19 November 2009
KAMPALA — The largest conference on family planning in fifteen years concluded yesterday with nearly 1,300 international experts, policy makers and representatives of civil society reaffirming their commitment to family planning and to revitalizing it by sharing research findings and best practices.
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18 November 2009
LONDON - Women bear the disproportionate burden of climate change, but have so far been largely overlooked in the debate about how to address problems of rising seas, droughts, melting glaciers and extreme weather, concludes The State of World Population 2009, released today by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
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18 November 2009
NEW YORK — Many young people are already living in cultures that are changing rapidly in response to a degraded environment. And they are also the ones who will have to grapple with the increasing challenges climate change will present in the coming decades.
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16 November 2009
QUANG TRI PROVINCE, Viet Nam — Life has never been easy for Nguyen Thi Lanh, 51, and Nguyen Duc Phi, 52. After enduring years of war, they married in 1977 and a year later had their first baby. “We were very poor at that time,” Lanh explains. “My husband had to take care of his family because his mother had died. We hardly had rice to feed our child, and we had to rebuild our house, which had collapsed during the war.”
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16 November 2009
AMACHUMA CHICO, Bolivia — On the steep slopes leading down from the Huayna Potosi and Chacaltaya mountains lies a string of tiny communities where families eke out a meager living by keeping llamas, sheep and chickens and by growing small crops of potatoes and oca, a perennial plant grown in the central and southern Andes.
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13 November 2009
Today I will talk about expanding engagement and partnership at the community level in service delivery of sexual and reproductive health programmes by Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs). I will not address the issue of youth perspective because this would be another keynote address by itself. This issue requires more knowledge and understanding especially as the youth culture has two poles – religiosity and progressive activism and young people have a special culture of their own. I would suggest that young people from diverse institutions including FBOs should be the ones to address their own perspective on culture and religion.
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12 November 2009
KAMPALA - Over 1,200 leading policymakers, researchers, academics and health professionals from 59 countries will meet in Kampala, Uganda, from 15 to 18 November, where they will share the latest scientific findings and refocus the world’s attention on family planning’s contribution to development.
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12 November 2009
ISTANBUL – Decision-makers and government officials from 20 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have pledged to step up the fight against needless deaths and suffering resulting from pregnancy and childbirth. In a Statement of Commitment issued in Istanbul late last night, delegates to a high-level meeting recognized that investment in the health and rights of women is smart economics, especially during a financial crisis, and that family planning is one of the most cost-effective investments in reducing the maternal deaths that continue to affect the region.
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11 November 2009
MUHURA, Rwanda — When school lets out in the little village of Muhura, waves of children in bright blue or tan uniforms stream out along the dirt roadside in waves, running toward the soccer field, playing tag or stopping to stare at the rare sight of a vehicle passing by.
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11 November 2009
NEW YORK — In Ethiopia, 22,000 women and girls die each year as a result of complications during pregnancy or childbirth, and more than 500,000 suffer from pregnancy-related disabilities. That means that one out of every 27 Ethiopian women will end up dying from straining to give life. Reducing the high maternal mortality ratio is one of the greatest public health challenges facing the country.
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04 November 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York — In a new report to be issued on Wednesday, 18 November, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will show how people, especially empowered women, could make a difference in the fight against climate change.
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02 November 2009
NEW YORK — The definitive story behind the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and how it has changed the world over the course of the last 15 years is detailed in the newly released book,
Creating a New Consensus on Population.
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28 October 2009
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, today expressed deep sadness at the loss of lives of some United Nations staff and Afghan people in today’s attacks in Kabul. She extended her heartfelt sympathies to all of the families and friends of the dead or wounded.
Appealing to parliam...
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28 October 2009
ADDIS ABABA — Lawmakers from 115 countries reaffirmed their support today to the principles and goals of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and underlined the indispensable role of its Programme of Action in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They also committed to supporting accessible and affordable health services that promote family planning, HIV prevention and the health and well-being of women and girls.
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27 October 2009
ADDIS ABABA - We meet as we commemorate the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). We are gathered here to advance the visionary and holistic ICPD Programme of Action, which recognized the diversity the 179 governments participating in the conference, taking into consideration the diverse cultural values and religious beliefs that are not against human rights.
Fifteen years ago, 179 governments explicitly recognized sexual and reproductive health as a human right. Since then, the political commitments articulated within the ICPD Programme of Action have helped transform the international legal framework on reproductive rights, as well as national laws worldwide.
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27 October 2009
ADDIS ABABA — Ending the needless death and suffering of women during pregnancy is one of the greatest moral, human rights and development challenges of our time, agreed more than 150 delegates that met here yesterday. Facing that challenge requires concrete action to protect and fulfill everyone’s right to sexual and reproductive health, they declared.
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26 October 2009
"We are here for one reason and one reason only: to accelerate action to improve maternal health and end the needless death and suffering of women," UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid told a gathering of high-level officials meeting in Addis Ababa.
"Women are dying because for too many years, women’s lives, dreams and rights have not been given the priority attention they deserve," she continued.
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20 October 2009
BEIJING , China — The effort to ensure that all Asians can access reproductive health services is falling short, despite global agreement that this is essential to meeting other development goals. That was the consensus at a regional forum here involving a wide range of experts, activists and practitioners in the field.
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15 October 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York—More than 160 ministers, parliamentarians, and representatives of regional intergovernmental organizations and other world leaders will gather in Addis Ababa for a High-Level Meeting on Maternal Health – Millennium Development Goal 5. The 26 October event, organized by the Netherlands and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is intended to push maternal health higher on the political agenda and increase political and financial commitment for improving maternal health at the country level.
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15 October 2009
DAKAR, Senegal – Nearly 35 participants from UNFPA country offices in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Arab States, Asia and Europe, along with partners from governments and the civil society, met here this week to reflect on the most appropriate and efficient strategies to fully engage men and boys in the promotion of gender equality and in the prevention of HIV.
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14 October 2009
This year, as we mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, an unprecedented financial and economic crisis continues to spread around the globe. The crisis threatens efforts to reduce poverty, and sets back progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
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14 October 2009
NEW YORK — Women are uniquely positioned to help curb the harmful consequences of a changing climate, according to a new comprehensive on-line resource kit on gender, population and climate change launched today by UNFPA and the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).
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12 October 2009
UNITED NATIONS — The General Assembly today marked the fifteenth anniversary of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), which adopted a 20-year plan to provide access to reproductive health, reduce maternal deaths, promote women’s rights and help reduce poverty. During the all-day event, speakers from around the world voiced their support for the ICPD consensus and shared experiences on how it has helped their countries, communities and families.
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12 October 2009
UNITED NATIONS --- The Programme of Action puts people at the centre of development. It calls for the collection and analysis of population data to guide equitable policy decisions. It positions reproductive health, including family planning, and the healthy relationships and well-being of individuals, as a right. It makes clear that when women are empowered and supported to determine the number and spacing of their children—a decision that is seemingly simple yet so complex – they improve their own lives and the well-being of their families, communities and countries.
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12 October 2009
NEW YORK — Postulating that all human beings have inalienable rights is one thing. Actually achieving that is a long process with many dimensions. The right to sexual and reproductive health is a cornerstone of development, backed up by numerous declarations, conventions and treaties. Nevertheless, poor sexual and reproductive health remains one of the most prevalent causes of disease and death for women between the ages of 15 and 44 in developing countries.
