| UNFPA IN THE NEWS – MARCH 20-26, 2004
WAR ON MATERNAL MORTALITY NEEDED The New York Times ran a March 20 column
by Nicholas Kristof that suggested: “The world needs a war on
maternal mortality, and the U.S. could lead that effort. Yet maternal
care rarely gets the priority or attention it deserves. Partly
that's because the victims tend to be faceless, illiterate village
women who carry little weight in their own families, let alone
on the national or world agenda.” Kristof mentioned, “Some U.S.
groups have made heroic efforts to address maternal health, starting
with medical missionaries and including the Averting Maternal
Death and Disability program at Columbia University (www.amdd.hs.columbia.edu)
and 34 Million Friends of UNFPA. (www.unfpa.org/support/friends/34million.htm).”
Read: New
York Times FUNDING SHORTFALL JEOPARDIZES PROGRESS FOR DEVELOPMENT GOALS On March 22, UN News Centre reported the lack
of donor support for reproductive health services is jeopardizing
progress towards meeting global anti-poverty goals, according
to the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund.
At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development,
held in Cairo, Egypt, developed countries agreed to provide an
annual $6.1 billion by 2005 for reproductive health, including
family planning. But they have fallen short by about $3 billion,
according to UNFPA. "A world that spends $800 billion to $1 trillion
each year on the military can afford the equivalent of slightly
more than one day's military spending to close Cairo's $3 billion
external funding gap to save and improve the lives of millions
of women and families in developing countries," said UNFPA chief
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. Read: UN News Centre BARBADOS: Educate Youth on HIV/AIDS The Barbados Advocate ran a March 26
column by Betty Holford that noted, according to the United Nations
Population Fund, in most countries, the topic of adolescent sexuality
is politically and culturally sensitive, hindering discussion
and service provision. However, recent studies have shown that
young people adopt safer sexual behaviors if they have the information,
skills and means to do so. Holford urged, “Failure to educate
them will pose an immense danger to human development resulting
in deteriorating child survival, reduced life expectancy, over
burdened health care systems, increased orphanhood, and down turns
in the economy. Breaking the conspiracy of silence in the Caribbean
and engaging our children in meaningful dialogue about their sexuality
and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, might be the saving of many lives that
would have otherwise come to a premature and painful ending.”
Read: Barbados Advocate BHUTAN: Her Majesty Reinforces Health Advocacy Campaign Keunsel (Bhutan) reported March 26
that UNFPA goodwill ambassador, Her Majesty the Queen Ashi Sangay
Choden Wangchuck, leaves Thimphu on March 28 to reinforce the
health advocacy campaign in the eastern dzongkhags. A key event
during Her Majesty's 12-day tour will be HIV/AIDS advocacy directed
at the masses during the Gomphu kora Tshechu which begins on March
29. Her Majesty will also meet with the public in Gomphu Kora
and discuss reproductive health, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.
Read: Keunsel BOTSWANA: Month of Youth against AIDS Daily News (Botswana) reported March
25 that the Month of Youth against AIDS is meant to raise the
nation's HIV/AIDS awareness levels and to enhance the resolve
to fight the pandemic. UNFPA representative Agathe Lawson said
young people were faced with varied and changing political, economic,
social and cultural realities. Dr. Lawson said adolescent girls,
who start a sexual life early, found it difficult to negotiate
the use of contraceptive methods or to access reproductive health
services. "The first sexual experience for many adolescent girls
is forced or coerced often by people they know, including family
members, and this kind of violence leaves long-term physical and
psychological damages," she said. She added that greater access
to youth friendly adolescent sexual and reproductive health programs
was needed to reduce widespread pregnancies and high sexual transmitted
infections and HIV/AIDS. Read: Daily
News BURKINA FASO: Fighting Early Marriage IRIN reported March 23 that in Burkina Faso,
girls as young as eight are married off to men often older than
their own fathers. But the government is now trying to eradicate
this practice, alarmed by the continuing emergence of pregnancy
complications in very young mothers. According to UNFPA, early
marriage is a serious social problem in Burkina Faso where one
in three girls is married before the age of 18. "The causes of
early marriage are socio-cultural", explained Genevieve Ah Sue,
UNFPA's representative in Burkina Faso. "Traditions are strong
in Burkina Faso and values here mean that the local practice is
for girls to marry when they are very young. This creates problems
for the girl and the society itself". UNFPA together with the
Burkinabe government have launched a special program to combat
early marriage in poorer rural areas where the practice is particularly
widespread. "There is a close link between reproductive health
and poverty reduction," pointed out Genevieve Ah Sue of UNFPA.
