UNFPA Annual Report | 2015

For People,
Planet
& Prosperity

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Introduction

People at the centre of sustainable development

The new development agenda and evolving funding dynamic call for new thinking, new partnerships and new ways of doing business. While our current financial situation, at least for now, may not allow us to do more, we can endeavour to do better—and we will.

In 2015, we sought ways to secure more predictable and stable funding while continuing efforts towards innovation, both in our operations and programme delivery, as a means of achieving greater efficiency, greater results and greater impact.

UNFPA will continue to place people, their human rights, well-being and dignity, at the centre of our sustainable development efforts. Let us seize the opportunities offered by the new development agenda to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled—for the sake of people, planet and prosperity for all.

Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin
Executive Director
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund

Key Achievements

In 2015, contraceptives provided by UNFPA had the potential to:

  • Avert 220,000 child deaths
  • Prevent 12.3 million unintended pregnancies
  • Avert 4.4 million abortions
  • Avert 34,000 maternal deaths

In 2015:

11.2 million

adolescents reached with sexual and reproductive health services

23.3 million

users of modern family planning method

Path To Sustainability

Path to sustainability

Achieving the new Sustainable Goals will depend in part on the extent to which the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and young people are protected and on whether young people are healthy, educated and have access to services and opportunities that will unleash their full potential.

Agenda 2030 makes a strong call for the promotion of universal access to human rights and better health and the reduction of inequalities by serving the most vulnerable and marginalized. In promoting universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, UNFPA is improving coverage and quality of health services for those furthest behind.

  • 01. No Poverty

    © Nicolas Axelrod/Ruom for UNFPA

    UNFPA works with partners to improve access to sexual and reproductive health care in developing countries, where reproductive health problems are a leading cause of illness and death for women and girls of childbearing age.

  • 02. Zero Hunger

    © UNFPA/Ollivier Girard

    UNFPA trains and supports midwives, health workers and health systems that address the nutritional needs of pregnant women and girls. UNFPA-supported waiting homes also serve nutritious meals to pregnant women while they await delivery.

  • 03. Good Health And Well-Being

    © Nicolas Axelrod/Ruom for UNFPA

    UNFPA is the lead UN agency in promoting sexual and reproductive health, including family planning, comprehensive sexuality education and maternal health services. UNFPA supports integrating HIV-prevention and treatment programmes into sexual and reproductive health care.

  • 04. QUality Education

    © UNFPA Cote d'Ivoire

    UNFPA works with governments to promote gender equality as well as investments in education and opportunities for young people. UNFPA also supports programmes that teach literacy and comprehensive sexuality education to vulnerable adolescent girls.

  • 05. Gender Equality

    © UNFPA Guatemala

    UNFPA supports policies and programmes that promote gender equality at all levels – from villages and schools to whole countries. UNFPA also works with global partners to eliminate child marriage, FGM and gender-based violence.

  • 06. Clean Water And Sanitation

    © UNFPA/Millat Horiria

    UNFPA distributes 'dignity kits' in disaster- and conflict-affected communities. These kits contain menstrual pads, soap, underwear, and other essential supplies to help women and girls maintain their health, hygiene and sense of dignity.

  • 08. Decent Work And Economic Growth

    © UNFPA Benin/Ollivier Girard

    Globally, young people are struggling under a lack of decent work opportunities and insufficient investments. UNFPA works with partners, civil society, communities and governments, to encourage policies that can help countries realize a demographic dividend.

  • 10. Reduced Inequalities

    © UNFPA Indonesia/Sandra Siagian

    UNFPA works to reach marginalized people and communities, especially vulnerable women and girls. UNFPA’s work extends health services to remote areas, supports gender equality programmes and advocates for an end to gender-based discrimination and violence.

  • 11. Sustainable Cities And Communities

    © UN Photo/Kibae Park

    UNFPA works with partners to promote inclusive urbanization, including by improving access to health care and opportunities in urban slums. UNFPA also advocates for the welfare and sustainability of urbanizing communities, and helps gather data.