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09 October 2009
NEW YORK — On 12 October, the General Assembly of the United Nations will hold a high-level meeting to mark the 15th anniversary of
International Conference on Population and Development and discuss the visionary 20-year
Programme of Action that came out of it. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the president of the General Assembly, and the Member States are expected to call attention to what ICPD has meant to the world, and to highlight the continuing importance of population dynamics, reproductive health and rights, women’s empowerment and related issues to improving the quality of life of people around the world.
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09 October 2009
SANTIAGO, Chile —The teenage fertility rate in Latin America is one of the highest in the world, surpassed only by sub-Saharan Africa. For this reason, teenage motherhood “is a concern and calls for urgent action,” stated experts meeting in Santiago, Chile for the regional seminar, Progress and Key Actions for Implementing the Cairo Programme of Action, 15 Years after Approval.
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09 October 2009
NEW YORK — Some 450 business and community leaders, dignitaries and philanthropists gathered last night at Gotham Hall to celebrate the 2009 Americans for UNFPA Honourees for the Health and Dignity of Women.
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08 October 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York—UNFPA will sponsor a special event on 12 October to open a major exhibition on violence against women around the world. The show, to be attended by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, other senior United Nations officials and representative of the diplomatic community, is also intended to observe the 15th anniversary of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and will follow a full-day session of the General Assembly commemorating the anniversary.
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07 October 2009
BANGKOK—Following the recent series of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is providing humanitarian assistance in affected countries throughout the region. As part of the coordinated United Nations response and working through local partners, the Fund is primarily addressing reproductive health needs, particularly those of displaced pregnant women.
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06 October 2009
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Y-PEER is an innovative youth-to-youth initiative pioneered by UNFPA in 2000, that has now spread to five continents and about 50 countries, including Lebanon.
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05 October 2009
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — FIGO, the International Federation of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians, has conferred its Recognition Award on Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, for her major contributions to women’s health and rights. This is highest honour that FIGO bestows on those who are not gynaecologists or obstetricians.
Ms. Obaid received the award at the XIXth World Congress of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians being held in Cape Town, South Africa. The five-day Congress brings together 8,000 participants in search of solutions to major global problems, such as maternal death, cervical cancer as well as the links between gender violence and HIV infection.
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01 October 2009
New York — When AIDS first struck in the 1980s, it mainly affected men. Today, women account for about half of the 33 million people living with HIV worldwide, and 60 per cent of those infected in sub-Saharan Africa. The large majority of these women acquired the virus through heterosexual intercourse, mostly through unprotected sex with their husbands or long-term primary partners.
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30 September 2009
DAKA, Bangladesh — Slim and graceful, Hasina Akter still has a winning smile, luxuriant dark hair and one large bright eye.
But she’s no longer the beauty she one was – not since Amir, an employee of her father’s, threw acid on her face, leaving her disfigured and partially blind.
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29 September 2009
NEW YORK — Improving maternal health and reducing newborn deaths is a complex undertaking because, among other things, it involves strengthening health systems, scaling up programmes to reach remote rural areas and marginalized populations, and ensuring that appropriate resources are committed to what some consider a 'woman's issue.'
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28 September 2009
MARRAKESH, Morocco — More than 2,000 population experts, scholars, researchers and policymakers from all parts of the world gathered here to share ideas and review recent developments in population and demography.
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27 September 2009
The demographic challenges facing our world today are unprecedented and demand a policy response, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid told a gathering of more than 2,000 leading demographers in Marrakesh, Morocco.
"While we welcome the world’s largest youth population, we experience a simultaneous increase in the number of older persons in countries worldwide. While we witness rapid population growth in the world’s poorest nations, some of the world’s richest countries face population decline," she said.
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25 September 2009
New YORK, New York — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, five United Nations organizations and private sector supporters will join together later today via the Clinton Global Initiative in a new approach to address the rights violations and health impacts of sexual violence against girls. According to the World Health Organization, in 2002 approximately 150 million girls experienced some form of sexual violence with physical contact.
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25 September 2009
UNITED NATIONS — A key forum on ways to meet the long-neglected sexual and reproductive health needs of people affected by protracted crises, such as conflicts, will be held from 28 to 30 September in Granada, Spain. The event,
Consultation on Sexual and Reproductive Health in Protracted Crises and Recovery, is being organized by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Andalusian School of Public Health.
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24 September 2009
Ten years after the first celebration of the International Day of Older Persons, there are more older people in the world than ever before, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid noted in her statement for the International Day of Older Persons, which is commemorated on October 1.
More than 1 person in 10 is over the age of 60 and older generations are growing faster than other age groups in the population. In 2050, it is estimated that more than 1 in 5 persons will be more than 60 years old. Population ageing is a reflection of our successes in human development. We live longer and are healthier than ever, which is one of humanity’s major achievements.
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18 September 2009
BANGKOK— A global action plan linking reproductive health, women’s rights and development remains an urgent priority 15 years after its adoption, Asian and the Pacific governments affirmed today.
Senior officials from 30 countries pledged to do more to promote safe motherhood, family planning, gender equality and adolescent health, at a forum reviewing regional progress since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).
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17 September 2009
UNITED NATIONS — More than 2,000 population experts from around the world will converge on Marrakech, Morocco, next week for the 26th International Population Conference, organized by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP). The conference, which is held every four years, is the first to take place in Africa and in an Arab country. The event also coincides with the 15th anniversary of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development.
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11 September 2009
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Geri Halliwell, a Goodwill Ambassador of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, made an impassioned plea for the protection of women as she joined Nepal’s Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, in launching a national campaign to stop violence against women here today.
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11 September 2009
NAIROBI, Kenya — Though political instability, violence and chaos surround them, surgeons and backup teams dedicated to ending the misery of obstetric fistula continue their work in Somalia. The gratitude of their patients keeps them going in the most desperate of situations.
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10 September 2009
NORTH KIVU, DRC — in the eastern corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been described as one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman. According to the latest report by the United Nations Secretary General, over the last decade at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence have been recorded, but because of gross under- reporting, the true numbers are assumed to be much higher.
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09 September 2009
HANOI, Viet Nam – Viet Nam has experienced an unusual rapid rise of the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) over the last few years. While in 2000 the SRB was at normal levels and was estimated to be 106.2 male births per 100 female births, it increased to 112.1 in 2008. The current growth of 1 point per year since 2006 means that the SRB might cross the 115 mark within three years, according to the report “Recent change in the sex ratio at birth in Viet Nam”, published by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
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09 September 2009
BERLIN, Germany — A global forum held in Berlin put governments and international donors on notice that advocates for women’s health and rights will now be speaking more frankly and pressing more strongly for speedy action, investment and an end to gender-based discrimination.
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08 September 2009
UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid updated the Executive Board on the commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development and other recent progress on issues ranging from maternal health to population and climate change. She also spoke about how the Fund is moving ahead to promote United Nations reform and aid and programme effectiveness, which is especially important during this financial crisis.
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08 September 2009
KATHMANDU/LONDON — Former Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell, a Goodwill Ambassador of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will be in Nepal from 6 to 9 September to highlight the devastating effects of maternal death and injuries such as uterine prolapse on women in the country. A mother herself, Ms. Halliwell will witness efforts to make motherhood safer in the country.