As a result, UNFPA and the government are not only working to
give girls education on reproductive health issues, but they are
also making funds and training available to young women for income-generating
projects. Inter Press Service also reported on this story. Read:
IRIN, Inter Press Service ETHIOPIA: Program to Tackle Spread of STIs along Trucking Routes Panafrican News Agency reported March 23 that
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN
Population Fund are providing 100 kits to government health centers
and local NGOs operating along the main trucking routes between
Ethiopia and Djibouti, for the treatment of sexually transmitted
infections (STIs). GHANA: Youth Asked to Help Fight HIV/AIDS Ghana News Agency reported March 20 that during
the inauguration of the Second Phase of the Distance Education
Course on HIV/AIDS Counseling and Care Giving at the Institute
of Adult Education, Professor Joseph R.A. Ayee, dean of Faculty
of Social Studies at the University of Ghana, said that people
should consider HIV/AIDS very destructive to progress and to initiate
positive measures to fight the disease. The event was organized
by the institute in collaboration with UNFPA to control the spread
of HIV/AIDS. Read: Ghana News Agency HAITI: UN Team Surveying Health Needs Caribbean Media Corporation reported March 22
that the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO),
Dr. Mirta Roses, says long-term, substantive investments are needed
for health in Haiti. PAHO currently has about 70 people on the
ground in Haiti and is supporting the work of the health authorities
and partners. "We are part of the United Nations team with responsibility
for the health sector. Other agencies such as UNICEF and UNFPA
are collaborating with their specific expertise, as are numerous
non-government organizations that have been working in Haiti for
a long time," Roses said. INDIA: Child Sex Ratio Shows How Women Are Perceived Asia Times reported March 24 that a
series of attacks on foreign women in the national capital of
India has raised several questions about safety, cultural factors
and the way in which women are perceived in India. The story noted
that worsening the situation is the fact that women are discriminated
against and attitudes are primitive. This is reflected in the
United Nations Population Fund's finding of India's declining
child sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 years that makes for the
most depressing news. The country as a whole had only 927 girls
to every 1,000 boys in the 0-6 age group, at the dawn of the 21st
century, down from 945 girls per 1,000 boys in 1991. This is in
contrast to the world average of 1,045 females to 1,000 males.
Read: Asia
Times LEBANON: Media Attends Workshop on Adolescents Sexual Health In Lebanon, UNFPA supported a one-day workshop
for the media on adolescent sexual health, on Wednesday 24 March.
The workshop that was attended by 27 representatives of local
newspapers, TV and radio was organized in the context of our joint
IEC Youth project with the Ministry of Social Affairs. L’Orient
le Jour, Al Safir, Annahar and Assafir covered the story on March
25. UNITED STATES: U.S. Funding for Family Planning In a March 23 letter by Jean Kroll that ran
in The Bellingham Herald (United States), she noted,
“The Bush administration has consistently chosen to place its
conservative ideology over the concerns of global health. On the
day he took office, Bush refused to fund the United Nations Family
Planning Act, which provides funding for family planning services
worldwide. The Bush Administration has also steadfastly refused
to reaffirm the Cairo Programme of Action, a plan endorsed by
179 countries to promote women's reproductive and sexual rights
and services to reduce poverty and promote economic development.”
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