UNFPA IN THE NEWS – JULY 3-9, 2004

THE ‘FEMINIZATION’ OF HIV/AIDS

The Guardian (U.K.) reported July 7 that the AIDS pandemic in Africa is hitting women worst. Nearly 60% of the victims are female, and they often do not have the option of abstinence, fidelity or condom use. UK’s International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, announced a further £116m to two UN agencies involved in the fight—UNAIDS and the United Nations Population Fund. Benn also launched a paper setting out how the Department for International Development plans to push for high quality family planning in developing countries. "Sexual and reproductive health and AIDS are inextricably linked. By taking action on one, we know we are also helping to tackle the other," Benn said. Read:
The Guardian, The Herald

HUMAN SECURITY APPROACH

The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) reported July 8 the "human security" approach can be applied to various issues, such as the environment, empowerment of people and community building, Sadako Ogata, president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency and former U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said at an international symposium in Kyoto. Following the keynote speech, a panel discussion was held, featuring Ogata; Nafis Sadik, former executive director of the U.N. Population Fund; Joao Clemente Baena Soares, former secretary general of the Organization of American States; and Shinichi Kitaoka, deputy permanent representative of Japan to the United Nations.

UNHRC Becomes Joint Sponsor of UNAIDS

The Inquirer (Liberia) reported July 8 that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) has officially become the 10th co-sponsor of the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), joining other UN member agencies (ILO, UNDCP, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP, WHO) as well as the World Bank to combat the virus. Read: The Inquirer

AZERBAIJAN: Art Contest to Commemorate 10th Anniversary of ICPD

Azer News ( Azerbaijan ) reported July 8 that an art exhibition/contest entitled, "A 10-year-old girl ' s family today, and 10 years later" will be held at the Absheron Art Gallery on July 11. The contest is organized by the United Nations Population Fund. Read: Azer News

CAMEROON: Empowering Women to Achieve Progress

The Cameroon Tribune reported July 8 that ahead of World Population Day, a meeting was held in Yaounde to strengthen efforts in solving population-related problems. Participants came from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Programming and Territorial Management, NGOs, United Nations Systems in Cameroon and the United Nation Fund for Population and Activities, (UNFPA). The meeting focused on extreme poverty amongst citizens particularly women, lack of real choices, opportunities and basic services to improve on inequality and discrimination which have greatly affected development world-wide. Read: Cameroon Tribune

FIJI: Booklet to Prevent HIV Infection in Youths

Fiji Times reported July 8 that Marie Stopes International representative Saras Singh said the organization produced a booklet—Girl Focus—in partnership with the Health Ministry to develop and produce information, education and communication pamphlets. Singh said material for sexual and reproductive health would be distributed to youths to fight HIV/AIDS. "Investing in adolescent girls is important to ensure they enter adulthood with accurate knowledge and information on sexual and reproductive health so they look after themselves and grow to be responsible adults." Funding for the booklet was provided by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community through the U.N. Population Fund. Read: Fiji Times

INDIA: Government Committed to Education and Alleviating Poverty

The Hindu (India) reported July 9 that at a symposium on "10 Years From ICPD: Reflection on Reproductive and Adolescent Health," organized jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Oscar Fernandes, Minister of State, Statistics and Programme Implementation, said the government is committed to spreading education and alleviating poverty as is demonstrated by the significantly increased allocation to education and health programs. Read: The Hindu

IRAN: World Population Day Celebration

IRNA ( Iran ) reported July 9 that through cooperation of Ministry of Health and medical universities around the country, the seminar on World Population Day will be held at Tehran University focusing on family planning indicators. World Population Day is organized each year on July 11 by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Read: IRNA

NEW ZEALAND: Country’s Aid Ranked Last among OECD Countries

The New Zealand Press Association reported July 9 that a World Vision New Zealand policy analyst said an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) survey released ahead of next week's international AIDS conference in Bangkok ranked New Zealand's aid last of the 22 OECD countries. The story noted a spokesman for Aid Minister Marian Hobbs said NZAID was spending more than $6 million a year on HIV/AIDS and reproductive health in the Pacific. Additionally, it had recently pledged an extra $1 million to UNAIDS, $1 million to the Global Fund on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, and $1 million to the U.N. Population Fund.

SOUTH AFRICA: World Population Day to Be Celebrated

BuaNews (South Africa) reported July 8 that Mpumalanga will host this year's World Population Day on 11 July with a rally to mark South Africa's achievements over the last decade in relation to population and development. Social Development Deputy Minister, Jean Benjamin, United Nations Population Fund Representative, George Nsiah and Mpumalanga Premier Thabang Makwetla will attend the event. The rally will also outline challenges facing South Africa and the world. Read: BuaNews

THAILAND: HIV/AIDS and the Workplace

The Nation ( Thailand ) reported July 5 that Thai leaders pledged at the international HIV/AIDS summit in 2001 to have business sectors develop HIV/AIDS-friendly policies for the country's workforce. United Nations Population Fund program specialist Pia Laine said that small and medium-sized businesses should also join big companies in developing HIV/AIDS policy in the workplace.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Combating HIV/AIDS

The Express (Trinidad and Tobago) quoted July 9 that the chairman of the FPATT, Gerry Brooks said $2 million spent by government on the recent advertising campaign for the Police Reform Bills could have been used to help save lives in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Speaking on the theme "Sexual and Reproductive Health – The Central Issue in Response to HIV/AIDS" during the Family Planning Association's Annual General Report to the Nation, Brooks was in a fiery mood as he said failure to address the problem at the core helped to sustain the ignorance on the issue. Hetty Sarjeant, UNFPA Representative United Nations Population Fund, who stressed the critical need for youths to be educated on all aspects of the disease, delivered the feature address. Read: The Express