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05 September 2009
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, today reaffirmed its support for comprehensive sexuality education as an essential component of efforts to protect the health and rights of young people.
“We are mandated by the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) to provide support to governments to protect and promote the rights of adolescents to reproductive health education, information and care,” stated Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA’s Executive Director.
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02 September 2009
Non-governmental organizations and UNFPA are united in many ways, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid told the NGO Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Development in Berlin. "We are joined together by a common cause for health, rights and the future. We are united in our quest for human rights, justice, equality and equity. We are united in our vision that every person, in every part of the world, of every nationality, every ethnic origin and religion, both believers and non-believers, of every race, sex and sexual orientation… that every person, whether living with HIV or living with disabilities, whether living in safety, displaced or refugee… that every person can enjoy the full range of human rights to which they are entitled, so they can reach their full potential. Human rights are inalienable and indivisible."
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02 September 2009
BERLIN — Activists from 131 countries convened here today to recharge a global movement for women’s health and rights, opening with an appeal from a leading German minister for countries to earmark 1 per cent of their economic stimulus funds for development needs
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01 September 2009
MINSK, Belarus — Fifty religious leaders and representatives of faith-based organizations (FBOs) from Europe and Central Asia gathering here this week were confronted with the grim fact that every minute, one woman dies giving birth and 20 more suffer injury, infection or disease, despite the fact that 80 per cent of all maternal deaths are preventable. They also concluded that regardless of almost universal antenatal care coverage and the high percentage of deliveries attended by skilled health personnel in many countries of the region, progress towards reducing maternal deaths has been very slow.
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31 August 2009
BERLIN — More than 400 delegates from around the world are scheduled to gather here this week for a new conversation assessing 15 years of work towards better sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights for women in developing countries. Global Partners in Action: a Non-Governmental Organization Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Development is set for 2-4 September at the Estrel Hotel Conference Centre.
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28 August 2009
KIGALI, Rwanda — Investing in impoverished girls, - especially very young adolescents and those who are married or out of school – is key to achieving health development goals. Yet these girls are virtually invisible in programming.
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24 August 2009
KIGALI, Rwanda – Experts in adolescent reproductive health from ten African countries converged here today to share information and harmonize programming that can improve the lives of young people. The meeting was opened by the Minister of Health Dr. Richard Sezibera of Rwanda, a country whose extraordinary development progress in the last decade has confounded all expectations.
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21 August 2009
DILI, Timor-Leste — UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Catarina Furtardo, a popular actress and television personality, continues to use her celebrity to raise awareness in Portuguese-speaking countries of gender inequalities and health problems facing some of the world’s poorest people.
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20 August 2009
LONDON – The UK Government has given UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, high marks for effectiveness, as well as additional funding to tackle problems faced by the world’s poorest people, according to a press release issued by DFID, the UK Department for International Development.
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18 August 2009
HANG KIA, Hoa Binh Province, Viet Nam – When Kha Y Khua gave birth to her first child 13 years ago, she broke with tradition and gave birth at the local health station. Her people, the H’Mong, live mostly in mountainous, hard-to-reach areas, and are known for their close family ties and strong cultural traditions and beliefs. In H’mong cosmology, a life-soul can be snatched by evil spirits and separated from its body. Because newborn babies are so small and new to life on earth, they are especially vulnerable.
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17 August 2009
On 19 August 2009, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, joins the rest of the humanitarian community in marking the first World Humanitarian Day.
In the last decade, more than 700 humanitarian workers lost their lives while helping those most in need in the world’s most difficult environments. Thousands more have endured bombing, kidnapping, attacks, hijacking, robbery and rape.
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12 August 2009
It is often said that young people are our future. They are our present, too. It is today, and not tomorrow, that we must invest in young people and include them in solving the great challenges of our times.
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10 August 2009
NUSA DUA, Indonesia — Speaking at the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Bali, Ms. Mane called for an end to harassment of sex workers, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men, and said HIV prevention efforts in the region need to focus on these groups, which account for most new infections in the region.
“An absolutely necessary first step” in responding more effectively to the epidemic “is to ensure legal protection for populations that engage in high-risk behaviours,” she said.
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06 August 2009
UNITED NATIONS — Partnerships between faith-based organizations and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, are critical to enhancing efforts to reduce maternal deaths and end violence against women.
Representatives of more than 40 international faith-based organizations emphasized this partnership potential at the conclusion of two days of a policy round table on a range of issues including humanitarian relief, migration, maternal health and women's empowerment. The 3-4 August meeting was hosted by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
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03 August 2009
KAPILVASTU DISTRICT, Nepal — Thanks to a recent hysterectomy, Dhana Kala Rokka Magar feels like a new person. At age 60, she has become a passionate health advocate, in the hopes that others will not suffer as much as she has, after 28 years of dealing with the misery of a prolapsed uterus.
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03 August 2009
When we talk about culture, we acknowledge that for the majority of the world’s people, faith—in its varied and heterogeneous forms—constitutes an important part of cultures. We also know that there is much in the basic tenets of all religions that bring people together rather than keep them apart.
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30 July 2009
KATHMANDU—Reducing maternal deaths should be a higher priority for South Asian governments, agreed parliamentarians, policy makers and journalists from the region at a conference here today on reproductive health advocacy.
Participants shared experiences in calling for better, adequately supplied and staffed services for pregnancy and childbirth, family planning and HIV prevention. They then adopted a declaration outlining actions needed to accelerate progress.
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17 July 2009
For two million Sri Lankans, the message of UNFPA’s World Population Day arrived right in the palm of their hands. A partnership with Dialog GSM, a telecommunications company, allowed UNFPA to send a text message to people throughout the island nation.
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14 July 2009
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Across most of sub-Saharan Africa, there are fewer than five doctors for every 100,000 people. Each year 20,000 health professionals leave their posts to pursue jobs in urban areas outside their own countries.
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11 July 2009
Today, as we commemorate World Population Day, the global financial and economic crisis threatens to reverse hard-won gains in education and health in developing countries. Among those hardest hit are women and girls. This is why the theme of this year’s World Population Day focuses on investing in women.
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11 July 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York—Investing in women and girls during the global financial crisis will help set the stage for economic recovery and reduce inequality and poverty, according to Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
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11 July 2009
In the midst of the worst global economic crisis in generations, we must find the most effective ways to continue progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. There is no better path than the focus of this year’s World Population Day: investing in women and girls.
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06 July 2009
UNITED NATIONS, Geneva — Fistula survivor, Sarah Omega Kidangasi, and singer, actress and Virgin Unite ambassador, Natalie Imbruglia, today addressed the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations to call attention to maternal health and obstetric fistula, a devastating injury of childbearing that leaves women with agonizing pain, chronic incontinence and – in most cases – a stillborn baby.
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01 July 2009
KISUMU, Kenya — In a makeshift room inside an unfinished building in the Manyatta slums in the Western Kenyan city of Kisumu, the neighbourhood’s men regularly congregate to discuss community matters, usually in the presence of the area chief.
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30 June 2009
UNITED NATIONS — Funding for and attention to family planning has been declining for the past decade. At the same time, 200 million women still lack access to contraception, the largest youth generation ever is coming into its prime reproductive years and the women in poorest and least developed countries have the highest unmet need for family planning.
