UNFPA IN THE NEWS– FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 11, 2005

UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

News Coverage

At the 49th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) February 28-March 11 marking the tenth anniversary of the Beijing Platform of Action, The Guardian (U.K.) reported March 1 that the Bush administration was accused of trying to roll back efforts to improve the status of the world's women by demanding to add anti-abortion language to the final declaration. The story noted that President Bush has steadily reversed Washington's support for such initiatives, blocking U.S. funds to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and diverting cash towards programs promoting abstinence. Read: The Guardian

Inter Press Service reported March 10 that toward the closing of the CSW, women's organizations were sharply critical of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, saying has failed to honor his own commitments to gender equality in the U.N. system while he preaches its virtues to the rest of the world. Of the 31 under-secretaries-general in Annan's "senior management group," only eight are women, including UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid. Read: Inter Press Service

Voice of America reported March 1 that at the CSW, women leaders from the Muslim world and the Americas exchanged views on the best ways to end violence against women. One of the participants Ayesha Imam of Nigeria, UNFPA's chief of the Culture, Gender and Human Rights Branch, said the meeting is important "because worldwide one out of three women in the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or abused in some other way, usually by a man she knows, including her husband or another male relative. But still, despite that, violence against women is shrouded in silence and shame. And often women, don't report their sufferings. They're undiagnosed and untreated. Worldwide, violence against women and girls causes more death and disability for women between the ages of 15 and 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war put together." Read: Voice of America

IRNA (Iran) reported March 7 that with the assistance of UNFPA, the Islamic Republic of Iran has produced its National Report on Women's Status, which will be submitted to the 49th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

Editorial and Opinion Coverage

The Des Moines Register (U.S.) ran a February 27 column by Rekha Basu who wrote, "Ten years after international delegates gathered in Beijing for the much-heralded United Nations conference on women, they'll convene again, at U.N. headquarters in New York, for the Beijing Plus-10 Conference, to see how far we've come." She noted that as the world's only superpower, the United States has a unique burden of leadership. Buoyed by the American women's liberation movement, women around the world look to us to lead the way. But will we? Nodding to fundamentalism at home, the administration has sent mixed messages. It's halted funding to the United Nations Population Fund, claiming the agency supports forced abortions in parts of China - though it insists it doesn't, and a 2002 State Department report agreed. Read: Des Moines Register

Newsday (U.S.) ran a March 10 column by Sheryl McCarthy who noted that one sign of the Bush administration's lack of respect for the world community is the way the U.S. delegation disrupted a meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women last week. The gathering of nations that approved the platform for action for women at the historic Beijing conference 10 years ago wanted to issue a simple, one-page statement affirming its commitment to those goals. She wrote: "Meanwhile, since 2002 the Bush administration has been withholding financial support for the United Nations Population Fund - $34 million allocated by Congress that first year - on the humbug that some of the money might go to support China's coercive birth control measures. As a result, women in other countries who need health and reproductive services are being denied them." Read: Newsday

"FISTULA FORNIGHT" CAMPAIGN

Voice of America reported March 11 that doctors from the United States and Britain have joined forces to surgically repair more than 500 Nigerian women living with a devastating pregnancy-related injury known as fistula. UNFPA says fistula has been stamped-out in western countries because of the availability of cesarean sections. But, the disorder remains one of the most severe childbirth injuries in Asia and Africa, with as many as 100,000 new cases each year. UNFPA says a campaign to address the issue is under way in more than 30 countries, including Senegal, Uganda, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Read: Voice of America: March 10, March 11, United Press International

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (U.S.) reported March 7 that teams of doctors from Nigeria and other nations are providing free surgical repairs to more than 500 women, many of whom have traveled hundreds of miles for care. Like the public-private partnership that has worked to eradicate polio, UNFPA has put together a similar group for a global program called the Campaign to End Fistula (www.endfistula.org ). It hopes to correct and prevent these injuries, which often occur in teen brides with pelvises too small to give birth. Read: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Xinhua General News Service reported March 8 that a total of 545 Nigerian women were operated on during an unprecedented surgical effort against obstetric fistula in the northern parts of the most populous country in Africa, UNFPA said. "For so long, these women suffered in silence. Before it was a household issue only discussed in the home. Now it is a public issue, and people know about it," said Aliyu Yakubu, UNFPA program adviser in the northern Sokoto state. Read: Inter Press Service, Reuters, This Day (Nigeria)