  • 13. Climate Action

    © UNFPA Pakistan/Stenly Sajow

    UNFPA is working with governments to better understand how population dynamics affect the changing climate. With partners, UNFPA developed Demographic Exploration for Climate Adaptation to show policymakers where vulnerable populations are.

  • 16. Peace And Justice Strong Institutions

    © UNFPA/Pilirani Semu-Banda

    UNFPA helps to strengthen policies and services for survivors of violence. UNFPA works with local police and judges to strengthen services for survivors of gender-based violence and to improve women’s and girls’ access to justice.

  • 17. Partnerships For The Goals

    © UNFPA/Lorenzo Tugnoli

    UNFPA plays a key role in supporting censuses, demographic and health surveys, and other large-scale data-gathering exercises, and provides technical support for the analysis and dissemination of the information generated.

2015 In Action

In 2015, UNFPA began analysing how its programmes in 155 countries and territories will be critical to achieving key Sustainable Development Goals and targets and matching objectives of the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2014–2017 with those set forth in the 2030 Agenda.

The Plan equips UNFPA to respond more effectively and efficiently to emerging opportunities and challenges and to shifting needs, as the world strives to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Too often, sexual and reproductive health services are disconnected from each other. Women seeking HIV services, for example, may not be offered contraceptive choices, or women receiving antenatal services may not be given the option for HIV testing. Similarly, marginalized women may face coercive or discriminatory practices when they seek family planning or HIV services.

UNFPA helps developing countries face these challenges through advocacy, policy guidance and efforts to build capacities for developing guidelines, protocols, standards and systems for ensuring quality of care. All of this work proceeds within the context of strengthening national health systems and achieving universal health coverage.

Photo ©UNFPA/Handan Kaygusuz

Progress in Sexual and Reproductive Health

Family planning

18 million

In 2015 alone, UNFPA Supplies helped some 18 million women gain access to modern contraceptives and reproductive health services.

Maternal health

13,404 women

In 2015 with UNFPA support, 13,404 women had surgery to treat obstetric fistulas

HIV Services

14.7 million

In 2015, UNFPA procured and supplied 687 million male condoms and 14.7 million female condoms

Services despite crisis

5.1 million

In 2015, UNFPA helped protect the health and rights of 5.1 million people in 43 crisis-affected countries, including Iraq, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

INVESTING IN ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG PEOPLE

There are more young people in the world than ever before: Some 1.8 billion people are between ages 10 and 24. Most of them live in developing countries, often comprising a huge proportion of the population. How well they navigate adolescence will determine not only the course of their own lives, but that of the world.

When empowered and given the right opportunities, youth are effective drivers of change. In 2015, UNFPA continued partnering with young people, helping them participate in decisions affecting them, and strengthening their ability to advance human rights and development issues such as health, education and employment.

Photo ©UNFPA/Valeria Rivilla

PROGRESS PROVIDING ADOLESCENTS WITH EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

Quality services

111 UNFPA offices

As of 2015, 111 UNFPA offices had guidelines, protocols and standards for health care workers to deliver quality sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents and youth.

Access to services

89 countries

As of 2015, 89 countries had laws and policies in place to allow adolescents, regardless of marital status, to access sexual and reproductive health services.

Comprehensive sexuality education

73 countries

As of 2015, there were 73 countries with national comprehensive sexuality education curricula that are aligned with international standards.

Increased investments

94 UNFPA offices

As of 2015, 94 UNFPA offices had participatory platforms that advocated for increased investments in marginalized adolescents and youth, within development and health policies and programmes.

ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY SECTION

Gender equality is a human right. Women are entitled to live with dignity and with freedom from want and from fear. Gender equality is also a precondition for advancing development and reducing poverty: Empowered women contribute to the health and productivity of whole families and communities, and they improve prospects for the next generation.

In 2015—and for the past 30 years—UNFPA advocated for women and girls, promoting legal and policy reforms and gender-sensitive data collection, and supporting initiatives that improve women’s health and expand their choices in life.