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30 June 2009
WASHINGTON—On the eve of the 20th anniversary of World Population Day, the World Bank and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, warned that family planning and other reproductive health programmes vital to poor women had fallen off the development radar of many low-income and donor country governments and international aid agencies.
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30 June 2009
Today, as we commemorate World Population Day, the global financial and economic crisis threatens to reverse hard-won gains in education and health in developing countries. Among those hardest hit are women and girls. This is why the theme of this year’s World Population Day focuses on investing in women.
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29 June 2009
It has been a long while since I visited the World Bank so it is wonderful to be with you and with many friends here. I thank you all for coming.
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25 June 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York— Family planning experts from around the world warn that the lack of funding for family planning is stalling development efforts in poor countries. Countries facing large population growth are especially at risk.
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24 June 2009
GABU, Guinea-Bissau — A year ago, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Catarina Furtado laid the first brick for the construction of a maternity surgical unit in this dusty town in eastern Guinea-Bissau.
Last week, she attended the inauguration for the unit that her efforts had helped establish at the Gabú Regional Hospital. Opening of the surgical unit is part of a larger project to support emergency obstetric care in the areas of Oio and Gabú, with the financial support of UNFPA, the Government of Portugal and the Radio Portuguese Television (RTP).
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24 June 2009
KATINE, Uganda — On a recent trip to Katine, in north-east Uganda, I witnessed the death of a woman who haemorrhaged after giving birth. Reducing the death toll from childbirth in developing countries is a huge task, but something needs to be done — now.
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17 June 2009
GENEVA — The Human Rights Council today adopted the resolution on ‘Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights’. With this resolution, over 70 UN Member States acknowledge that the issue of maternal health must be recognized as a human right challenge and that efforts to curb the unacceptably high global rates of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity must be urgently intensified and broadened.
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16 June 2009
UNITED NATIONS — In his opening address to his Forum on Advancing Global Health in the Face of Crisis, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called attention to the links between health and all of the Millennium Development Goals. Healthy people, he told senior government officials and international experts, are more productive, take fewer days off work, have lower birth rates and thus invest more in fewer children.
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16 June 2009
The devastation of obstetric fistula affects some 2 million women across the developing world, with approximately 50,000 to 100,000 new cases occurring every year.
UNFPA’s Campaign to End Fistula aims to eradicate this condition. Progress to date is summarized in a two-page preview of its upcoming annual report, “Healing Wounds, Repairing Lives”, which will be released later this summer.
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15 June 2009
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The Australian Government will donate $383,400 (AUD 500,000) to support efforts by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, to meet the health needs of thousands of women displaced by the conflict in northern Sri Lanka.
About 75,000 of the 280,000 recently displaced people living in camps in the area are women and girls of reproductive age who need basic hygiene support and reproductive health care; an estimated 6,000 are pregnant and in urgent need of services, including potentially lifesaving obstetric care.
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10 June 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed “dismay” today at the rising death toll from yesterday’s suicide bombing of a hotel in north-west Pakistan, which killed members of the UNFPA humanitarian relief team, among others. The Secretary-General repeated his strong condemnation of the terrorist attack.
According to media reports, as many as 18 people died in the truck bombing that destroyed the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, the capital of the troubled North West Frontier Province (NWFP), on Tuesday night.
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09 June 2009
PESHAWAR, Pakistan—Growing numbers of pregnant women uprooted by conflict in the North-West Frontier Province are receiving essential medical care at facilities set up by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
A 19-year-old from Buner last week became the first woman to give birth at one of five UNFPA-supported reproductive health clinics in camps for the displaced. Taj Bibi had walked 50 kilometres in two days before reaching the Yar Hussein camp in Swabi district.
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05 June 2009
DOHA, Qatar — The International Seminar on Family Networks Population Ageing, the first of its kind to focus on developing countries, concluded by recommending urgent global action to ensure positive ageing for older persons, especially in poor nations.
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03 June 2009
NEW YORK— Every minute, a woman dies in the developing world as a result of pregnancy or childbirth. For years, the tragic deaths of 500,000 mothers each year has been more or less invisible. The dead women are typically buried with little fanfare; their families, usually impoverished, are left to cope with their loss as best they can.
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02 June 2009
UNITED NATIONS — Each year the United Nations Population Award recognizes the work of an individual and an institution for outstanding contributions to population concerns and their solutions. Yesterday United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented the 2009 award to two laureates: a Nicaraguan non-governmental organization, Movimiento Comunal Nicaragüense and an Egyptian doctor, Mahmoud Fathalla. The Secretary-General praised their work in helping mothers and the rural poor to claim their right to health.
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27 May 2009
Together, we are called to move forward as we face uncertain times and tremendous challenges, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya A. Obaid told the Executive Board at the 2009 Annual Session. "We are called to align our values, commitments and resources to build a sustainable future and reach common ground for action," she said.
"Today, more than ever before, our very survival requires greater cooperation and understanding among nations and among peoples. And no leader, or organization, or nation can meet these challenges alone. In our networked world, we have to work together. We strive to expand ways to complement each other utilizing our comparative advantage to contribute vigorously to human development, using our limited resources in a harmonized manner to reach the very extensive goals which you, Member States, have adopted to guide our support to your national efforts," she continued.
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22 May 2009
ISLAMABAD/UNITED NATIONS — Pakistani women uprooted by fighting in the Swat Valley have critical health needs that relief operations must urgently address, says UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
Some 69,000 pregnant women have been displaced since the start of military operations on 27 April. Nearly 6,000 of them are expected to give birth within the next month, with approximately 900 needing surgery to handle pregnancy-related complications, UNFPA estimates.
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21 May 2009
UNITED NATIONS — UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has been selected by the international fashion retailer H & M (Hennes & Mauritz AB) as one of the contribution recipients of its 2009 Fashion Against AIDS campaign. As part of a recently-established partnership, H&M will present 25 per cent of the FAA2 campaign donations to UNFPA to support HIV prevention projects in four countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Oman and Turkey. The projects will be undertaken by Y-PEER—a groundbreaking youth-to-youth initiative pioneered by UNFPA.
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19 May 2009
Nova Iguaçu, Brazil —Joao (30) recalls the feverish evening not too long ago when he had a harrowing fight with the mother of his children. His version of the story is that in the midst of a heated fight, he pulled out a knife and tried to kill himself in desperation. “Look, I have the scar to prove it,” he said, pointing to his chest. Dazed and in pain, he fled the couple’s home. He says he was hit by a car as he rushed into the street.
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18 May 2009
UNITED NATIONS — Some 2,000 indigenous representatives from all regions of the world have gathered here for the eighth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Government representatives, civil society, academia, some 35 UN system bodies and other inter-governmental organizations are also engaged in the Forum, which will focus on implementation of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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11 May 2009
HUNG YEN PROVINCE, Viet Nam — Thirty United Nations staff from five agencies in Viet Nam joined the statistics office and other partners to help monitor the 2009 Population and Housing Census in 21 provinces throughout the country. This is the first time that UN agencies in Viet Nam have jointly monitored a census, and their work underscores the importance of quality data.
