Mocambique A July 23 story by Xinhua General News Service
reported that Myanmar and
UNICEF held a joint advisory group meeting to review their current
program of cooperation for 2001-05. The story mentioned that
since
becoming a member of the United Nations, Myanmar has been cooperating
with UN agencies and actively taking part in the world body's
programs
such as UN Development Program, UNFPA, UN Environment Program
and UN
Drug Control Program in addition to the UNICEF. More experts in the health sector have been
speaking on the health of
younger people following the choice of Adolescent health as theme
for
this year's World Population Celebration, according to a July
22 story
by The Daily Trust (Nigeria). According to Thoraya Ahmed Obaid,
Executive Director of UNFPA, each day, 6,000 young women and
men are
newly infected by HIV/AIDS. She stated that there was need for
greater
education, information and services to help young people protect
their
health. "In countries where national programs target and
involve youth,
infection rates are declining. By educating, empowering and mobilizing
young people, we can turn the AIDS epidemic around," she
said. Pakistan Press International reported July
23 that the federal
government has mapped-out an ambitious plan of promoting population
planning sensitization at the grass-root level, with the financial
collaboration of UNFPA worth 34.9 million dollars. The proposed "Country
Program Action Plan" to be launched from January 1, 2004
will be
culminated in 2008. The basic goal of the awareness program is
to
improve the reproductive health status of people, leading towards
population stabilization and sustainable human development. According to a July 21 story by Eastern Economist
Daily, the Ukrainian
government and UNFPA have started to support medical institutions
providing reproductive and sexual health assistance to Ukrainian
communities. The program is intended to last four years and has
a budget
of $1 million for two major projects. A July 23 editorial by The Sarasota Herald-Tribune
(Florida) noted, "By
denying the UNFPA funding, the House and the president have punished
an
agency for a 'crime' it didn't commit and doomed countless women
to the
consequences. It's cold, it's counterproductive and it's irresponsible." The editorial concluded, "The money involved is comparatively
small. All
funding decisions, however, should be based in reason-a quality
that
seems remarkably absent in this case." Read: Sarasota Herald-Tribune The Toronto Star's columnist, Michele Landsberg,
noted in her June 22
column that UNFPA says that the official number of 2 million
women who
suffer from fistula accounts only for those who report to medical
facilities for help, and falls far short of the gruesome reality.
There
could be millions more, including 50,000 to 100,000 new cases
each year.
Landsberg also said, "Blame George Bush, strutting hero
of the
anti-choice movement, for vindictively cutting off $34 million
in aid to
the U.N. Population Fund." Read: Toronto Star The Syracuse Post-Standard (New York) ran a
July 22 editorial that
stated, "The UNFPA saves lives of mothers and children around
the world.
Congress doesn't want to spend money on that. As this page said
a year
ago, 'If you are ashamed of that, or if you simply want to give
poor
babies a better start, send along a check.'"
More coverage: Read: Kansas
City Star, Scramento
Bee, Indianapolis
Star, Orlando
Sentinel The Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
ran a negative column on
July 21 by Steve Barrett that noted, "The president says
he will veto
any bill that includes money for [UNFPA]. If whatever compromise
the
House and Senate reach on the measure includes that funding,
he should
stand by his vow. Voluntary abortion is bad enough. Demanding
the death
of a baby that a couple wishes to have is even more horrifying." Vietnam Investment Review reported July 21
that according to the latest
study by the National Committee of Population and Family Planning,
the
majority of young people aged between 15 and 24 years want to
know about
sex. However, many find it hard to ask. Tran Thi Van, an assistant
to
the UNFPA office in Vietnam, said it was not easy for Vietnamese
adolescents and youths to have a wide knowledge of the issues
surrounding sex, gender and reproductive health. "A lot
of parents are
reluctant to discuss these issues with their children while publications
mainly focus on couples," she said. Infoprod noted on July 23 that The Yemen Times
reported that the Islah
Charitable Welfare Society launched its awareness campaign in
Sana'a in
which it declared population growth as a major challenge to our
country's development to coincide with World Population Day.
In her
speech, the UNFPA representative said that Yemen will face serious population problems in the future and that 50 percent of the
population
will be in urgent need of massive awareness campaigns of reproductive
health and family planning to control the staggering 3.7% annual
population growth.
The Herald (Zimbabwe) reported July 21 that
Zimbabwe is among the
countries that have high incidences of abortion and sexually
transmitted
infections among the youth. In her message to commemorate the
World
Population Day, UNFPA executive director Thoraya Obaid called
for
concerted efforts among stakeholders to confront sexual violence
and
exploitation and abuse of youth.
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