| UNFPA IN THE NEWS - WEEK OF MARCH 8-14,
2003 On March 8 Afrol News
(Norway) reported that more than one quarter of
worldwide pregnancies between 1995 and 2000 were unwanted and
not
planned, according to UNFPA. This situation is particularly true
for
African woman, where child-demanding families and husbands in
addition
to lacking family planning resources leave the average housewife
few
possibilities of dissent. Read: Afrol
News The
female condom has now been made available in 28 hospitals and
some
clinic around Botswana announced health minister Joy Phumaphi,
according
to a March 14 story by The Botswana Republic. The announcement
was made
during her ministry's budget presentation in Parliament on Wednesday.
Phumaphi explained that UNFPA donated 100,000 female condoms
to
government at the end of January 2003. Phumaphi said the donation
shows
UNFPA's efforts to reaffirm its commitment to improving the health
status of the nation in general and in particular sexual and
reproductive health. Read: Republic
of Botswana The Daily Observer (Gambia)
reported that Alieu Ndow, Director of
Central Statistics Department said the 2003 national population
census
will start on April 15. The whole exercise will cost D33M including
logistics and other equipment from funding provided mainly by
the Gambia
Government, UNFPA and other donor agencies. Read: The
Daily Observer The Nation (Kenya)
featured a March 12 story that noted there are many
UN personalities who gained opportunities for career development
through
volunteerism that include Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director
of
UNFPA; Ruud Lubbers, UNHCR; Juan Somavia, director-general
for the ILO;
Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO; and Noyleen
Heyzer,
Executive Director of UNIFEM. The
Population Education Resource Centre (PERC), Bangalore University,
in association with UNFPA, is running a telephone helpline
service for
HIV/AIDS related information and adolescent problems, reported
The Times
of India on March 13. Information, counseling on sexually transmitted
diseases, reproductive and child health, emotional and adjustment
problems or any other required help will be provided. The results of the
2001 census show a significant decline in the sex
ratio in the 0-6 age group, according to a March 8 story by
Business
Line (India). A team of UNFPA researchers has studied the data
generated
by the National Family Health Survey in 1990-92 and 1996-98.
The team
then undertook a detailed study in 2000 in nine States that
have a
record of high rates of abortion. The States studied were Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan,
Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The UNFPA team found that Punjab
and
Haryana led in sex-selective abortions. Moreover, the UNFPA
has since
then traced the precipitous decline in sex ratio in the 0-6
age group to
sex-selective abortions. The UNFPA team says that sex-selective
abortions in Haryana rose to 69,000 from 62,000 and from 51,000
to
57,000 in Punjab in six years. Writer-film director Michael
Tobias and Robert Gillespie, head of
Population Communication, were recently in India making a film
to
refocus attention on population issues, reported The Economic
Times
(India) in a March 10 story. Madhu Gupta, a Seva Sanstha educationist,
said: "We use government infrastructure and create synergy
with other
NGOs, including the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development,
the UNFPA and the Swedish International Development Agency. We
integrate
family planning services with immunization, as well as the activities
of
anganwadi (nursery) workers, mahila mandals and self-help groups.'' In Chandigarh, India,
Haryana has done away with a successful scheme
designed for empowering women in one of its most backward district,
Mahindergarh, even as it celebrates Women's Day. According
to The
Economic Times' March 9 story, the 'Sanjivini' scheme under
which one
woman pioneer from each village in the district was imparted
training to
spread awareness on issues of health, legal issues and local
issues that
affected women, was suddenly shut down a couple of months ago
after
being run successfully for almost eight years. The reason is
that the
scheme has run its course as it was originally meant to run
for four to
five years only. The project was being run using state government
and
UNFPA funds. Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique
reported March 10 that a delegation
of 27 members of management boards of key United Nations agencies,
namely UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, and WFP are starting a ten day visit
to
Mozambique. Xinhua General News Service also reported on this.
Read:
Agencia
de Informacao de Mocambique In a March 17 op ed that ran
in In These Times, V. A. Otis,
correspondent for New York's WBAI radio, mentioned: "Two
years ago, at
the invitation of the U.N. Population Fund, I traveled to Nicaragua
for
a few weeks to learn firsthand about some of the reproductive
health
programs that had been set up for women living in rural areas." The Free
Lance-Star (Virginia) ran a 3-part series on U.S. Global Gag
Rule effects on global reproductive health. The March 9 story
noted,
"
Reproductive-health advocates say Western governments' unwillingness
to
meet funding needs for population programs in developing countries
is a
leading contributor to unwanted pregnancies-and to stubbornly
high
maternal mortality rates." It also mentioned that advocates
point to
efforts by American social conservatives to roll back Washington's
commitment to funding population programs through USAID and UNFPA. "I
think the Americans are running away from their responsibility," says
Cyprian Awiti, Kenya program director for the reproductive-health
organization Marie Stopes International. "I mean, how do
Americans talk
about equality of women, and run away from reproductive health?" The March 10 story reported that it has been
difficult to determine the
overall impact of the Mexico City policy and the UNFPA cut. In
an e-mail
response last month, UNFPA spokesman Abubakar Dungus said the
loss of
U.S. funds has forced the organization to eliminate a number
of
programs, including ones that helped ensure safe childbirth in
Kenya and
in Bangladesh, a country where one in 42 women dies during pregnancy
or
childbirth.
The March 11 story noted that Population Research Institute made
news
last year for alleging that the United Nations Population Fund
was
supporting coercive family planning practices-including forced
abortions-in China. A U.S. State Department investigation found
no
direct link between the UNFPA and rights abuses in China and
recommended
that the Bush administration continue funding the agency. Read:
Free
Lance-Star: March
9,
March
10 and
March
11 In a
March 11 column by Newsday (New York), Marie Cocco reported that
at
a recent press conference by Population Action International,
Hilary
Mulenga Fyfe said her group, Family Life Movement of Zambia, "had
received funding through the United Nations Population Fund,
but this,
too, has dried up." Cocco noted the White House ended American
funding
for UNFPA under pressure from anti-abortion groups that contended,
without evidence, that the UN was complicit in China's forced
abortion
policy. Investigations by the State Department and the White
House
turned up no connection. Read: Newsday The News Journal (Wilmington,
DE) ran a March 8 letter by Roxanne
Guillory noting that Bush de-funded the United Nations Population
Fund
by withholding $34 million in family planning aid. She also
urged Rather
than crumble under the weight of oppression, we ought to rise
to the
challenge before us. Urge leaders in all branches of government
not to
lose focus of the plight of women throughout the world. Demand
the basic
legal rights guaranteed us and insist on health policies globally
that
provide women with the information to make responsible choices.
Challenge Bush to live up to his slogan. Today is International Women's Day, wrote Ann Fonfa in a March
8 letter
that ran in The Palm Beach Post. Unfortunately, this year it
is hard to
celebrate given the actions taken by President Bush and his
administration. One of these actions include: De-financing the
United
Nations Population Fund by withholding $34 million in family-planning
aid that is used to better the lives of women around the world. Armed riot
police wielding baton sticks violently broke up a peaceful
demonstration by city women to commemorate the International
Women's Day
and arrested 15 women who included three national executive members
of
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, according to a
March 10
story by Zimbabwe Standard. Meanwhile, the director of the UNFPA
Thoraya
Obaid said woman across the world continued to face difficulties. "I
challenge all nations to join hands in the global effort to improve
women's health. Universal access to reproductive health services
by year
2015 remains an affordable, cost effective and achievable international
development goal," she said. Read: Zimbabwe
Standard
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