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07 May 2009
COLOMBO — At least 3,000 pregnant women have fled the fighting in northern Sri Lanka in recent days and some 350 of them will give birth in the next month, according to estimates by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. With health services increasingly challenged by the influx of internally displaced persons, UNFPA is stepping up its support for the health and safety of women and girls affected by the conflict, particularly those who are pregnant. Typically, around 15 per cent of women giving birth will develop complications that require blood transfusions or emergency surgical care. Pregnancy-related disabilities and death often rise in conflict situations when reproductive health services are disrupted.
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05 May 2009
NEW YORK — Fifteen years after a conference in Cairo captured the world’s attention, some of its key leaders had a conversation about what it all meant -- to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, to the world, and to those who helped make it a success.
The leaders included Nafis Sadik, the former executive director of UNFPA who served as Secretary-General of the International Conference on Population and Development; Fred Sai, Special Adviser to the President of Ghana and former Director-General of the International Planned Parenthood, who chaired ICPD; and Francis Kissling, former Director of Catholics for Choice, who participated in the ICPD preparations and conference as an NGO representative.
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05 May 2009
The presence of a midwife at birth can mean the difference between life and death.
Having a skilled professional at birth protects the life of the mother and the child by recognizing problems early, when the situation can still be controlled, and by intervening quickly.
Every minute a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth. And the presence of a midwife can save her.
In 2008, UNFPA launched a new initiative with the International Confederation of Midwives to tackle the severe shortage of midwives in more than 30 developing countries. An additional 350,000 midwives are needed to improve maternal health, reduce child mortality and combat HIV. Addressing this shortage is also critical to achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015.
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03 May 2009
POCOATA, Bolivia — Bolivia has one of the highest rates of maternal death in the hemisphere, after Guyana and Haiti. The consequences have been devastating, particularly for some of the most vulnerable people in Bolivia – impoverished, rural indigenous women.
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En Español)
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01 May 2009
YANGON — In the year since Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, thousands of women affected by the deadly storm have benefited from reproductive health services supported by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
UNFPA has established clinics and provided outreach services in affected communities in the Ayeyarwady Delta and Yangon, allowing more than 7,000 pregnant women to receive antenatal care. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Fund has also distributed essential drugs, supplies and equipment to health facilities across the Delta.
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24 April 2009
A new initiative to prevent HIV/AIDS in Central America and the Caribbean was formally launched in Havana, Cuba, in early April. The effort, implemented by UNFPA with a $3.2 million contribution from the
OPEC Fund for International Development, aims to raise awareness of sexually transmitted diseases among the youth of the region, which has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the Western Hemisphere. It will also provide young people with sexual and reproductive health care that is youth-friendly, and gender and culturally sensitive.
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22 April 2009
LOS ANGELES — The African First Ladies Health Summit concluded with a commitment by these influential women to use their positions to improve maternal health, stop the AIDS epidemic and promote girls’ education.
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22 April 2009
COLOMBO — Women and girls uprooted by the conflict in northern Sri Lanka need assistance to maintain their health and dignity, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, said today. The Fund is collaborating with district health authorities to provide personal hygiene supplies to displaced people in Vavuniya district.
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21 April 2009
ARSI, Ethiopia — If you were to visit 65-year-old Ayatu Nure and his family at their compound in the Oromiya region of Ethiopia, you would probably find eight of Ayatu’s 12 wives working well together as they harvest banana roots for dinner, or share in the raising of their 78 children.
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17 April 2009
MEXICO CITY — It’s a long way between the glamorous world of pop-stardom and the decidedly unglamorous world of violence against women. Or is it? Gabriela “Gaby” Villalba (24) and Barbara “Barbie” Sepulveda (20), the female half of the Chilean band Kudai, think maybe not.
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16 April 2009
VIENTIANE, Lao PDR - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the visited the Lao People’s Democratic Republic earlier this week, marking the first visit of a Secretary-General to the country in nearly 25 years. Mr. Ban spoke at a ceremony commemorating both the opening of the newly-established UN House in Vientiane and the launch of the mid-term Millennium Development Goals Progress Report.
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14 April 2009
Good afternoon to all of you. I hope you are all energized from the first sessions today of the Regional Planning Meeting for the Arab States. I would like to thank our guests and colleagues who provided us with thought provoking ideas today as we examined the dynamics in this region; a sad region victim of itself, its wealth and geographic position, and of external powers’ hunger for resources. But development is about hope and belief in people, so we must be positive as we strive to move the development agenda forward.
And I would like to express appreciation for the leadership of the Regional Director Hafedh Chekir. Mari, Purnima and I have full confidence in you, Hafedh, as you lead this region forward. We would also like to welcome the Deputy Director of the Arab States Regional Office, Delia Barcelona, to the Arab region. Knowing her for many years, I can confirm that she will be a real asset in the regional office. Together, Hafedh and Delia make an impressive leadership team.
Since we last met in 2007, many things have happened. We have a new UNFPA Strategic Plan and a new organizational structure with a UNFPA Regional Office here in Cairo.
We also have a new global financial crisis and a new administration in the United States headed by President Barack Obama, who has allowed the US to join the 180 countries that provide voluntary contributions to UNFPA. We are waiting to receive the US$ 50 million in funding to UNFPA for 2009.
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09 April 2009
NEW YORK - Anika Rahman, president of Americans for UNFPA, rang the opening bell of the NASDAQ Stock Market today. The honour of opening the NASDAQ Stock Market was in recognition of restored U.S. support for UNFPA and the world’s women.
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08 April 2009
JERUSALEM—
A new survey examining living conditions in Gaza during the recent Israeli military offensive reveals that the conflict has prevented four in ten pregnant women who needed pre- or post-natal care during the crisis from receiving such services. One third of these women could not reach health facilities due to life-threatening dangers. Others were unable to do so because these facilities were either destroyed by shelling, packed with war casualties or had stopped working.
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07 April 2009
MANILA - Thousands of Filipino women continue to die due to complications related to childbirth, according to health specialists. Some 230 women die here for every 100,000 live births, compared with 110 in Thailand, 62 in Malaysia and 14 in Singapore, according to United Nations figures.
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07 April 2009
The Commission on Population and Development reaffirmed the centrality of the ICPD Programme of Action and Key Actions to the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, according to the closing statement by Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. The ICPD agenda is a central agenda for sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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06 April 2009
UNITED NATIONS—Investments of $64.7 billion are needed in 2010 for population programmes that are essential to reduce poverty, promote development and curtail maternal death, according to a revision approved by United Nations Members at the closing session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) late on Friday. One third of this sum, about $21.6 billion, is expected as international assistance, while the remaining two thirds would be domestic investments by developing nations.
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05 April 2009
Writing from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof described the relationship between poverty and high fertility. ”For all the American and international efforts to fight global poverty,” he writes, “one thing is clear: Those efforts won’t get far as long as women like Nahomie Nercure continue to have 10 children.”
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03 April 2009
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — A programme which will provide 1.8 million Brazilian industrial workers with information about sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and violence prevention was launched in Rio de Janeiro today by UNFPA; SESI, a Brazilian agency which provides social services to 400,000 private companies across the country; and the Brazilian non-governmental organization Promundo.
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02 April 2009
RIO DE JANEIRO—“We need to redefine what it means to be a man, reinforce zero tolerance of gender-based violence, and make sexual and reproductive health services more relevant and user-friendly for men,” Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, told participants in a global symposium on gender equality here today.
