EU support to UN shows results

The European Union (EU) released a report today outlining their support to the UN over the two-year period from 2014 through 2015. The report, Saving and Empowering Lives, highlights joint work and progress on achieving peace, security, development and human rights.

This support includes effective and productive partnerships with UNFPA, which promotes gender equality and reproductive rights, with an emphasis on universal access to modern contraception and reproductive health to reduce maternal mortality and accelerate progress on the ICPD agenda.

Over the past several years, the EU has been a top donor, contributing millions of Euros to UNFPA to support maternal health, family planning, and the elimination of harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, child marriage and gender-biased sex selection. This support has also promoted the collection and use of population data such demographic and health surveys and censuses.

EU funding has helped UNFPA accelerate its response during humanitarian crises as well, in particular for assistance to refugees and internally displaced peoples in the Middle East. In 2014 and 2015, UN-EU initiatives, including through UNFPA, provided reproductive health services to 169,449 refugee women and enabled gender-based violence prevention and response services to 209,390 women refugees.

UNFPA looks forward to continuing its partnership with the EU in the coming years. These joint efforts are helping UNFPA to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.