UN News Centre reported March 1 that more than 300 of the hundreds of thousands of Nigerian women living with fistula, a debilitating and sometimes fatal childbirth injury, have been treated surgically in the first week of a UNFPA co-sponsored campaign in the West African country. Fistula is curable through the reconstructive surgery the medical team is providing, with typical success rates of 90 per cent for uncomplicated cases and about 60 per cent for complex conditions, UNFPA said. Associated Press reported on this story on March 1. Read: UN News Centre

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

PNG Post-Courier (Papua New Guinea) ran a March 8 op ed by UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid, who noted: "The theme of this year's International Women's Day, Gender Equality Beyond 2005: Building a More Secure Future, recognizes that greater progress to protect the rights of women and ensure their full participation in decision-making is essential for peace, development and equality. A lot remains to be done." Obaid concluded: "I urge governments and the international community to reaffirm and reinforce their commitment to the Beijing Platform for Action as they work to reduce poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Let us assert once again that each woman and girl is a unique and valuable human being who is entitled to equal opportunities and universally adopted human rights, no matter where she is born or where she lives. Now is the time to energize efforts to put gender equality at the top of the international peace and development agenda." Read: Inter Press Service

Associated Press reported March 8 that across the globe, women and men marked International Women's Day, which coincided with CSW. Nafis Sadik, a special adviser on AIDS to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former UNFPA head, said governments spend more than $900 billion on the military while the world's richest countries spend less than $70 billion on development assistance - and only about $3 billion of that amount goes to gender equality programs. "What contributes more to security, $3 billion invested in women or the $900 billion squandered on weapons?" Sadik asked to loud applause. "It is time for political leaders to stop talking about peace and really start investing in it." A March 11 column by Lucy Oriang that ran in The Nation (Kenya) noted that Sadik put it succinctly when she said during a panel discussion to mark International Women's Day: "A few ideologues and bureaucrats have an enduring obsession with reproductive health and with the notion that women should have control over decisions that affect their lives. We cannot let them stand in the way of common sense." Read: Associated Press, The Nation

Inter Press Service reported March 8 that against the backdrop of International Women's Day, rights activists are calling for more gender-sensitive programs to help women and girls who survived the Indian Ocean tsunami. Women have suffered more after the tsunami because they are the ones "taking care of everyone else. Many suddenly found themselves the heads of households," Dr. Chaiyos Kunanusont, an advisor for UNFPA, told the seminar. Read: Inter Press Service

Bangladesh: United News of Bangladesh reported March 7 that the guardian body of the apparel sector, BGMEA, in collaboration with UNFPA Bangladesh, will organize a garment workers' gathering at a community center in the capital to observe International Women's Day. Read: United News of Bangladesh

The Daily Star (Bangladesh) reported March 8 that UNFPA launched a platform for men, "Zero Tolerance for the Violence against Women," on the eve of International Women's Day. The overall status of women in Bangladesh is considered low according to low literacy rate, fewer employment opportunities, widespread violence and a high maternal mortality rate along with little participation of women in politics, administration and decision-making process, said UNFPA Representative Suneeta Mukherjee. She said about 14 percent of all maternal deaths in Bangladesh are attributed to violence against women. Read: Daily Star

Namibia: New Era (Namibia) reported March 10 that celebrations marking International Women's Day included role play, a poem, an expressive dance, cultural dances, choirs and modeling of traditional attire were performed in between the speeches at the event organized by the Women's Action for Development in conjunction with UNFPA. Read: New Era

