| UNFPA IN THE NEWS – DECEMBER 20-JANUARY
9, 2004 ASIA: Water Shortage Saigon Times Magazine (Vietnam) reported
December 23 in 2025 some 2.5 billion people in the world will
be facing a shortage of water. The story mentioned, according
to Shuyun Xu, regional director of UNFPA in Asia, 40% of the world's
population is living with the burden of a lack of water. Asia
has only 30% of the world's clean water whereas the continent
accommodates 60% of the world's population. EUROPE: European Population Forum 2004 Xinhua General News Service reported January 6 that international experts on population
and reproductive health will meet at European Population Forum 2004 to examine
key issues in Europe and North America, announced UNFPA. The European Population
Forum 2004, scheduled for Jan. 12-14 in Geneva, Switzerland, will consider challenges
posed by current and emerging demographic trends in the European region, UNFPA
spokesman said. It will also assess progress in implementing the 1994 International
Conference on Population and Development Program of Action and related agreements, he said.
WORLDWIDE: Reproductive Health one of
Most Neglected Public Health Issues A January 2 by BBC News noted that The Lancet medical journal says reproductive health is
one of the most neglected public health issues. In the story, Dr. France Donnay,
of the UN Population Fund in New York, said: "The advent of modern obstetric care
has led to the eradication of obstetric fistula in nearly every industrialized country. "However, in
the developing world obstetric fistula continues to cause untold pain and suffering in millions of
women. "The very existence of this condition is the result of gross societal and institutional neglect
of women that is, by any standard, an issue of rights and equity." Read: BBC News
BANGLADESH: Workshop on Women in Media United News of Bangladesh reported December 24 that at a daylong workshop,
titled Image of Women in Media, organized by UNFPA, speakers exchanged views at different sessions
of the daylong workshop and criticized the moviemakers for their poor aesthetic sense. Chaired by UNFPA
Representative Suneeta Mukherjee, the workshop was attended by Wasim Zaman, Director
UNFPA, Nepal, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador actor Abdur Razzak, elderly film producer Soovas Dutt and actor Ilyas Kanchan.
BANGLADESH: Clerics Called on to Work to Improve Status of Women Agence France-Presse reported December 23 that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called for Bangladesh's 600,000
Muslim clerics to work to improve the status of women. "We hope that the imams (clerics) would play a
wider role in turning our people into human resources in (the) real sense in light of the teachings of the holy Koran," she told a clerics'
conference, as quoted by the official BSS news agency. The conference, sponsored jointly by the religious affairs ministry and UNFPA
aims to train clerics on the rights of women and children and on reproductive health issues including the fight against HIV/AIDS.
BANGLADESH: Imams Urged to Seek Training on Reproductive Health Daily Star (Bangladesh) reported December
24 that the National Imam Conference-2003 at Bangladesh-China
Friendship Conference Center was jointly organized by Ministry
of Religious Affairs and the UNFPA. The conference was aimed at
providing training to the Imams on reproductive health, mother
and child healthcare, rights of women and children, HIV/AIDS and
environment. Read: Daily
Star GHANA AND UNITED STATES: Columbia University to Explore Collaborative Efforts
Ghana News Agency reported January 6 that Columbia
University President Lee C. Bollinger will travel to Ghana, West
Africa, Jan. 7-13 to explore ways to enhance collaborative efforts
already under way in the region, Columbia announced. The president
also will tour government health facilities where Columbia's Mailman
School of Public Health has been active. The Mailman School's
Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) program and its
local partner in Ghana – the Regional Prevention of Maternal Mortality
(RPMM) Network – are working to improve the availability, quality,
and utilization of emergency obstetric care. Since AMDD's inception
in 1999, the program has built a global network of organizations
(with partners UNICEF, CARE, UNFPA, Save the Children, and RPMM),
to greatly reduce the number of deaths in resource-poor countries
from pregnancy and childbirth complications. Read: Ghana
News Agency GHANA: Girls Need to Know Menstrual Cycle Ghana News Agency reported January 6 that Ellen Rockson, Greater Accra Regional Population Officer,
expressed concern about the low level of knowledge of adolescent girls on the safe period in their menstrual cycle. She said it
was estimated that about 32 per cent of adolescent females, who are under 20 years, became pregnant unknowingly and gave
birth to unwanted babies. Rockson made her comments at a workshop organized by the National Population Council, in collaboration
with the United Nation's UNFPA under the Government of Ghana/UNFPA Fourth Country Program. Read:
Ghana News Agency
GHANA: Sales Strategy Needed to Boost Condom Sales Ghana News Agency reported December 31 that
Edwin Darkey, Volta Regional Population Officer, urged Parliament
to pass a law making it obligatory for hotel operators to ensure
that all hotel rooms were visibly stocked with condoms and to
also ensure that the facility was made available on table tops
at vantage points and in drinking bars. The story also mentioned
that Darkey commended the UNFPA for providing funds for population