PROGRESS ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY

Response to violence

135 countries

As of 2015, UNFPA has helped 135 countries prevent and respond to gender-based violence. Forty-three of these countries have experienced or are emerging from conflict, natural disaster or other crisis.

Preventing harmful practices

899 communities

In 2015, 899 communities around the world declared the abandonment of female genital mutilation.

Integrated response measures

87 programmes

As of 2015, 87 countries had integrated gender-based violence prevention, protection and response into national sexual and reproductive health programmes.

Civil society and rights for all

43 UNFPA offices

As of 2015, 43 UNFPA offices have supported the institutionalization of programmes to engage men and boys on gender equality (including gender-based violence), sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.

Policies and programmes based on evidence

Information generated through a population and housing census—numbers of people, their distribution, their living conditions and other key data—is critical for development. Without accurate data, policymakers do not know where to invest in schools, hospitals and roads. Those most in need remain invisible. Yet too many countries have outdated or inaccurate information about their populations.

UNFPA supported countries’ efforts to collect and analyse data, critical to evidence-based policymaking, as well as monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and other interventions.

Photo ©UNFPA

PROGRESS COLLECTING THE DATA NEEDED FOR EVALUATION

Analysing population trends

11 countries

In 2015, UNFPA helped 11 countries undertake holistic analyses of population trends that show the relationship between demographic shifts, reproductive health, poverty and economic and social development.

Censuses processed

111 UNFPA offices

As of 2015, 111 UNFPA offices had at least one census of good quality that was processed, analysed and disseminated following internationally agreed recommendations, during the last 10 years.

Regions

Arab States

Life has been difficult since Jannah’s family fled to Jordan from Syria. She says her husband is incapacitated by stress: he spends many days sitting under a tree and staring into space. Jannah and her daughter Maysa work from sunrise to sunset on a nearby farm, making barely enough to provide for their family of six.

Relatives advised Jannah to marry Maysa off as soon as possible, trying to persuade her it is for Maysa’s safety. But when a marriage broker offered Jannah 140 Jordanian dinars (about $100) in exchange for marrying Maysa off, Jannah was outraged. “You can’t buy my daughter,” she shouted. “I will die before I give my daughter away.”

She knows Maysa deserves a better life. It is her dream that Maysa go to school and, eventually, choose her own husband. “Maybe love was not an option for my generation, but I want her to be able to choose marriage for the right reasons,” she said.

Photo ©UNFPA/David Brunetti

 

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Context And Challenges

With two major regional conflicts, other internal conflicts and protracted humanitarian crises, the Arab States are experiencing an unprecedented level of instability. Fighting and insecurity complicate national and international efforts to provide life-saving health services and supplies to millions of women and young people in need in and near Syria, and in other parts of the region.

Play
Broken dreams, healing hopes: Urban Syrian Refugees in Jordan

Progress

500 vouchers per month

In Syria, every month, UNFPA distributed 500 vouchers per month to allow women to access maternal health services for free and aided 640 deliveries, including 230 Caesarean sections.

10 safe deliveries per day

In Jordan, every day, UNFPA aided 10 safe deliveries in Za’atari camp.

22,000 maternal health consultations

In Iraq, UNFPA supported more than 22,000 maternal health consultations, including 17,000 antenatal care visits, 1,110 family planning consultations, 3,448 assisted deliveries and 935 Caesarean-sections through nine clinics in five refugee camps in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk.

Expanded services for Syrian women

In Lebanon, UNFPA supported skills-training and income-earning opportunities for Syrian women and expanded their access to family planning.