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31 March 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York—The world’s developing countries told a United Nations meeting here on Monday, “the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action is crucial for the eradication of extreme poverty as well as the achievement of the other Millennium Development Goals.”
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30 March 2009
As we meet, the world is seized with crisis. In a few days, leaders of the G-20 countries, representing 80 per cent of the world’s output, will meet in London. They will meet against the backdrop of the worst international economic crisis in generations. Countries worldwide are gripped with recession, marked by falling trade, reduced income, and rising unemployment. There is growing concern that the financial crisis will fuel political instability that will also spill across borders.People everywhere are looking to leaders to put people first and fix what they perceive to be a broken and corrupt system. They are calling for a system that places the long-term well-being of the majority of the people over the short-term interests of a few.
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26 March 2009
VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka — The birth of a child should be a time of joy. But for Imanandi, who is pregnant and displaced in war-torn Sri Lanka, the danger and uncertainty all around obscures the hope that new life brings. She is overwhelmed with worry for the child who is due any day: How will I protect my baby from danger? How will we survive when water and food is so limited? Will we have to flee again? Will we ever be able to go home?
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26 March 2009
Today, on World Health Day, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, joins the World Health Organization in drawing attention to the safety of health facilities and the readiness of health workers to treat people in emergencies.
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25 March 2009
Following the announcement by the US Department of State, on 24 March 2009, that it will contribute about $50 million to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, in 2009, Ms. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA Executive Director, issued the following remarks:
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18 March 2009
GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Barber shops across Georgetown, Guyana are buzzing with chatter about the latest trends, community happenings, neighbourhood gossip and now, ways to protect young people from HIV and AIDS. UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has identified barber shops and beauty salons as information hubs, and is using them to spread the word about HIV prevention.
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13 March 2009
GENEVA - In a joint statement delivered to the Human Rights Council, 83 countries reaffirmed their commitment to addressing maternal mortality as a human rights issue. They called on the Council to take action to address the unacceptably high number of women of women who die every year from reasons associated with childbirth and pregnancy. The signatories range from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where women have a 1 in 22 lifetime risk of maternal death, to Switzerland, where the risk of maternal death is about 1 in 14,000. The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the UN system made up of 47 States and is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.
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12 March 2009
UNITED NATIONS —Until 2000, the Tharu people of western Nepal were legally bonded as servants to upper caste landowners, who forced them to farm land stolen from their Tharu ancestors. For many generations they worked in virtual slavery -- without pay and with few opportunities for health care or education. Among an already oppressed group, women were seen as having the least value. Many women were forced into marriage and total financial dependence. andmany others suffered sexual abuse as well.
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12 March 2009
UNITED NATIONS —Yesterday’s action by President Barack Obama to pave the way for the release of United States funding for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, reminds the world of his commitment to women’s health, rights and equality, according to UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid.
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11 March 2009
UNITED NATIONS—New world population projections for the year 2050 by the United Nations underline the need to provide couples with the means to exercise their human right to determine freely the number of their children, said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
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10 March 2009
GAZA, Occupied Palestinian Territory –Emergency situations compound the vulnerability of pregnant women, as an assessment of reproductive health services during the recent crisis here revealed.
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08 March 2009
Whether it is human trafficking, domestic violence, crimes committed in the name of honour or passion, child marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, or sexual violence, which in many conflict situations has reached alarming proportions, violence against women and girls constitutes a shameful crime that is too often shrouded in silence and too seldom punished.
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06 March 2009
At the International Women's Day Luncheon in Washington, D.C., the Executive Director addressed a large gathering of people "representing organizations who truly care about women and men, young and old all over the world. It is this global goal that unites us, as we act locally to generate support and change."
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01 March 2009
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — A recent visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Heal Africa hospital here called attention to the plight of thousands of women and girls who have survived brutal episodes of sexual violence.
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27 February 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York — "The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS," will be the focus of the Commission on the Status of Women, which will convene here from 2-13 March. During the gathering, representatives of countries, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations from all regions will share lessons and good practices related to the subject, and suggest additional key initiatives to enhance the sharing of responsibilities. The gathering will also address the implementation of the commitments that countries made at the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing.
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26 February 2009
MONROVIA, Liberia – Seventeen survivors of a disabling injury of childbearing are now ready to return to their communities, having undergone successful surgery, followed by counselling and skills training through the Liberia Fistula Rehabilitation and Reintegration Programme.
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24 February 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York – An Egyptian doctor, Mahmoud Fathalla, and a Nicaraguan non-governmental organization, Movimiento Comunal Nicaragüense (MCN), have won this year’s United Nations Population Award. The Award is given to individuals and institutions for outstanding work in population and in improving the health of individuals.
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23 February 2009
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania –Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, today joined the Vice-President of Tanzania, Ali Mohamed Shein, in launching preparations for the country’s population and housing census to take place in 2012.
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20 February 2009
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Women and girls caught up in the ongoing warfare in northern Sri Lanka are at grave risk, according to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The Fund is assisting civilians who have escaped the combat area but remains greatly concerned about the health and safety of the tens of thousands who remain, particularly pregnant women.
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16 February 2009
Johannesburg — Conflicts in Africa are diverting much needed resources from crucial development tasks, Graça Machel, a staunch advocate for women and children said in her keynote address this morning to the Africa regional planning meeting of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
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10 February 2009
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory — The fighting in Gaza has ended, for the most part. But tens of thousands of Palestinians remain homeless, crammed into shelters or homes of friends or families, with little food or water. Many are mourning the loss of multiple family members, while dealing with their own injuries and depression.
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10 February 2009
New York --- In Guatemala, women are mutilated and murdered with impunity. In India, the physical and psychological effects of assaults, burns, battery and rape wreak havoc on women’s development and endanger their lives. In Zimbabwe, domestic violence occurs across all sectors of society.
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06 February 2009
Bangkok (ESCAP/UNFPA) – Reproductive health, gender equality and policies addressing population concerns remain central to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific, regional specialists agreed here this week.
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27 January 2009
United Nations – The staff of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, was elated, relieved and encouraged by U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision last Friday to restore funding to the organization. The entire staff wishes to convey heartfelt thanks to the many supporters who saw the Fund through the last seven years.
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23 January 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York — UNFPA applauds today's statement from United States President Barack Obama restoring U.S. funding for UNFPA's operations. President Obama said: "I look forward to working with Congress to restore U.S. financial support for the U.N. Population Fund. By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S. will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries."
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20 January 2009
My friends, 2009 seems to mark a new beginning, but tremendous challenges lie ahead. People everywhere, who are shaken by the global financial crisis, want to contribute and to have hope for a better future.
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20 January 2009
United Nations — In a visit to the Gaza Strip today, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced shock and anger at the ‘heartbreaking’ devastation, according to Reuters. Israeli attacks reportedly killed 1,300 and made thousands homeless before the ceasefire took affect on 18 January.
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19 January 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York—An earthquake that hit Costa Rica earlier this month has left pregnant women and young people particularly vulnerable. Nearly 4,000 people, a majority of them women and children, were forced to move to emergency shelters. More than 25,000 households have no water. Twenty people were reported killed by the 8 January quake, but recovery workers believe that more victims will be found once the rubble is cleared.
