| UNFPA IN THE NEWS - WEEK OF MAY 10-16,
2003 On May 16, New York Times' columnist, Nicholas
Kristof, highlighted the work of Dr. Catherine Hamlin, 79, an
Australian gynecologist
who has spent the last 44 years in Addis Ababa, quietly toiling
in impossible conditions to achieve the unimaginable. She has
helped 24,000
women
overcome obstetric fistulas, a condition almost unknown in the
West but
indescribably hideous for millions of sufferers in the poorest
countries in the world. In his column, Kristof mentioned, "Last
year President Bush, upset by abortions in China, cut off all
$34 million in U.S. funds to the U.N. Population Fund, which
sponsors programs to prevent fistulas... Meanwhile, two American
women began the "34 Million Friends" campaign last
year to get people to donate $1 each to make up the money that
President Bush cut. They've just reached the $1 million mark
– the first half of which will go to preventing and treating
fistulas in 13 countries (see www.unfpa.org)." Read: New
York Times
CENTRAL
AFRICAN REPUBLIC: U.N. Conference Calls For Census of Pygmies A May 12 story by UN IRIN noted that the Secretary-General
of the Commission Nationale pour l'Unesco (CNUNESCO), Abel Koulaninga,
told IRIN a census of pygmies was vital to allow the planning
of activities aimed at their integration. According to Koulaninga,
the conference
mandated the CAR to coordinate a project for studies on the pygmies,
with
funding from UNESCO, the UN Development Programme, and the
UN Population Fund and the UN Children's Fund. Read: UN
IRIN ESTONIA: Estonians Have No Faith in U.N. - Poll According to a May 13 story by the Baltic News
Service, Estonians are among the world's greatest pessimists
about the standing of the
United Nations Organization after the war in Iraq, a public opinion
poll showed. Kadi Mand, representative of the U.N. Population
Fund in Estonia, was surprised by Estonians not seeing a particular
role for the world organization in the reconstruction of Iraq. "Western
countries seem to regard the reconstruction as a project of cooperation
of many countries and organizations, whereas Estonians are more
inclined to think that he who made the mess should clear it up," she
said. GLOBAL: Jobs Needed to Accommodate Youth Population Malaysia Economic News reported May 12 that
more than one billion jobs would need to be created by 2010 to
accommodate young workers
entering the labor market and reduce unemployment worldwide.
Quoting figures released by the United Nations Population Fund,
Country Coordinator for Pakistan's Youth Employment Network,
Ali Raza Khan, said a lot would have to be done to address the
problem, especially in the Asia Pacific region where unemployment
was rampant. PAKISTAN: UNFPA, USAID and Britain Fund Family
Planning Programs in Pakistan The Associated Press reported May 10 that UNFPA,
USAID, and Britain's Department for International Development
pledged $68
million to help Pakistan slow its population growth by promoting
family planning, according to a statement by the Pakistan government.
The five-year projects will be focused in Pakistan's rural areas
where 70 percent of the population lives and birth rates are
significantly higher than in the cities. Pakistan Link reported
May 11 that
U.S. ambassador
Nancy J. Powell, USAID Mission Director Mark S. Ward, Acting
British High Commissioner Mark Sedwill, and UNFPA Country Representative
Dr. Olivier Brasseur joined Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and
the Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, Waqar Masood Khan at
the signing ceremony. Read: Pakistan
Link and
The
Hindu (India) INDIA:
Ensuring Female Child's Rights The Economic Times' May 14 story mentioned
that society's attitude towards females as a whole must be made
civilized, otherwise female feticide would continue, said Supreme
Court lawyer Sanjay Parikh. But the moot question is how to change
the people's outlook towards
women? What should be the media's role? How should the authorities
behave? Are the property laws responsible for female feticide?
Should
a feticide with the sole purpose of doing with an unborn baby
girl be considered a penal offence on par with murder? "This
gender terrorism",
as described by UNFPA representative Francois Farah, must be
stopped. The ball is back in the society's court. KENYA: Feature on Miriam
Were The East African's May 13 feature story about
Miriam Were noted her latest posting before she joined the AMREF
board as chairman
was as the country support team director of the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she was
in charge
of East, Central and Anglophone West Africa. Read: East
African UNITED
STATES: Drumming Up U.S. Support for International Women's Issues A May 13 story by The Herald (CA) reported
that avoidable deaths from such a natural process [as childbirth]
were the focus of talks
held on May 12 by two champions of women's health. Thoraya Ahmed
Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, and Millicent Achieng Obaso,
leader
of the African Women's Initiative of the American Red Cross,
went to Monterey CA to drum up support for international women's
issues. "This
is not a just health issue, it is a global crisis," said
Obaid. The speakers, invited by the Monterey chapter of the United
Nations
Association of the USA, emphasized that women's reproductive
health and empowerment
are key to success for developing nations. Read: The
Herald UNITED
STATES: 34 Million Friends of UNFPA Campaign Coverage of the 34 Million Friends of UNFPA
Campaign continued with a May 12 story by The New York Times
that reported the fund had
raised more than $1 million less than eight months after it began. "I
thought it would be big, because I think there is good will among
the American people," said Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director
of UNFPA. "But
I did not know we would make the first million so quickly." Read:
New
York Times At
the end of Dan Carpenter's May 11 column in The Indianapolis
Star (IN), he noted, "U.N. Update: To the many readers who've
called seeking to donate to the United Nations Population Fund
after reading Wednesday's column about its work with impoverished
women, you
can make contact at 220 E. 42nd St., New York NY 10017, (212)
297-5000, www.unfpa.org." Read:
Indianapolis
Star UNITED
STATES: U.S. Teens Discuss Global Issues More than 250 students from Hillsborough and
Pinellas high schools recently spent a weekend forfeiting trips
to the movies for a chance to talk about terrorism, HIV and Israel
and Palestine, reported The Tampa Tribune (FL) on May 11. Topics
ranged from how to handle
terrorism - such as the bitter border conflict between Israel
and Palestine - to how to combat the spread of HIV and AIDS in
developing countries.
By the end of the conference, the mock delegates had returned
with numerous resolutions. Among them: a resolution from the
UN Population Fund that recommended members remove international
drug patents in countries with HIV and AIDS rates affecting more
than 15 percent of those countries' populations. ZIMBABWE: Focus
On Voluntary Counseling And Testing UN IRIN reported
May 13 on a voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) center for
HIV in Chitungwiza that is operated by the Zimbabwe
AIDS Prevention and Support Organization. The organization runs
four VCT centers in and around Harare, with support from UNFPA.
Read: UN
IRIN
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