Indicators

Total population339 million

of the Population is between the ages of 10 and 24

of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 use modern method of contraception

Average number of children per woman

of every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth

Gender parity index (1=parity)

Expenses

Programme expenses

in thousands of US$
(includes core and non-core resources)
Arab States
  • Algeria 387
  • Djibouti 1,298
  • Egypt 4,488
  • Iraq 17,455
  • Jordan 8,442
  • Lebanon 3,940
  • Libya 516
  • Morocco 1,353
  • Oman 944
  • Palestine 2,268
  • Somalia 21,572
  • Sudan 13,375
  • Syrian Arab Republic 13,089
  • Tunisia 663
  • Yemen 5,025
  • Total country/territory programmes 94,815
  • Regional projects in Arab States 6,550
  • Total programme expenses
    in Arab States

    101,365

Programme expenses by focus area

in thousands of US$
 
  • Integrated sexual and reproductive health
  • Adolescents
  • Gender equality and rights
  • Data for development
  • Organizational efficiency and effectiveness
Total expenses
Focus area as a percentage of total

Asia and the Pacific

Context And Challenges

In a remote forest near the border with Viet Nam, the village of Labangkhok is one of the poorest in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Heavy rains cut the village off from the rest of the country for four months a year. But despite the isolation, sexual and reproductive health services, such as family planning, are reaching Labangkhok.

Agnod, 56, offers contraceptive pills and injectables, condoms and health advice to women and men in the village, and in four other communities nearby. Agnod received training from the Ministry of Health and UNFPA. “I've helped over 300 families so far,” he says.

Dr. Bongsouvanh Phanthavongsa, Deputy Health Director in Savanakhet Province, explains that 32 community-based distributors like Agnod are now working across the province. Through their work, distributors are also helping reduce maternal and child deaths and other health risks related to unwanted pregnancy.

Not only is UNFPA helping the country expand access to family planning, but it is also strengthening the midwifery labour force.

Photo © UNFPA/Micka Perier

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Context And Challenges

Asia and the Pacific is the world’s most disaster-prone region. Yet, mobilizing resources for disaster preparedness remains a challenge. The region faces other challenges as well: in some countries or some areas within countries, child marriage and adolescent pregnancy are common. Restrictive access to sexual and reproductive health services in some countries leads to unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions. In others, a preference for sons leads to antenatal sex selection, often through abortion.

Play
With support from UNFPA, Agnod, has helped more than 300 families receive family planning services in remote Laos.

Progress

Critical services for most affected

After the earthquake in Nepal, UNFPA and partner organizations set up 14 transition homes and 80 maternity units and conducted 132 mobile health camps across the 14 most affected districts to provide critical services to women and girls, including pregnant women, new mothers and infants.

Midwifery programmes

UNFPA helped China and India reintroduce midwifery programmes and helped professionalize midwifery in Cambodia and Indonesia.

Support to end child marriage

In Bangladesh, India and Nepal, UNFPA stepped up support to end child marriage.

Groundbreaking studies

UNFPA supported 13 Asian and Pacific countries’ efforts in 2015 to carry out groundbreaking national prevalence studies on violence against women.

Indicators

The population3.87 billion

of the Population is between the ages of 10 and 24

of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 use modern method of contraception

Average number of children per woman

of every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth

Gender parity index (1=parity)

Expenses

Programme expenses

in thousands of US$
(includes core and non-core resources)
Asia and the Pacific
  • Afghanistan 18,900
  • Bangladesh13,635
  • Bhutan 1,103
  • Cambodia 4,389
  • China 3,859
  • Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 1,265
  • India 10,534
  • Indonesia 4,374
  • Iran (Islamic Republic of) 1,618
  • Lao People’s Democratic Republic 3,041
  • Malaysia 827
  • Maldives 561
  • Mongolia 3,215
  • Myanmar 10,856
  • Nepal 8,303
  • Pacific island countries 6,253
  • Pakistan 9,526
  • Papua New Guinea 2,260
  • Philippines 6,672
  • Sri Lanka 1,258
  • Thailand 1,516
  • Timor-Leste 1,976
  • Viet Nam 4,526
  • Total country/territory programmes 120,467
  • Regional projects in Asia and the Pacific 7,998
  • Total programme expenses
    in Asia and the Pacific

    128,465

Programme expenses by focus area

in thousands of US$
 
  • Integrated sexual and reproductive health
  • Adolescents
  • Gender equality and rights
  • Data for development
  • Organizational efficiency and effectiveness
Total expenses
Focus area as a percentage of total

East and Southern Africa

Sarah was forced to drop out of school at age nine on the same day she was forced to marry a 60-year-old man.