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15 January 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York—Every minute somewhere in the world a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth, and the women in the world’s least developed countries are 300 times more likely to die in childbirth than those in developed countries.
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14 January 2009
New York/Jerusalem—Continuing violence and displacement present serious risks to more than 40,000 pregnant women in Gaza, warned UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Lack of access to critical health services, including emergency obstetric care, could mean the difference between life and death for many of them and their babies.
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05 January 2009
PAKSE, Lao PDR—Khanthava is sitting on the well-made hospital bed with a drip in her arm, waiting for her labour to begin at the regional hospital here in southern Lao PDR.
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02 January 2009
UNITED NATIONS, New York—UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is extremely concerned about the plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip, and reiterates the call by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and all other voices for an immediate halt of military hostilities that are heavily impacting the civilian population.
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23 December 2008
HARARE, Zimbabwe— As the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe deepens and its health systems collapse, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has intensified its efforts to aid pregnant women and their families by providing critical supplies to hospitals and support to health personnel.
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18 December 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York—The Campaign to End Fistula was today recognized as a model for championing collaboration between countries in the Global South, receiving an award of excellence from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
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16 December 2008
Distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends,
I stand in front of you today in my capacity as Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, who lost three national colleagues in the in the devastating bombing in Algiers. They lost their lives upholding the ideals of “We the Peoples” as expressed throughout the United Nations system—faith in the fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in peace and justice and in equal rights for men and women. Others survived physically, but live with their families and together are coping with their physical and mental pain. The grief affecting all of us is overwhelming and there continues to be a sense of vulnerability.
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10 December 2008
Today, as we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we can trace the evolution of a powerful international movement. We can take pride in the body of international human rights law that has been established and reflected in national legislation.
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01 December 2008
Today, as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, we pay tribute to the leaders in communities and nations who have promoted greater awareness and action to address the AIDS pandemic. If there is one lesson learned over the years, it is that success in responding to the HIV epidemic requires sustained leadership, community engagement and the involvement of people living with HIV.
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26 November 2008
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo—Forty year-old Angelique reveals a gunshot wound in her back to women in the Keyshero Medical centre, while her six-year-old daughter reaches up to touch it.
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25 November 2008
As we approach the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, violence against women persists as an all-too-common violation of human rights and human dignity.
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18 November 2008
I am honoured to join you today in Amman. I would like to thank Karen Koning AbuZayd, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)), for her leadership and passion for the rights of the Palestinian people and compassion for their plight. I have witnessed how she seizes every possible opportunity to speak out about the daily struggle of the Palestinian people and of the 35,000 Palestinian staff who are the backbone of the courageous work of UNRWA. Therefore, it is my distinct pleasure to address the UNRWA Hosts and Donors Meeting, an important event at a critical time.
When UNWRA was established in 1949, to carry out relief and works programmes for Palestine refugees, its creators viewed the agency as temporary, assuming the Palestine refugee crisis would be resolved within a reasonable amount of time. Regretfully, that has not been the case and for nearly six decades, Palestinian refugees have faced continuing hardship and progressive trauma, and deep uncertainty about their future, as most of them remain Stateless.
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14 November 2008
NURA, Kyrgystan—On the night of 5 October, most of the children and older persons in the small village of Nura were tucked in their beds when a powerful earthquake struck.
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12 November 2008
Thank you for joining us today. It is a pleasure, once again, to be in London to launch
The State of World Population 2008 report from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. I am also pleased to share with you the youth supplement,
Generation of Change: Young People and Culture, which features incredible stories from young people around the world.
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12 November 2008
HAT YAI, Thailand– Nurama ‘Mee’ Jaedo is a young woman with a mischievous smile and no regrets, even though the baby she had at the age of 16 was not planned.
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12 November 2008
FAIZABAD, Afghanistan—Qurban-Bibi knew she had to get to a hospital when she went into labour. After a previous Caesarean delivery, doctors had told her she would need another operation if she delivered again – it was a matter of life and death. But the decision was not hers to make.
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12 November 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York—Development strategies that are sensitive to cultural values can reduce harmful practices against women and promote human rights, including gender equality and women’s empowerment, affirms
The State of World Population 2008 report from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
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12 November 2008
IRIBA, Chad — The air at the Touloum refugee camp in eastern Chad, is eerily calm. Many of the 23,000 refugees have been here since 2004, when they fled violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.
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12 November 2008
SUVA, Fiji—Nervous laughter scatters across a room where representatives from the Pacific Island ministries of health and others have gathered for training on sexual and reproductive health care in emergencies. Their instructor, Dr. Wilma Doedens, a technical advisor for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has just asked them this question:
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12 November 2008
GEORGETOWN, Guyana—Anesa Barnes (17), is a peer educator in a HIV prevention programme in Parika, a town on the banks of Guyana’s huge Essequibo River. But in this multi-cultural and multi-ethnic community, she doesn’t even mention condoms until she learns something about her peers’ religious views and perspectives on pre-marital sex.
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10 November 2008
Distinguished participants,
Colleagues and friends,
I thank you for inviting me to this meeting, especially since UNFPA is an organization about prevention rather than treatment. I could not agree more with previous speakers that we need a major global effort of unprecedented scale to address the crisis of human resources and the tragedy of maternal mortality. This is part of the challenge of health human resources, including Mid-Level Providers, and the response is found in the package of health services that are accessible, affordable and of quality. Our common goal is to ensure equity and the right to health.
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03 November 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York—The links between culture and promoting human rights, especially women’s rights, will be the focus of a new
report by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
The State of World Population 2008 report, which coincides with the 60th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, showcases the role of culturally sensitive approaches in realizing these rights.
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23 October 2008
NEW YORK, New York—States, while exercising their sovereign right to determine who enters and remains in their territory, have an obligation to protect the human rights of migrants, according to a new report produced by the Global Migration Group, of which UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is a member. The report was produced to mark this year’s 60th anniversary of the affirmation of universal human rights.
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21 October 2008
ISTANBUL, Turkey—More than 75 religious leaders and representatives of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith-based organizations today formed a Global Interfaith Network to strengthen cooperation against the global urgencies of maternal death, AIDS and poverty.
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20 October 2008
Thank you, Safiye, for your kind introduction and thank you for being one of the leaders of UNFPA who has always believed in me. Thank you Azza and colleagues, from the countries, regions and headquarters for your tireless work in organizing this meeting and bringing all of us together in this historical city of Istanbul. Thank you Peer and colleagues in the UNFPA office in Turkey for your outstanding service to all of us. And thank you to our UN Resident Coordinator who has provided his support and has accepted to moderate this session.
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16 October 2008
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, expresses its sorrow at the death of Dr. Allan Rosenfield, Dean Emeritus of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.
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15 October 2008
Today, on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, renews its commitment to the advancement of human rights as a central principle for ending poverty.
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14 October 2008
UNITED NATIONS—On the heels of UNFPA’s recent efforts to promote maternal health at the High-level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals has come increased media exposure to the plight of mothers in developing countries. Prominent print and photo coverage in the 10 October 2008 edition of the Washington Post highlights the perils of poor access to emergency obstetric care and limited health-care resources to the lives of women and children.