Sudan: On March 10 Suna reported that Federal Health Minister Dr. Ahmed Bilal Osman said he appreciated the great role being played by UNFPA in promoting services of reproductive health in Sudan. Reuters reported March 8 that UNFPA country head Nimal Hettiaratchy said Sudan's first International Women's Day since signing a historic peace deal in January to end more than two decades of war in its south should be used to promote equality for women. "There's no point in having development for dead bodies," he told Reuters after addressing a gathering of hundreds of women and Vice President Moses Machar in Khartoum. "The maternal mortality rate for women in Sudan is one of the highest in the world." Read: Reuters

Syria: Arabic News reported March 8 that in highlighting the International Women's day, UNFPA head of Syria Lina Mousa said, "Since the beginning of its operations in Syria, in 1971, UNFPA has established a strategic partnership with the Government of Syria in the areas of population and development and Reproductive Health." Read: Arabic News

Yemen: IRIN reported March 11 that Yemen's Women's National Committee (WNC) marked International Women's Day earlier this week with its annual two-day conference in the capital, Sana. A key issue at the conference, supported by the Yemeni government, Oxfam and UNFPA, was early marriage. A film on the subject, made by UNFPA, was premiered during the conference. Gerd Elmark, UNFPA's Program Officer for Gender and Human Rights told IRIN, families marry off their daughters at a young age with the intention of protecting them, although early marriage endangers a girl's health, her education and her economic capacity. In Yemen, the advised age for girls to marry is 15, but most marriages are customary, rather than registered and so difficult to control. "There are suggestions that the law should be firmed up, so that the legal minimum age for marriage is 18 for boys and girls," Elmark said. The UNFPA film shows case studies of early marriage in Bangladesh and Burkina Faso, as well as Yemen. The film will be taken into villages on UNFPA's mobile cinema unit as a starting point for discussion on the issue. Read: IRIN

Zambia: Xinhua General News Service reported March 8 that hundreds of women marched through Zambian capital Lusaka on Tuesday to commemorate the International Women's Day. UNFPA Representative Margaret O'Callagan said although progress on protecting the rights of women has been made, a lot remains to be done. Read: The Post (Zambia)

Zimbabwe: The Daily News (Zimbabwe) reported March 10 that at an event marking International Women's Day, Anna Rueben-Mumba, the UNFPA Gender and Advocacy Officer, said, "Disturbing levels of violence against women and the absence of laws to adequately protect women and girls from such violence, high levels of maternal mortality, women and girls' increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS infection and the unequal representation of women in decision-making positions all point to the need for greater awareness and collective action." Read: Daily News

UN REPORT ON POPULATION INCREASE IN 2050

The Hindu (India) report February 26 that the U.N. Population Division released a report that forecasts that by 2050, the world population will soar by 40 percent to around 9.1 billion - an increase equivalent of the combined present-day population of India and China. In a statement addressing the findings, UNFPA head Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said, "We must take more urgent action to promote access to reproductive health, including family planning, and fight HIV/AIDS to save millions from AIDS and maternal death, as well as to reduce poverty in developing countries." The Daily Post (U.K.) also reported on this story.

The Daily Post (U.K.) February 26 editorial noted UN's latest population projections should come as a major wake-up call to all of us. The editorial noted that UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid "rightly points out that urgent action is required to promote access to reproductive health, including family planning, in poorer countries if the global crisis this will create is to be defused." The editorial concluded: "The freedom to protect ourselves from sexually-transmitted diseases and plan our families is something we take for granted in the developed world. Ensuring the same freedom reaches people in developing nations, through concerted aid and education programs, should be a major priority for the wealthier nations in the years ahead."

AFGHANISTAN:

Census Completed in 31 Provinces* Afghanistan's Tolu TV reported February 26 that Abdorrashid Fakhri, Deputy Economy Minister in charge of statistics, said in an exclusive interview with Tolu TV that the population census has been completed in 31 Afghan provinces. Fakhri said that due to bad weather, the population census could not be completed in Daikondi and Paktika Provinces. The deputy minister also noted that UNFPA, which funds the project, has offered remarkable cooperation in carrying out the process.