Now 15, Sara recounts her first day of marriage: “The man told me to sweep the compound and cook for him. When night came, he told me to join him in bed. I was terrified.”

That evening, Sarah ran away. A couple in a nearby Kenyan village took her in and brought her the next morning to the village chief who called the Komesi Women’s Network for help. The Network provides refuge to girls who run away from home to avoid child marriage.

Susan Krop, who leads the Network, says Sarah is one of the “lucky ones.” One girl in her community, she says, tried to run away from her husband but was forcibly returned by two men hired to find her. The men held her down as her husband raped her as punishment. “This kind of gruesome story is one we come across every day,” Krop says.

Photo © UNFPA/Bernard Muthaka

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Context And Challenges

Human resources shortages in the region’s health sector negatively affect the availability, access and quality of sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning information and supplies. Only five of the region’s 23 countries have reported that at least 80 percent of births are assisted by a midwife or other health professional. Around 85,000 women die of pregnancy-related causes every year in the region.

Play
UNFPA works in 23 countries in East and Southern Africa.

Progress

45 percent less maternal deaths

Maternal deaths in the region overall have fallen 45 percent, from 918 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990, to 407 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015.

8,400 surgeries

UNFPA helped 8,400 undergo surgery to repair obstetric fistulas and introduced an innovative system in Kenya and Tanzania that allows women slated for the surgery to use mobile phones to display vouchers for free transportation to hospitals.

1.3 billion condoms

To support family planning and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, UNFPA supplied 1.3 billion condoms to the region in 2015.

1.7 million young people

Through the Safeguard Young People Programme, UNFPA reached about 1.7 million young people with comprehensive sexuality education of life-skills messages and training and distributed 7.5 million condoms.

Indicators

Total population547 million

of the Population is between the of ages 10 and 24

of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 use modern method of contraception

Average number of children per woman

of every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth

Gender parity index (1=parity)

Expenses

Programme expenses

in thousands of US$
(includes core and non-core resources)
East and Southern Africa
  • Angola 2,497
  • Botswana 1,332
  • Burundi 4,623
  • Comoros 1,153
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo 19,525
  • Eritrea 2,860
  • Ethiopia 15,769
  • Kenya 11,272
  • Lesotho 2,091
  • Madagascar 5,303
  • Malawi 12,105
  • Mauritius 122
  • Mozambique 7,972
  • Namibia 1,471
  • Rwanda 4,200
  • South Africa 2,571
  • South Sudan 18,646
  • Swaziland 1,758
  • Uganda 18,382
  • United Republic of Tanzania 13,925
  • Zambia 6,086
  • Zimbabwe 21,413
  • Total country/territory programmes 175,076
  • Regional projects in East and Southern Africa 8,149
  • Total programme expenses
    in East and Southern Africa

    183,225

Programme expenses by focus area

in thousands of US$
 
  • Integrated sexual and reproductive health
  • Adolescents
  • Gender equality and rights
  • Data for development
  • Organizational efficiency and effectiveness
Total expenses
Focus area as a percentage of total

Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Twelve-year old Aigul in eastern Kyrgyzstan locked herself in a school bathroom and contemplated suicide. When her teacher found her, Aigul said she had ignored her mother’s warning not to play with boys. Now, she was pregnant, she said, and would rather die than bring shame to her family.

But in fact, Aigul was not pregnant at all. She was having her first menstrual period and did not understand what was happening to her body.

Until May 2015, when Parliament passed a reproductive health law requiring schools to offer comprehensive sexuality education, most adolescents were left to figure out reproductive health issues on their own.

Sexuality education courses address not only biology but also life skills and responsible behaviours, introducing age-appropriate information over time throughout a young person’s education.