related programs in the region without which not much would have
been achieved in the sector. Read: Ghana News Agency GHANA: Youth Urged to Avoid Early Sex Ghana News Agency reported December 27 that
Professor Kwesi Andam, Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology (KNUST), has reiterated the call on
youth to avoid early sex, since such acts exposed them to diseases
that could hinder their successful marriage. Professor Andam offered
the advice when he cut the sod for the construction work to begin
on a facility known as the "Young and WiseCenter," being executed
by the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) at the KNUST
campus in Kumasi. UNFPA is financing the estimated 17,000 US dollar
project under the religious bodies program of the PPAG. Read:
Ghana News Agency INDIA: Concern for Investments in Region The Hindu (India) reported January
4 that as leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) begin their 12th summit in Islamabad tomorrow,
a senior official of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
Wasim Zaman, has expressed concern at the misplaced priorities
for investments in the region, which overlook the need for addressing
human development indicators. “Too much energy and resources are
wasted on amplifying divisions within and between countries. Religious
fundamentalism and lack of toleration, in more than one country,
has complicated things further,” he said at a meeting here today
with select media. Born in formerly known East Pakistan, now Bangladesh,
Dr. Zaman is the Regional Director of the Technical Office of
UNFPA in Kathmandu in Nepal. He was earlier the India and Bhutan
Representative of the agency based in New Delhi. INDIA: Globalization of Education Favored A January 9 story by Kerala News (India)
reported that a national body comprising 41 boards of school education
from across India said it favored the globalization of education
but stressed that cultural roots should not be forgotten. The
story mentioned officers from the Mauritius Examinations Syndicate,
UNFPA, the Chinese Embassy and principals of selected schools
in and around Delhi also attended the meeting. Read: Kerala
News IRAN: Assistance for Earthquake Xinhua General News Service reported December
29 that the United Nations agencies in Iran have provided cash
and donations to the earthquake victims in the devastated city
of Bam, UN Information Center (UNIC) said. Among other UN Agencies,
UNFPA has contributed cash for the purchase of relief items. Read:
Xinhua General News Service
IRNA News Agency (Iran) reported January 5 that
in order to seek further assistance from the international community,
a Flash Appeal will be launched in Bam, jointly by the national
authorities, International Red Crescent Society (IRCS) and the
United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator. Over the weekend
a joint UN mission, consulting with the regional authorities and
other international partners completed its assessment of the sectoral
needs in Bam before drafting the Appeal. The assessment team consisted
of members from UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODC, UNSECOORD,
WHO and WFO. JAPAN: Support for UN Agencies Cut Inter Press Service (IPS) reported January 7
that Japan plans to cut voluntary contributions to more than a
dozen U.N. development agencies and international humanitarian
organizations worldwide in its 2004-05 U.N. budget. "We have already
informed these organizations about the proposed cuts," Shinichi
Yamanaka of the Japanese Mission to the United Nations, told IPS.
The reduction, in some cases, would be 100 percent, he warned.
Japan, whose economy has been sagging for years, is a major contributor
to at least three key U.N. agencies: the U.N. Development Programme
(UNDP), the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) and the U.N. Children's
Fund (UNICEF). Abubakar Dungus of UNFPA told IPS that Japan accounts
for about 14 percent of all contributions to his agency. "They
are a very significant contributor," he said. Asked how the proposed
cuts would affect them, spokesmen from both the UNDP and UNFPA
refused to comment until they were officially notified by the
Japanese government. Read: Inter Press Service MALAWI: Sexual Reproductive Health Program for the Tourism Industry Malawi Here ran a December 23 story
on tourism and HIV/AIDS. 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.
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, the project will run
for 3 years with funding from UNFPA. Read: Malawi Here NIGERIA: Concern over Negative Public Response This Day (Nigeria) reported January
4 that the Vision Project, a non-governmental organization involved
in reproductive health issues, has expressed concern over the
negative public response to reproductive health programs in the
Northeast sub-region, and called for urgent steps to check the
situation from further degradation. The field office manager of
the Vision Project, Bauchi office, Mrs. Juliana Nathaniel, made
the call during the presentation of health equipment worth millions
of naira to the Specialist Hospital, Bauchi. Nathaniel, who also
appealed to other international donor agencies in Nigeria to further
intensify efforts towards improving the reproductive health status
of the people of the region, called on the international donors
such as the UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, among others to particularly intensify
their assistance to governments in the region in meeting the challenges
of reaching the populace with quality reproductive health service.