ARMENIA:

Report on Country's Social Demographic Challenges* Eurasianet reported March 7 that a recent report, titled Social Demographic Challenges of Post-Soviet Armenia, takes a detailed look at how economic chaos, war and natural disaster have affected Armenia's demographic picture in the post-Soviet era. The United Nations Population Fund funded the survey prepared by Ruben Yeganian, a researcher at Yerevan State University, and Karine Kujumijian of the National Statistical Service. Read: Eurasianet

BANGLADESH: Maternal Mortality Can Be Prevented

United News of Bangladesh reported March 4 that Suneeta Mukherjee, UNFPA Representative in Dhaka, told a workshop that about 529,000 women die across the world every year from complications caused by pregnancies and deliveries and 99 percent of those occur in the developing countries. She cited poverty, inadequate healthcare and lack of emergency health services for such high maternal mortality in the developing nations.

CHINA: Births Averted

The Economist (U.K.) ran a March 5 editorial that noted China says 300m births over the past 30 years have been "averted". That means 300m fewer mouths to feed, but also 300m fewer workers and 300m fewer offspring to lavish Confucian respect on their forebears. In the coming decades China will have to cope with caring for an ageing population. And in the mid-2020s, on official projections, the working-age population will start shrinking. "There will be more dependents and at the same time fewer workers to support them," says Siri Tellier of UNFPA in Beijing.

GAMBIA: Special Year for Sports

The Daily Observer (Gambia) reported March 7 that Gambian President Yahya Jammeh described 2005 as a special sporting year for the country. He said the department of State for Youth and Sports, in collaboration with UNFPA, has recently completed the construction of multi-purpose youth centers at Farrafenni in North Bank Division and Pakalinding in the Lower River Division. Read: Daily Observer

GHANA: Government Urged to Reaffirm Commitment to Progress of Women

Ghana News Agency reported March 9 that UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid appealed to the Ghana government to reaffirm and reinforce its commitment to reducing poverty, providing equal access to education, health services, income earning opportunities and legal rights benefits, which contribute to the social and economic progress of women. "Gender equality and women's empowerment are critical to social and economic development as limiting women's opportunities and rights because of their roles and functions as mothers, limits the development of societies and nations," she said. Read: Ghana News Agency

INDIA: Cash Incentives for Girl-Child

The Telegraph (India) reported March 11 that the state government of Andhra Pradesh is offering Rs 1 lakh to families with just one daughter in a bid to balance the sex ratio. As of April 1, cash incentive will be given to the daughters when they reach 20 years, provided their parents have had only one child and undertaken birth control measures. According to UNFPA, India's 2001 census shows that India has 927 females per 1,000 - one of the lowest sex ratios in the world. This is down from 945-to-1,000 more than a decade ago. Read: The Telegraph

INDONESIA: UNFPA Funds Reestablishment of Family Planning Organization

Jakarta Post (Indonesia) reported March 2 that UNFPA allocated $400,000 for the re-establishment of Aceh's provincial National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) to ensure immediate provision of reproductive health services following last December's tsunami disaster. The funds would be used to restore daily operations of the BKKBN office and to provide supplies of contraceptives for people in Aceh.

JAMAICA: Conference on the Adolescent Health and Wellness

The Jamaica Observer reported March 11 that a two-day conference was held at the Jamaica Conference Centre to share findings of a survey by the Youth Wellness Centre model project: "The Adolescents of Urban St Catherine: A Study of their Reproductive Health and Survivability." The model was developed in a two-year pilot project conducted by Children First in collaboration with guidance counselors, principals and parents of the respondents that participated in the study, including UNICEF, WFP and UNFPA, Youth.now, Ministry of Health, the Bureau of Women's Affairs and the National Family Planning Board. Read: Jamaica Observer

JORDAN: Honor Killings

Christian Science Monitor (U.S.) reported March 2 that "honor" killings - the murder of a woman who is accused of tainting family honor - account for one-third of all violent deaths in Jordan. The story noted that analysts say despite their occurrence in Jordan and other Muslim nations, honor killings are a pre-Islamic, tribal custom, condoned neither by Islam nor by any other major world religion. The number of honor crimes throughout the world is virtually impossible to measure, although UNFPA has estimated that there are some 5,000 a year. Brazil, Ecuador, Italy, Sweden, and Britain have all reported such crimes. Read: Christian Science Monitor

