UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
|
| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
DISPATCHES -- NEWS FROM UNFPA, THE UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND
NUMBER 4, DECEMBER 1995-JANUARY 1996
DISPATCHES is a monthly bulletin dedicated to the activities of
the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). It is published in
English, French, and Spanish by the Information and External
Relations Division and is available free of charge from UNFPA
offices worldwide.
The designations employed and presentation of material in
DISPATCHES do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever
on the part of UNFPA concerning the legal status or authority of
any country, territory, city, or area or the determination of its
frontiers or boundaries. Views expressed are the authors' and
sources' own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or
policy of the Fund. All material is checked for accuracy as
received from source; all enquiries should be addressed to the
source/further information address provided at the end of each
item. Material may be freely reproduced; credit and copies of
reproduced material would be appreciated.
We invite colleagues from UNFPA and cooperating organizations to
submit articles about UNFPA-assisted programmes and projects,
accounts of lessons learned from past and ongoing work, and
anecdotes from their country or area of work. These should be
sent to:
DISPATCHES, c/o IERD, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, 23rd floor,
New York, NY 10017, USA. Telephone: (212) 297-5022. Fax: (212)
557-6416. Internet: <aslam@unfpa.org>, <ohaire@unfpa.org>,
<travers@unfpa.org>.
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In this issue:
World leaders speak out
Central American resolution
Nicaragua's reproduction debate
[World's Women] updated
World Population Day 1996
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AIDS: Reproductive rights key to prevention
New York - UNFPA is capping ten years' experience in HIV/AIDS
prevention programmes by taking a key role in UNAIDS, the Joint
UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, to be launched on 1 January. The Fund
brings to the new UN venture the knowledge that "any organized
effort to prevent and stem the spread of HIV/AIDS must be based
on the right of women to control their reproductive health,"
according to Executive Director Nafis Sadik.
"If we are to ensure a better life for future generations,
we must first ensure the empowerment of women, and a key
component of this is ensuring women's reproductive health and
well-being," as agreed at the documents adopted at the Fourth
World Conference on Women and ICPD, Dr. Sadik said. "Emphasizing
the importance of promoting responsible sexual behaviour, among
adults as well as adolescents, is also a part of the ICPD
Programme of Action."
Over the last ten years UNFPA has supported HIV/AIDS
prevention activities such as condom distribution, public
awareness-raising, and training for health professionals in 103
countries, she added in a statement released for World AIDS Day,
1 December.
-Source/further information from: Information & External
Relations Division, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY
10017, USA. Fax: (212) 557-6416.
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Funding: Record income expected for 1996
New York - Based on pledges made by and expected from governments,
UNFPA is projecting that contributions for 1996 will reach a record
US$325 million. Many pledges were made in November, during a
pledging conference at UN Headquarters.
The projected 1996 income represents an 8 per cent increase
over its resources for 1995, which came to just over US$300
million.
Executive Director Nafis Sadik credited the increase, expected
at a time when overall development assistance is dwindling, to
widespread support for the goals of the ICPD Programme of Action.
"The effective implementation of the agreements reached at the
conference is critical for the improved well-being of all people,
and for the stabilization of world population at the lowest
possible level, within the shortest possible period of time," Dr.
Sadik said. "This in turn will be a major contribution to
sustainable human development."
The ICPD Programme of Action set a financial target of US$17
billion for its implementation by 2000, increasing to US$21.7
billion by 2015. The document stipulates that up to one-third of
the required resources will have to come from the international
donor community and two-thirds from the developing countries.
Approximately US$5.6 billion is being spent on population
programmes today, of which some US$1.3 billion comes from the
international community.
At the 1-2 November UN Pledging Conference for Development
Activities, 55 countries announced some US$97.8 million in
contributions to UNFPA's core resources for 1996. Donors
significantly increasing their contributions include the
Netherlands, which pledged US$47.3 million, its highest
contribution ever and 29 per cent more than in 1995. Other major
donors to announce increases in their contributions were Australia,
Belgium, and Switzerland. Germany has maintained its 1995
contribution of US$32.5 million, keeping its place as one of
UNFPA's largest donors. In addition, there were increases from
Benin, Chile, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Korea,
Luxembourg, Maldives, New Zealand, the Philippines, Romania, the
Russian Federation, Tunisia, and Viet Nam.
-Source/further information from: Information & External Relations
Division, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA.
Fax: (212) 557-6416.
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Central America: Resolution on population education
Guatemala City - Senior education and culture officials from
Central America have reaffirmed their commitment to population
education and to working closely with UNFPA, acknowledging the
"permanent support and valuable collaboration" of the Fund's field
offices.