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14 October 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York—An international award that promotes women’s health and rights has been named after the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The 2008 International Award for the Health and Dignity of Women now carries the name of Thoraya Ahmed Obaid who, according to Americans for UNFPA, the award presenter, “has emphasized the importance of women’s health initiatives that emerge from within a society, shaped by people’s cultural values and religious beliefs”.
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14 October 2008
DAKAR, Senegal — The second Pan-African film festival, intended to raise awareness of the various forms of violence committed against women in Africa, will open here on 26 November. Sponsored by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, the Government of Senegal, donors, non-governmental organizations and other partners, the festival is held on the occasion of the “International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women,” 25 November
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13 October 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York—As the first-ever report by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on fistula is scheduled to be presented to Member States today, the Campaign to End Fistula announced a fourfold increase in the number of countries it serves. According to its annual report, the campaign now works to prevent and treat fistula in over 45 countries in Africa, Asia and the Arab States. When the Campaign to End Fistula was launched in 2003, it covered 12 countries.
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10 October 2008
Today on World Mental Health Day, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, joins others in calling for “Making Mental Health a Global Priority”. Today, we call for greater integration of mental health and psychosocial support into humanitarian responses and efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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02 October 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York—Donor contributions for contraceptives and condoms for HIV prevention amounted to $223 million in 2007—a mere 5 per cent increase over the 2006 total of $212 million, according to a new analysis by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. This is despite a growing unmet need for such supplies, as more couples use modern methods of contraception and world population continues to increase.
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01 October 2008
Today, on the International Day of Older Persons, we celebrate rising life expectancy in many regions of the world as one of humanity’s major achievements.
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30 September 2008
TBILISI, Georgia — Shock, dismay, fear and concern surfaced when conflict struck Georgia on 7 August. For many watching from afar, the complexities of the political crisis – and what it would mean in the global context –were unclear.
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29 September 2008
United Nations-- In spite of financial storms wreaking havoc on the global economy and drawing wide media coverage last week, the High-level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals last week was a success for the MDGs broadly and for UNFPA’s work on maternal health. It exceeded expectations in terms of funds raised and also gained wide attention.
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25 September 2008
Today, 25 September 2008, as world leaders gather for the High-Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), we jointly pledge to intensify our support to countries to achieve Millennium Development Goal 5 “To Improve Maternal Health” – the MDG showing the least progress.
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23 September 2008
Cabaret, Haiti—When Anna went to sleep one Saturday night just before Hurricane Ike hit, she did not imagine that a few hours later her home would be gone. As the powerful storm churned across her hometown, Cabaret, just north of the Haitian capital, the normally quiet Bethel River turned into a flood of raging water.
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22 September 2008
New York, 22 September 2008— UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) have launched a new initiative to tackle the severe lack of midwives in developing countries.
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19 September 2008
A special event, "Committing to Progress for Mothers, Newborns and Children" will be held during the United Nations High-level Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals. With critical health care still failing to reach most women and children in the hardest hit countries, Heads of State from Chile, Finland and Tanzania are convening a special event to examine the urgent need to speed up progress to reduce maternal and child death. They will use the forum to get commitments to action and to highlight stories of successful leadership for maternal, newborn and child health from their own and other countries.
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12 September 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 12 September 2008—More than 800,000 people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance in Haiti in the wake of hurricanes Fay and Gustav and tropical storm Hanna. Houses, medical facilities, main roads and bridges have been destroyed, and an estimated 100,000 people have sought refuge in temporary shelters.
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09 September 2008
It is always a pleasure to address you as members of the Executive Board and as our partners in delivering on the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). I also welcome all members from the capitals.
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29 August 2008
UNFPA recently expanded its potential to deliver urgent and effective health care to women and families in the far-flung Pacific Islands. In collaboration with UNDP and UNICEF, the Fund has established the Joint Country Presence initiative to boost responsiveness through partnership. This comes as the Fund is also strengthening its field presence around the world to enhance service delivery and collaboration.
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27 August 2008
TBILISI, Georgia— With their houses burned and bulldozed, and their families torn and splintered, many mothers and their children here are still in a state of shock. “We fled out of the village and took a high road to get out,” said Nina, a mother living in the Tskhinvali region where political tensions arose in early August. “But I wish we had not left this way because we could see the lower road being bombed, and fleeing civilians being killed in their cars,” she explained.
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19 August 2008
TEMBISA, South Africa – Buyisiwe, 29, slumps on a green couch in her father’s sitting room in a run-down neighbourhood in Tembisa, a sprawling township north of Johannesburg. Her eyes stare blankly at a wall. Her face is fixed between a sigh and a smile; her occasional laughter sounds incongruous with the pain that seems to well up inside her. She speaks through gritted teeth, slowly and in a controlled tone. Her hands, firmly secured between her thighs, suggest nervousness and a reluctance to open up to a stranger about a painful personal experience that one would rather forget. Although it happened over two years ago, memories of being gang-raped by eight adolescents remain fresh in her mind.
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12 August 2008
On International Youth Day, let us recognize the potential of youth in tackling the greatest challenges of our times.
From eliminating extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV, young people are a dynamic force for positive change. They can contribute to the world’s efforts to overcome the threat of climate change, one of the defining challenges of our time.
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12 August 2008
Some 700 thousand girls a year are estimated to be ‘missing’ in India as a result of illegal sex determination and consequent elimination.
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06 August 2008
INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE, Mexico City—Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and Gill Greer, Director-General of IPPF, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, in collaboration with Young Positives and the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, today launched
Make it Matter
, a guide to help prevent HIV among girls and young women.
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05 August 2008
MEXICO CITY, Mexico — It’s not a musical – it’s real life. But suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, dozens of young people on busy street corner break into song and dance.
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04 August 2008
INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE, Mexico City—Thoraya Ahmed Obaid and Inés Alberdi, Executive Directors of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, respectively, co-chaired a session Sunday on the links between gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS. Ms. Obaid told participants that gender-based violence can be both the cause and consequence of HIV and AIDS.
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02 August 2008
INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE, Mexico City—Women’s participation in decision-making is crucial to a more effective response to HIV and AIDS. Women living with HIV in particular, must be involved in establishing prevention policies, said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, at a the Fifth Meeting of the Coalition of First Ladies and Women Leaders in Latin America on Women and AIDS.
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01 August 2008
INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE, Mexico City —In the absence of medical vaccine to prevent HIV, we have to use sexuality education as a ‘social vaccine’, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, said Friday. She was participating in the first-ever meeting of Latin American and Caribbean ministers of health and education to discuss prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
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29 July 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York – The 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic has more positive news than any prior reports, Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS told a press conference today.
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25 July 2008
GABU, Guinea-Bissau --- Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, one of Portugal’s best-known actresses and television personalities laid the first brick for the construction of a maternity surgical unit in this dusty town in eastern Guinea-Bissau.
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24 July 2008
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have agreed to extend their collaboration in health promotion programmes around the world.
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18 July 2008
LOFA, Liberia — Dr. Geetor Saydee’s legs were tired, his brow drenched in sweat. He’d been walking for several hours through the dusty streets of Lofa, a county in Liberia’s northern region, to assess the status of the public healthcare system in the wake of the country’s 14-year civil war. But he trudged on, knowing how much was at stake.
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