UGANDA: Uganda Ranks 8th Worst Country for Maternal Mortality

Xinhua General News Service reported July 7 that Uganda has been ranked as the eighth country with the worst maternal death rate in the world, New Vision (Uganda) newspaper reported. United Nations Fund for Population Activities country representative, James Kuriah, said Uganda loses 505 women out of every 100,000 live births. Read: New Vision

UNITED STATES: U.S. Funding for UNFPA

The New York Times July 5 editorial noted, “One of the uglier aspects of the Bush administration's assault on women's reproductive rights is its concerted undermining of the United Nations Population Fund based on the false accusation that it supports coerced abortions in China .” The editorial concluded: “In truth, the administration's targeting of the Population Fund is not really about abortion. It is an attack on comprehensive family planning and women's sexual and reproductive autonomy, driven largely by right-wing ideologues unswervingly opposed to all forms of family planning and contraceptive use. As a result, the United States is helping to deny vulnerable women living in isolated rural areas essential information and services needed to avoid pregnancy and disease.” Read: New York Times

The Guardian (U.K) July 7 editorial noted when the U.S. fundamentalists flex their muscles, the rest of the world gets hit. Their latest punching bag is the United Nations Population Fund, known as the UNFPA, which has received a series of body blows from the Bush administration since 2002. With presidential elections looming in November, Washington has stepped up its attacks on the UNFPA in its quest for a few votes more. The editorial concluded: “That the US government could consider cutting funds to the WHO and UNICEF because of fundamentalist obsessions with abortion—an operation that is legal within the US - would be bizarre if not so serious. The three organizations, along with Marie Stopes International, do much important work in the developing world. For the US to let that work be crimped by zealots verges on the immoral. Sadly, abusing multilateral institutions for its own shabby ends is a familiar pattern from this White House.” Read: The Guardian

The Courier-Journal July 3 editorial noted, “If President Bush and his advisers are concerned about winning support from swing voters, it hasn ' t been apparent in the past few weeks. They are sticking with the radical fringe of the anti-abortion movement, going so far out of their way to prove their purity that they risk alienating everyone else.” The editorial mentioned that last month, the administration even bullied UNICEF, which works to get food and health care to the world's poorest children. UNICEF was warned that if it dared to work in any way with another agency, the United Nations Population Fund, its money from the U.S. would be cut off. Read: Courier-Journal

The Sacramento Bee (U.S.) July 8 editorial noted, “Accordingly, Bush, who had frozen congressionally appropriated funds for UNFPA in two previous years, apparently has decided to do it again - this despite progress by the U.N. agency in lowering the number of abortions and maternal and infant deaths in poor countries. Such a policy is both self-defeating and cruel.” Read: Sacramento Bee

On July 8 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) ran an op ed by Jill Sheffield , president of Family Care International, on the detriment of child marriage worldwide. Sheffield wrote: “Helping cultures value education is paramount in this issue as it leads to greater socioeconomic benefits. According to the United Nations Population Fund, for every year a girl stays in school beyond the fourth grade, the average family size decreases by 10 percent; thus the economic stability of a family dramatically improves. With an additional one to three years of education for mothers, child survival increases by 20 percent. Increasing access to education benefits young girls, positively affects their communities and fosters social and economic development. The future for these girls, their families and children is made better by today ' s education.” Read: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

On July 9 The Boston Globe (U.S.) reported, “Representative Nita Lowey, Democrat of New York, said Congress cannot wait for Bush to reconsider his position. Today, she plans to offer an amendment to a foreign aid bill to provide aid to the U.N.'s Population Fund and other global health organizations without the administration's support.” Read: Boston Globe

The conservative National Review Online ran a July 9 op ed by Harry Wu, executive director of the Laogai Research Foundation, the noted: “China's coercive population control - approved and celebrated by the UNFPA—is too terrible to be ignored, and we must not turn a blind eye to this problem. Denying the UNFPA congressional funding may encourage the U.N. to stand by its stated principles and to tell the Chinese government to end its coercive family-planning policies.” Wu concluded: “It is true that the UNFPA has implemented some positive programs in developing countries throughout the world that benefit women and their families. However, we must stand on the side of the millions of Chinese women who lack the fundamental human right to freely bear children. If Congress and the UNFPA are truly forces for voluntarism, human rights, and progress in China , they will do the same.” Read: National Review Online

VIETNAM: Funding for Program Continues

Vietnam News Agency reported July 6 that Viet Nam has given top priority to population and reproductive health activities, Omer Ertur, a representative of the United Nations Population Fund, told a press briefing held by the Population, Family and Children Committee in Ha Noi in anticipation of the World Population Day (July 11). Vietnam News Agency reported July 9 that Viet Nam has fully met its commitment to the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), said regional UNFPA Representative Mieko Yabuta at a meeting for the mid-term review of the UNFPA-Vietnam cooperation program held in Ha Noi. Under the 2001-2005 cooperation program, UNFPA will continue to help Vietnam ' s population program in raising national capacity, improving reproductive health care and creating favorable conditions for population and reproductive healthcare activities. UNFPA contributes $20 million of the program ' s total investment of $27 million while the Vietnamese government, international organizations and other countries contribute the rest. Read: Vietnam News Agency: July 6, July 9, Vietnam News Service

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