UNFPA IN THE NEWS – OCTOBER 9-15, 2004

UN General Assembly on 10th Anniversary of Cairo Consensus

Associated Press reported October 13 that more than 250 global leaders in all fields—including 85 heads of state and government—have signed a statement endorsing a U.N. plan adopted 10 years ago to ensure every woman's right to education, health care, and to make choices about childbearing. But President George W. Bush's administration refused to sign because the statement mentions "sexual rights." AP noted that former Colorado senator Tim Wirth, who was in the forefront of helping to draft the 20-year Cairo blueprint as a top official on the U.S. delegation, helped spearhead the global statement in his current job as president of the United Nations Foundation. Media mogul Ted Turner, who founded and funds the foundation, read the statement, which was also signed by 24 Nobel prize winners, and then presented it to Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette and Thoraya Obaid, head of the U.N. Population Fund. In an October 14 story by UN News Centre, Obaid said Cairo had allowed people to speak publicly about issues that were once taboo, such as violence against women and the use of sexual violence as a weapon in conflicts. She urged governments to invest more to "break the cycle" of poverty in which millions of people in poor countries are trapped - whether by increasing access to education, lifting health care standards or aiming to eliminate gender inequality and discrimination. Read: Associated Press: Oct. 13, Oct. 14, Reuters, Press Trust of India: Oct. 14, Oct. 15, Vietnam News Agency, Xinhua General News Service, UN News Centre: Oct. 13, Oct. 14, OneWorld

THE OBSERVER SERIES “DYING TO HAVE A BABY”

The Observer (UK) ran an October 11 special supplement, “Dying to Have a Baby,” to commemorate the tenth anniversary of ICPD. In a column by Sue George, she noted, “Statistics from the United Nations Population Fund show that if the available supply in that region was evenly distributed, then each man would receive just three a year. That's not a great deal of help in preventing sexually transmitted infections (including HIV, which has wreaked havoc across that continent) or pregnancy.” Columnist Louise Var wrote: “When George Bush decided to cut funding from the UNFPA on the grounds that it supports coercive abortions in China, the European Commission stepped in with 32m euros. Poul Nielson, the Commissioner for International Development, called it filling the decency gap. ‘The decision to cut funding to the UNFPA may lead to more unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions and increased danger for mothers and infants,' he said.”

Columnist Glenys Kinnock wrote: “As an MEP, I have been directly involved in overseas aid issues for 10 years. This has given me the opportunity to seek more support and funding for Europe's important role providing, as it does, 55 percent of all international aid. But this support is continuously threatened and has been especially since George W. Bush took over at the White House. Chris Smith, a Republican senator and staunch supporter of Bush's position on reproductive health was sent to Brussels to influence the outcome of budget discussions. Some MEPs were persuaded that questions should be asked about EU funding for the UNFPA and reproductive health NGOs, and quibbled over the definition of population and reproductive health and rights. They claimed it was a euphemism for supporting abortion.”

ARMENIA: New HIV Prevention Program Starts

ARMINFO reported October 14 that UN Resident Representative in Armenia Lise Grande mentioned that UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA and UNAIDS are funding a new program on HIV prevention and will be implemented by the Armenian Assembly of America and National Foundations of HIV/AIDS of Armenia.

BANGLADESH: Policy Called for Turning Population into Human Resources

Daily Star (Bangladesh) reported October 15 that speakers at a workshop called for formulating a population development policy to turn the huge population into human resources. The country has achieved more successes than many other countries in the last 10 years after the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), but more challenges are still lying ahead such as reproductive health, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition and safe maternity, they said. Advocate Rokhsana Khondoker, executive director of Khan Foundation, presided over the workshop and Annemieke De Los Santos, deputy representative of UNFPA, was present as special guest. Read: Daily Star

INDIA: Male-Child Preference

The Courier-Mail (Australia) reported October 9 that statistics show that, as a result of abortions or killing girls in infancy, up to five million baby girls disappear from India every year. A recent UNFPA report said the practice was widespread in the country.