Photo © UNFPA/Y-PEER Kyrgyzstan

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Context And Challenges

After more than two decades of often painful political and socioeconomic transitions in the former Communist countries, key indicators such as life expectancy are showing signs of recovery. Antenatal care is near-universal and maternal mortality rates have fallen by more than half since the early 1990s, from 66 to 27 deaths per 100,000 births. But promising statistics often mask significant inequity among different regions and population groups. Marginalized and disadvantaged groups, such as national minorities, migrants, young people or the poor, still face considerable barriers in realizing their rights and accessing services, including sexual and reproductive health services.

Play
Mr. Heimo Laakkonen, who was the regional director in 2015, reports on UNFPA's humanitarian response in the region.

Progress

More than 20 mobile teams

In late 2015, UNFPA assembled and deployed more than 20 mobile teams of psychologists and social workers to provide psychosocial support to survivors of gender-based violence in the areas most affected by the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Safe spaces for survivors

In Türkiye, UNFPA ran safe spaces where Syrian refugees who survived gender-based violence received counselling and other forms of assistance, as well as skills training.

Indicators

Total population265 million

of the Population is between the ages of 10 and 24

of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 use modern method of contraception

Average number of children per woman

of every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth

Gender parity index (1=parity)

Expenses

Programme expenses

in thousands of US$
(includes core and non-core resources)
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
  • Albania 876
  • Armenia 835
  • Azerbaijan 610
  • Belarus 563
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina 837
  • Georgia 1,020
  • Kazakhstan 986
  • Kyrgyzstan 1,732
  • Republic of Moldova 450
  • Serbia (includes Kosovo) 1,075
  • Tajikistan 1,515
  • The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 454
  • Türkiye 3,778
  • Turkmenistan 638
  • Ukraine 1,705
  • Uzbekistan 1,110
  • Total country/territory programmes 18,184
  • Regional projects in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 8,049
  • Total programme expenses
    in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

    26,233

Programme expenses by focus area

in thousands of US$
 
  • Integrated sexual and reproductive health
  • Adolescents
  • Gender equality and rights
  • Data for development
  • Organizational efficiency and effectiveness
Total expenses
Focus area as a percentage of total

Latin America and the Caribbean

“I was 14 years old when my family fled,” said Viviana, now 26. “We arrived in a new town where we thought we would be able to live in peace, but there were armed groups there, too.”

Viviana lives in Meta, a “department,” or region, in mid-eastern Colombia that has seen repeated attacks by paramilitary groups. The conflict has left young people with few reliable prospects for the future and disrupted basic services.

Like many young people, Viviana did not have access to sexual and reproductive health services or information. “I was 15 years old when I moved in with my boyfriend. I became pregnant two months later,” she said.

When she was 18, her father encouraged her to join a local group for displaced youth. Through their activities, she was inspired to become a community organizer. In the city of Villavicencio, Viviana helped organize the Department Youth Roundtable, a group of 5,000 young people from 29 municipalities, to advocate on behalf of underserved youth.

Photo © UNFPA/Diego Diaz

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Context And Challenges

Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole continued in 2015 to make progress in reducing poverty and improving overall human development. Recent downturns in some of the region’s economies, however, threaten to stall progress.

Play
Regional Director, Esteban Caballero, highlights UNFPA's work in the region, in 2015.

Progress

Services for indigenous women and girls

In 2015, UNFPA-supported programmes in countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador and Panamá were leading the way in helping health services respond to the needs of indigenous women and girls.

400 young people

UNFPA organized events that brought together 400 young people from the region to advocate for full implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development.

875 schools

In 2015, El Salvador, Panamá and Paraguay developed curricula for comprehensive sexual education in line with international standards for 875 schools across the three countries.

11 countries

UNFPA helped 11 countries expand contraceptive options, which now include female condoms and injectables.

