| UNFPA IN THE NEWS – NOVEMBER
8-14, 2003 GLOBAL: Sex Trafficking Rife in Poor Countries Public Agenda (Ghana)
reported November 10 that UNFPA says between 700,000 and 4
million women and children are trafficked into
sex trade each year world wide. "The selling of young women
into sexual bondage, a serious violation of their rights and
threat to their health has grown considerably over the past decade," UNFPA
said. "Extreme poverty, low status of women and girls, lax
border checks and collusion of law enforcement has all contributed
to the expansion." "Many women from the states of the
former Soviet Union are taken to Israel, other parts of the Middle
East or Western Europe; many are under the age of 16," UNFPA
added, "The justice system in many countries is likely to
jail or expel the young women than to punish the traffickers." Read: Public
Agenda MIDDLE EAST: Investing in Arab Youth Al-Hayat ran a November 15 op ed by Raghida
Dergham that noted Arab governments have put this generation
of youth in a prison
of oppression and frustration, by thinking that containing it
would serve the survival of their regimes. But the prison has
now turned into a time-bomb waiting to blow up. The story quoted
Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, as saying she fears
it would be too late if a fast change is not operated through
a gradual strategy: "I am mostly afraid of a stage of implosions." She
explains that symptoms of an implosion have already started surfacing, "and
if it takes place without any direction or leadership, there
will be destruction." She added: "The governments are
supposed to realize that the region is going through a critical
and dangerous stage. If they wish to remain in power, they have
no choice but to open the way to institutions and the youth so
that this generation feels that it is its right to question and
foster democracy and participate in the community. Otherwise,
the implosion is inevitable." Read: Al-Hayat CARIBBEAN: Life Expectancy Has Increased A November 11 story by Agence France-Presse
reported that infant mortality in the Caribbean is down while
life expectancy has
generally increased, a UN official said. "More people now
have access to gender-sensitive information and services which
allow them to take care of their reproductive health needs," Marisela
Padron, director of the Latin American and the Caribbean Division
of the UN Population Fund, told a news conference in Trinidad
and Tobago. She commended the region for the achievement, saying
it was the result of the implementation of the action program
of the international conference on population held 10 years ago
in Cairo. Read: Newsday (Trinidad
and Tobago), UN
News Centre CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: On the Verge of Severe Food
Crisis UN IRIN reported November 12 that UN agencies active in the
Central African Republic have warned that the country could experience
a severe food crisis within the next four months. In an effort
to draw greater attention of the media and international donors,
representatives of seven UN agencies held a news conference on
Monday in Kinshasa, capital of neighboring Democratic Republic
of the Congo. In addition to FAO and WFP, UN agencies represented
at the news conference included UNDP, UNHCR, WHO, UNICEF and
UNFPA. They were scheduled to travel to Douala, Cameroon, to
reiterate their appeal. Read: UN
IRIN GHANA: African Youth Alliance Project Ghana News Agency reported November 12 that the Central Regional
Population Officer, Mr. Paul L.K. Djan has called on district
assemblies to take population programs as integral part of their
development process. He was speaking at the launch of African
Youth Alliance (AYA) Project at Apam. AYA Project, which has
the youth as its target is being implemented inGhana, Uganda,
Tanzania and Botswana and is being sponsored by UNFPA and Pathfinder
International. Read: Ghana
News Agency INDIA: Male Children Preferred While More Women Achieve
Power National Public Radio (USA) ran a November 14 segment during
its Morning Edition show on a study released by UNFPA that shows
male children still preferred to females in India. Morning Edition
noted many blame the increasing use of ultrasound to choose the
sex of the fetus. Though sex determination tests are illegal
in India, the practice is still widespread and profitable. The
paradox is that there are more women in the workplace and more
women in positions of power in India nowadays.To listen to this
segment, go to: Boy
Babies Still Favored over Girls in India MALAWI: Girls Education Vital in Fight against HIV/AIDS The Chronicle (Malawi) reported November 9 that according to
UNICEF resident representative in Malawi, Catherine Mbengue,
education is the only empowerment that can help young girls fight
against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Mbengue was speaking during the
launch of an Accelerated Girls Education Campaign recently. According
to UNFPA, lack of education and a lack of appropriate information
are some of the contributing factors to the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Read: The
Chronicle MALAYSIA: Need for More Women Decision-Makers A November 9 story by The Sunday Mail (Malaysia)
warned that Malaysian women should not be too complacent with
their
progress and instead work harder if they want to be recognized
as equal partners to men. Speaking at the launch of a book titled, “The
Progress of Malaysian Women Since Independence”(1957-2000),
Women and Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil
said there should be more opportunities for women to be part
of the decision-making process especially on the policy-making
level. The publication is a collaborative effort between the
Ministry, UNDP and UNFPA. Read: Sunday
Mail NEPAL: Maternal Mortality Nepal News reported November
14 that despite some improvements in the health infrastructure
of this country, a large number
of women still do not receive minimum health services during
pregnancy. According to government reports, Nepal’s maternal
mortality rate is 539 in 100,000 births. After Afghanistan, which
has a maternal mortality rate of 1,276 in 100,000, Nepal has
the second highest maternal mortality rate in South Asia. With
support from UN agencies such as UNFPA and WHO and bilateral
donor agencies such as USAID, many programs have been launched
to improve the situation. Read: Nepal
News NIGERIA: Lagos Working on Sanitization Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported November 11 that the litter-strewn
streets of Africa's largest and arguably dirtiest city woke up
to a new broom as Lagos's latest uniformed enforcement squad
launched a mammoth clean-up mission. AFP mentioned UNFPA believes
it could be the world's third biggest city, with more than 25
million people, by 2025. Xinhua General News Service also reported
on this story. Read: Agence
France-Presse SOUTH AFRICA: International Expert Group Gathers in
Pretoria A November 13 op ed by Pali Lehohlathat ran in The Business
Report (South Africa) praised the International Expert
Group seminar that was held just outside Pretoria and was hosted
by Statistics SA. Lehohla wrote, “Sponsorship and organization
also reflected the international character of the gathering.
UNFPA co-sponsored and organized the seminar together with
the Paris21 census task team and Stats SA.”Read: Business
Report UGANDA: Door-to-Door AIDS Testing New Vision (Uganda) reported November 10 that in a
few months time, health teams will move door to door interviewing
randomly selected people and testing them for HIV. The Ministry
of Health will implement the survey with the support of USAID,
CDC and WHO. Others are UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNFPA and the Uganda
National Bureau of Statistics. Read: New
Vision ZIMBABWE: Child Soldiers Need Reproductive Health Services The Herald (Zimbabwe) reported November 14 that the
impact of military conflicts on adolescents is tenfold. With
more important political and economic matters pressing, it becomes
increasingly difficult for affected governments to consider the
entire well being of their people, let alone the downward spiral
of the adolescents' reproductive health. The story mentioned
that UNFPA has reported that HIV prevalence among armed forces
is very high. Read: The
Herald
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