INDONESIA: Broader Access to Family Planning Services Found to Increase Awareness

The Jakarta Post (Indonesia) reported October 11 that a report by the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) attributes the increase in people's awareness of family planning and the use of contraceptives among fertile couples to the broader access to family planning services. Country representative of UNFPA, Bernard Coquelin, said, "Good access to reproductive health services could reduce the maternal mortality ratio, which is still high in the country."

JAMAICA: Jamaica Made Great Strides to Implement Cairo Consensus

The Jamaica Gleaner reported October 13 that midway in the 20-year Programme of Action, UNFPA indicates that Jamaica has gone a far way in the implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action. The country has enacted laws, policies and established partnerships to further the Programme of Action. Read: Jamaica Gleaner, Jamaica Observer

LESOTHO: HIV/AIDS Affecting Food Security

In an October 11 story by IRIN, Mads Lofvall, WFP deputy country representative for Lesotho, said, "We see the impact of HIV/AIDS on food security, although the hectarage of land not planted due to HIV/AIDS has not been established, the number of orphans is rising all the time. The official population is 2.2 million, but it's estimated at 1.8 million, and UNFPA predicts that it could go down to 1.6 million (due to HIV/AIDS)." Read: IRIN

PHILIPPINES: Census Postponed Causes Alarm

BusinessWorld (Philippines) reported October 11 that the United Nations Population Fund has expressed alarm over the postponement of the mid-decade national census scheduled in 2005 due to lack of funds. "I think it would be a serious issue and [there] could be a problem if there would be no census... I think the government really should take it as a priority...," Zahidul Huque, UNFPA country representative, said. Without the census, which is done every five years, the U.N. would not be able to track down accurately the country's gains and losses in human development.

PHILIPPINES: 6 Billionth Baby Turns 5

ABS-CBN News (Philippines) reported October 12 that Lorrize Mae Guevarra, the country’s symbolic six billionth baby has surpassed the most critical obstacle in a child’s life and is turning five years old. Guevarra, who was the Philippines’ symbol as world population hit six billion five years ago, was born at the state-run Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital on October 12, 1999 at 12:06 am. United Nations Population Fund and the Commission on Population (Popcom) announced that at the same time, the world’s six billionth baby was also being born in Sarajevo, Boznia-Herzegovina in Southeastern Europe. Read: ABS-CBN News

SIERRA LEONE: Reproductive Health Care Seminar

Concord Times (Sierra Leone) reported October 12 on a one-day sensitization seminar on reproductive health care and maternal infant and mortality services held at the Saint Martins Orphanage Hall in Port Loko District. The seminar brought together 30 traditional birth attendants and MCH Aid Nurses from different quarters in the District and was organized by the Network of Women Ministers and Parliamentarian with funds from UNFPA. Read: Concord Times

UGANDA: Retirement Package Requested for “Surgeons” to End Female Circumcision

New Vision (Uganda) reported October 11 that 15 Sabiny traditional 'surgeons' have asked the United Nations to give them a retirement package so that they concentrate on the campaign against female circumcision. The surgeons told the assistant representative of UNFPA, Henry Kalule, that although the practice was a human-rights violation, efforts to end it had failed because it was a source of income for some people. Read: New Vision

UNITED STATES: UNFPA Surfaces as a Presidential Election Issue

St. Paul Pioneer Press (U.S.) ran an October 15 column by Glenda Holste who noted: “Kerry would increase the U.S. commitments to international public health work, such as the United Nations Population Fund, which provides family planning and women's health care throughout the developing world. Bush has withheld appropriated U.S. money for this work. Kerry proposes doubling the U.S. contribution to fight HIV/AIDS by contributing to the Global Fund.” Read: Pioneer Press

UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (U.S.) reported October 13 on the Balashikha Project, a unique five-year project to improve maternal and infant care throughout the Moscow region, that involves consultation between doctors for the U.S. and Russia. The story noted that worldwide, more than half a million women die in childbirth every year, and approximately 18 million more suffer from illnesses as a result of childbirth, according to the United Nations Population Fund. Most of the deaths occurred in the developing world, but the problem is not limited to Third World nations.

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