KAZAKSHTAN: Government and UN Agencies Sign Action Plans

United Press International reported February 28 that the Kazakh government, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF have signed action plans for 2005-2009 to promote the well-being of the nation's children. The documents were signed by Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Askar Shakirov; U.N. resident coordinator, UNDP and UNFPA Representative to Kazakhstan Yuriko Shoji; and UNICEF Representative Alexander Zuyev. Interfax News Agency, TASS (Russia) and Khabar Television also reported February 28 on this story.

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: International Conference on Children Scheduled

Emirates News Agency reported March 6 that from May 16 to 18, experts will gather for an international conference in Dubai on children and youth in urban areas of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. Mayors and senior officials in MENA cities, municipalities, relevant government agencies, NGOs and the private sector, international institutions concerned with children and youth issues such as UNICEF, UNFPA, ILO, Population Council and donors, researchers and specialists in the fields of urban development, education, social studies and welfare, public policies and public health are expected to attend the event.

MONGOLIA: Successful Strategies to Reduce Maternal Mortality

UB Post (Mongolia) reported March 3 that a forthcoming BBC World, 11-part documentary series, in partnership with the World Health Organization, showcasing successful approaches to improving maternal health in developing countries across the world will feature Mongolia's successful strategies. This has been developed and implemented through partnerships between the Ministry of Health, the United Nations Population Fund, World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund. Read: UB Post

NIGERIA: ICPD Committee Inaugurated

Vanguard (Nigeria) reported March 2 that the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Prof. Ode Ojowu, inaugurated the inter-ministerial committee on the implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development. Members of the committee were drawn from the National Population Commission; Federal Ministries of Health, Women Affairs, National Action Committee on AIDS, National Programme on Immunization, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Universal Basic Education Commission, UNFPA, and others.

PAKISTAN: Emergency Aid Distributed

Pakistan Newswire reported March 5 that World Food Programme has started emergency operation of food distribution in the rain and snowfall affected areas of Pakistan. World Health Organization, UNFPA, UNICEF, Plan International, PRCS and the SUNGI in collaboration with the District government are carrying out relief work in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Kohistan, Battagram, Shangla and Lower Dir.

PHILIPPINES: Funding Clarified

The Manila Standard (Philippines) reported March 8 that UNFPA denied Church claims that it had released $1.4 billion for the country's population program, saying it had released only $26 million for 2005 to 2009. Of the amount, $16.5 million is earmarked for reproductive health programs, $5.5 million is for population and development strategies, $3 million is for gender development programs, and $1 million is for program coordination and assistance, said Dr. Zahidul Huque, UNFPA country representative.

PHILIPPINES: Health Groups in Muslim Areas Campaigning for Family Planning

/Philippine Daily Inquirer/ reported March 10 that while the capital Manila and the Catholic Church are at odds on family planning, progressive women's and health groups in Muslim areas are busy campaigning for family planning. The story noted: "Many Muslim health and women advocates agree family planning is not contradictory to Islamic teachings. Two Muslim women have even headed the United Nations Population Fund, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid of Saudi Arabia, and Nafis Sadik of Pakistan." Read: Philippine Daily Inquirer

PHILIPPINES: Water Shortage

BusinessWorld (Philippines) reported March 4 that UNFPA predicted that by the year 2025, two-thirds of the world's population of 6.5 billion people will suffer from shortages of fresh water for drinking. "Will Filipinos be among those who will have less clean water to drink?" asked Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, executive director of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development.

SOUTH AFRICA: Health Ministers Pledge on Reproductive Health

New Era (Namibia) reported February 28 that ministers of health of Sub-Saharan Africa have committed to working with other regions on the continent to integrate sexual reproductive health and rights goals and targets into the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) framework. Over 120 participants from southern Africa attended the conference, which was organized by the International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Region in collaboration with the African Union and the United Nations Population Fund.