Read: This
Day NIGERIA: Funding for UNFPA This Day (Nigeria) reported January
3 that Nigeria, together with 141 of the 191 member nations of
the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 2003 formed the
largest number of donors in the Funds history. According to information
from UNFPA, a total of $294 million was received by the fund in
2003. The number of supporters it noted, surpassed all expectations
and included new donors such as Somalia, Swaziland, Hungary, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan amongst others, while mega donors were
the Netherlands, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom, Denmark and
Sweden. "This is a strong evidence that countries from every region
of the world, have confidence in the Fund and that there is strong
political will in support of our activities" said UNFPA Executive
Director, Ms. Thoraya Obaid, adding that " We can now meet more
of the demands for reproductive health care in the countries where
we work." According to UNFPA information officer, Mr. Abubakar
Dungus, Nigeria pledged $20,000 to the Fund in 2003, while regular
resources for UNFPA in 2003 were approximately $294 million. Read:
This Day
PAKISTAN: Growth Rate Achieved or Even Exceeded The Pakistan Newswire reported December 23 that
Pakistan will "achieve 5.3 percent of growth rate target or even
higher" during current financial year 2003-04, said Finance Minister
Shaukat Aziz. He said this while inaugurating a two-day seminar
on Census Data Analysis jointly organized by Pakistan Institute
of Development Economics and UNFPA in Islamabad. Director of Pakistan
Institute of Development Economics, Dr. A. R. Kamal and UNFPA
representative, Dr. Olliver Brasseur, spoke at the seminar. PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Treatment for Sex Worker PNG Post-Courier (Papua New Guinea)
reported January 8 that sex workers in Port Moresby are now able
to get direct treatment for the sexually transmitted infections,
thanks to World Vision. World Vision HIV/AIDS adviser Eunice Bruce
said the treatment was the first of its kind where sex workers
and their clients could seek treatments for STIs and also get
advice on their sexual behaviors and risk minimization. Mrs. Bruce
said the treatment was part of the whole project, which is the
first HIV/AIDS service provided by the World Vision in PNG. She
said World Vision is supported financially by United Nations Population
Fund to implement the first phase of the program and see how it
goes during the year. UNION OF COMOROS: New Resident Coordinator The Indian Ocean Newsletter reported
December 20 that the new resident coordinator of operation activities
for the United Nations system and resident representative of the
United Nations Development Program and United Nations Population
Fund to the Union of Comoros is Giuseppina Mazza, an Italian woman
with an advanced degree in political science and a master's in
European studies. In the last 15 years her experience in the UNDP
has focused on development and management programs in human resources.
In particular, in her recent post as program director at the United
Nations Development Program, she focused on joint programming
for the United Nations system, coordinating and helping in the
development of good governance programs in partnership with the
governments of concerned countries, civil society, and the donor
community. UNITED STATES: U.S. Funding for UNFPA A December 27 letter by Anita King in The
Hampshire Gazette (MA) asked, “Women's rights are human rights,
but are women worldwide treated as equally human as men are?”
She also noted, “President Bush has refused to release $34 million
authorized by Congress in 2002 for the U.N. Population Fund. UNFPA
uses money for family planning and reproductive health including
prevention of AIDS.” Read: Hampshire Gazette
Environment Magazine’s January-February
2004 cover story, “Myths, Truths and Half-Truths About Human Population
Growth and the Environment,” noted the current “unmet need” for
contraception averages 70 percent in Asia and Latin America. Around
the world, 123 million women do not have adequate access to family
planning and the country most able to help is AWOL. The U.S. has
traditionally been the largest source of family planning assistance,
but under President Bush it has drastically changed course for
political reasons. In the face of unprecedented demand, the Bush
administration (which continues to simplistically link birth control
with abortion) has cut funding dramatically for international
family planning aid, and consistently attempts to eliminate all
aid for the agency best able to guide global population policy,
the United Nations Population Fund. Read: Environment
Magazine UNITED STATES: 34 Million Friends of UNFPA Campaign Jane Roberts, co-founder of 34 Million Friends
of UNFPA campaign, placed an op ed in The Press Enterprise
(CA) on December 20 that noted: “34 Million Friends has indeed
lessened the misery for some, but there is so much more to do.
More than 135 countries make yearly allocations to the fund. Supporting
UNFPA is for us akin to a social contract with the world. It is
something that governments do. Our own government needs to hear
this from all of us.” She urged, “In this season of hope and giving,
34 Million Friends is worthy of your dollar.” Read: Women’s Enews
December 23 story on Jane and Lois. VIETNAM: State of Vietnam’s Population Vietnam News Briefs reported December 23 that
Vietnam is expected to have a total population of 81.4 million
of people this year, according to UNFPA’s Status of World Population
Report released in Hanoi. With an annual population growth of
1.3% or 1.1-1.2 million people, the number is forecast to climb
to 117.7 million by 2050. The UN's body said that the mortality
rate among infants in the country stands at 3.4%. The birth rate
has fallen to 1.9% per annum from 3% over the past ten years.
VIETNAM: Project to Lower Maternal and Infant Mortality Vietnam News Briefs reported December 22 that
UNFPA signed an agreement on December 20 to use 1.5 million euros
for a project to lower the maternal and infant mortality rates
in Vietnam. This is part of a plan, developed by the Health Ministry
is supported by the Dutch government, to halve the mortality rates
by 2010. VIETNAM: UN Agencies Commit to Socio-Economic Development Vietnam News Briefs reported December 22 that
thirteen United Nations agencies have committed to finance a total
of $61 million for Vietnam's socio-economic development programs
next year, of which $15 million will come from the United Nations
Development Program and concentrate on poverty reduction, reforms
in governance, public administrative services, and economics as
well as environmental management and disaster reduction. The story
also mentioned that UNFPA has committed $ 5 million for improving
the efficiency of reproductive health services and raising national
competency in monitoring and evaluating population policies. Read:
Vietnam News
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