Indicators

Total population629 million

of the Population is between the ages of 10 and 24

of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 use modern method of contraception

Average number of children per woman

of every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth

Gender parity index (1=parity)

Expenses

Programme expenses

in thousands of US$
(includes core and non-core resources)
Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Argentina 532
  • Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 2,855
  • Brazil 1,597
  • Caribbean, English- and Dutch-speaking 3,082
  • Chile 267
  • Colombia 2,204
  • Costa Rica 1,004
  • Cuba 788
  • Dominican Republic 920
  • Ecuador 842
  • El Salvador 2,032
  • Guatemala 5,275
  • Haiti 4,515
  • Honduras 3,554
  • Mexico 1,383
  • Nicaragua 2,580
  • Panama810
  • Paraguay 791
  • Peru 1,597
  • Uruguay 1,358
  • Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 647
  • Total country/territory programmes 38,633
  • Regional projects in Latin America and the Caribbean 7,791
  • Total programme expenses
    in Latin America and the Caribbean

    46,424

Programme expenses by focus area

in thousands of US$
 
  • Integrated sexual and reproductive health
  • Adolescents
  • Gender equality and rights
  • Data for development
  • Organizational efficiency and effectiveness
Total expenses
Focus area as a percentage of total

West and Central Africa

Comfort Fayiah is one of the lucky ones.

As the due date for her twin babies approached, the Ebola crisis in Comfort’s native Liberia was reaching a fever pitch.

“The national health supply chain abruptly ceased all its routine operations,” says Woseh Gobeh, national programme officer for reproductive health for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. “Even in areas considered less affected by the outbreak, health facilities suffered massive stock out of drugs and medical supplies.”

When Comfort’s time for delivery came, she went from place to place but was unable to find a hospital or clinic that would admit her. With no other choice, Comfort took shelter from the pouring rain, lying down in the dirt to labor under a corrugated tin roof. “I suffered a lot and was afraid I was going to die. The only thing I hoped for was for a miracle to happen,” she says. One did: Comfort gave birth to two healthy baby girls.

Photo © Abbas Dulleh/AP Images for UNFPA

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Context And Challenges

Gender-based violence and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, are widespread. Two of the three countries with the world’s highest prevalence of female genital mutilation are in West Africa. In addition, an increasing number of women and girls in the region have survived sexual violence in conflict situations. The region has some of the highest child marriage rates in the world.

Play
UNFPA and partners work together to help treat fistula in the Congo.

Progress

Awareness raising soap opera

UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and the World Health Organization collaborated on an educational television soap opera, C’est la vie!, to raise awareness about reproductive health and the problem of gender-based violence in 2015.

Safe spaces for Boko Haram survivors

In Nigeria, 275 women and girls who were rescued from Boko Haram in 2015 received psychological, medical and trauma care at safe spaces established with UNFPA support. UNFPA supported survivors of Boko Haram in Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

Indicators

Total population403

of the Population is between the ages of 10 and 24

of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 use modern method of contraception

Average number of children per woman

of every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth

Gender parity index (1=parity)

Expenses

Programme expenses

in thousands of US$
(includes core and non-core resources)
West and Central Africa
  • Benin 4,294
  • Burkina Faso 7,378
  • Cameroon 6,125
  • Cabo Verde 1,196
  • Central African Republic 4,128
  • Chad 5,709
  • Congo 2,752
  • Côte d’Ivoire 8,278
  • Equatorial Guinea 1,621
  • Gabon 823
  • Gambia 1,767
  • Ghana 4,153
  • Guinea 7,573
  • Guinea-Bissau 1,623
  • Liberia 11,947
  • Mali 3,527
  • Mauritania 2,771
  • Niger 12,010
  • Nigeria 19,633
  • São Tomé and Principe 1,193
  • Senegal 5,900
  • Sierra Leone 19,544
  • Togo 3,877
  • Total country/territory programmes 137,822
  • Regional projects in West and Central Africa 6,756
  • Total programme expenses
    in West and Central Africa

    144,578

Programme expenses by focus area

in thousands of US$
 
  • Integrated sexual and reproductive health
  • Adolescents
  • Gender equality and rights
  • Data for development
  • Organizational efficiency and effectiveness
Total expenses
Focus area as a percentage of total

Income and Expenses

Income and Expenses

View all 2015 income and expenditure information, which is provided through the UNFPA transparency portal.

Go To The UNFPA
Transparency Portal

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