SUDAN: Survival Odds for Mother and Newborns Poor

The Washington Post reported March 4 that southern Sudan is a pocket of especially harsh suffering and poor survival odds for pregnant women and their newborns. The story noted that conditions surrounding most births remain primitive. Half of all babies in Sudan are delivered without the help of a skilled attendant, according to a 2004 study by the U.N. Population Fund. Read: Washington Post

UGANDA: UN Spouses Raise Money for Child Mothers' Schooling

The Monitor (Uganda) reported February 28 that child mothers in northern Uganda may be able to return to school, thanks to the efforts of the United Nations Spouses Association (UNSA) who raised over Shs30 million for young mothers in the north, at a fundraising dinner. The dinner was attended by the Nabagereka, Sylvia Nagginda, who is a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund in Uganda.

UNITED STATES: Other Countries Make Up for Withheld Funding

CanWest News Service (Canada) reported February 28 that when U.S. President George W. Bush cut out his country's yearly $34-million donation to UNFPA, the world's poorest countries stepped in to fill the gaping wound. Afghanistan sent a crisp $100 bill. The Democratic Republic of Congo scraped together $1,000. Palestine and Somalia, which had never before donated, also sent small but significant donations. "For these small countries it was a lot," said UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid, who went to Ottawa last week to thank Canada for also helping to cover the shortfall.

UNITED STATES: 34 Million Friends of UNFPA Campaign

The Guardian (U.K.) ran a March 2 letter by Jane Roberts, co-founder of 34 Million Friends of UNFPA, who wrote: "Condom shortage (Report, February 24) is a result of the religious right persuading Bush to withhold $34m from the UN Population Fund for three years in a row - 166 countries allocated money to UNFPA last year, but not the U.S. This is shameful. For two years, our grassroots effort, 34 Million Friends, has been asking for at least $ 1 from 34 million Americans to right this wrong. We are not there yet, but www.34millionfriends.org has attracted a huge response. The money raised is helping to fund the worldwide shortage in family planning commodities, especially condoms. At our website, and at www.UNFPA.org, we are appealing for people around the world to give a small amount in celebration of International Women's Day on March 8. Women's education, health, equality, choices and rights are essential for a sustainable and peaceful planet." The Monterey County Herald (U.S.) reported March 8 that the Monterey Bay chapter of the United Nations Association's annual International Women's Day Dinner held a dinner featuring Jane Roberts who spoke on the blocking of U.S. funding of the U.N. Population Fund. The Redlands Daily Facts (U.S.) reported March 9 that around the globe people are celebrating International Women's Day, but for Jane Roberts, a former University of Redlands French professor and tennis coach, and former lawyer Lois Abraham, every day is women's day. Roberts and Abraham are the founders of 34 Million Friends of UNFPA, an organization dedicated to raising the $34 million a year allocated by Congress that the Bush administration is withholding from the United Nations Population Fund. "Our goal is idealistic, but within the realm of possibility," said Abraham. "UNFPA has a vision, and so do we." Read: Redlands Daily Facts

VIETNAM: Census Reveals High Birth Rate and Aging Population

Vietnam News Briefs reported March 9 that the birth rate in Vietnam is high while the country's population is getting older, according to the results of the latest census and family planning studies announced by the General Statistics Office and UNFPA.

VIETNAM: 5-Year Development Plan

Vietnam News Agency reported March 9 that United Nations organizations will cooperate with the Vietnamese government under a five-year plan, "United Nations Development Assistance Framework," to help the country make its social services more accessible. UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA have structured their national programs for the next five years based on the development plan.

WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: Campaign for Child Registration

Panafrican News Agency reported March 1 that the Ouagadougou Pan-African Cinema and Television Festival (FESPACO) rallied behind a campaign by Plan international, UNICEF and the UNFPA to encourage birth registration in West and Central Africa. FESPACO called on professionals in the film industry to join the advocacy this year for the registration of children aged 0-18 years.

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