The officials -- from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama -- signed a resolution praising
Fund-supported projects in each of their countries. They asked the
Fund's field offices to support them in updating population
education programmes within the framework of the ICPD Programme of
Action and emphasized the need for support for initiatives aimed at
modernizing educational systems in each country. Population
education, they stated, contributes to an understanding of the
nature, causes, and effects of population dynamics and molds
attitudes and values that promote self-respect and respect for
others.
The resolution was adopted by ministers, vice-ministers, and
heads of delegation at the XVth Ordinary Session of the General
Secretariat for Central American Educational and Cultural
Coordination, held in late August. The resolution was introduced by
the Fund-supported Intersectoral Commission on Population Education
of Guatemala, which comprises associations representing the church,
universities, teachers, and indigenous people, among others.
-Sources/further information from: Mirtha Carrera-Halim, UNFPA
Country Director for Guatemala and Honduras, P.O. Box 976,
Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Fax: (504) 328716. Jairo Palacio, UNFPA
Country Director for Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua,
and Panama, P.O. Box 3260, Managua, Nicaragua. Fax: (505-2) 668855.
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Nicaragua: Talking sex and reproduction, building civil society
Managua - Nicaraguan women and men are engaged in a unique
discussion of sexuality, sexual and reproductive rights, and
reproductive health.
Only on a few occasions have the sexes had the opportunity to
come together to share and analyze their experiences in these
areas. Now, they are shaping a national debate inspired by the ICPD
Programme of Action's calls to promote gender equality and men's
responsibility in sexual, reproductive, and family matters.
The debate began at the First Conceptual Workshop on Gender,
Reproductive Health, and Reproductive Rights, held in October under
UNFPA's sponsorship. The workshop brought together some 30 women
and men, experts on these issues, from the government and NGOs.
One goal of the workshop was to create a working group tasked
with devising ways to apply the Programme of Action's
recommendations on gender, sexual rights, and reproductive health
and family planning, especially male responsibility. The group is
now at work, and its recommendations are expected to yield a new
strategy for encouraging Nicaraguan men to be active participants
in responsible parenthood and family planning.
"Motivating men to be more responsible for their sexual and
reproductive behaviour has to be done gradually," one workshop
participant said. "We should give continuity to this just recently-
initiated discussion process. For us, men being more concerned
about these issues is important."
Workshop participants shared their views on femininity,
masculinity, and sexual health. When discussion turned to
individual rights, most seemed to be in agreement that individuals
should have reliable information on sexual and reproductive health.
Other points discussed included women's right to decide when to
have children, the distinction between sexuality and reproduction,
and the right of every individual to exercise freely his or her own
sexuality.
Support for the workshop was provided under project
NIC/95/P08, "Civil Society Participation in Reproductive Health and
Family Planning Activities."
-Source/further information from: Jairo Palacio, UNFPA Country
Director, P.O. Box 3260, Managua, Nicaragua. Fax: (505-2) 668855.
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World's Women: Updated status report
New York - UNFPA is among the agencies that collaborated to produce
[The World's Women 1995: Trends and Statistics], an updated edition
of a report first published in 1990 with assistance from the Fund.
According to the report, women's increased access to
education, employment, and contraception, coupled with declining
rates of infant mortality, has contributed to a worldwide decline
in fertility. Yet, too many women still have no access to
reproductive health care. More than half a million die each year in
childbirth and from causes related to pregnancy, and millions more
develop pregnancy-related complications. The number of women
contracting HIV is growing faster than the number of men, with
young women the most susceptible.
Although literacy rates for women have increased in the past
few decades -- to at least 75 per cent in many Latin American and
Caribbean countries, for example -- women still face major
obstacles to social and economic advancement, the report states.
They rarely account for more than 1-2 per cent of senior management
positions in the business world. At the end of 1994, only 10 women
were heads of state or government. Conversely, even in
industrialized countries, women still perform two-thirds to three-
quarters of household work.
The report's chapters examine population, households, and
families; population growth and distribution and the environment;
health; education and training; work; and power and influence. The
volume was prepared by the Statistical Division of the Department
for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis of the UN
Secretariat in collaboration with the Fund, UNICEF, UNDP, UNIFEM,
and the UN Secretariat's Department for the Advancement of Women
and Department of Public Information. Additional support was
provided by the International Research and Training Institute for
the Advancement of Women, UNESCO, WFP, and WHO.
-Source/further information from: Gender, Population, and
Development Branch, Technical & Evaluation Division, UNFPA, 220
East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA. Fax: (212) 297-5145.
Copies of the report may be ordered from: Department D007, Sales
Section, Room DC2-853, United Nations, New York, NY 10017, USA.
Fax: (212) 963-3489. E-mail: <publications@un.org>.
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World Leaders: Making a statement
United Nations - Seventy-five heads of government have carried on
a tradition by signing their names to a "Statement on Population
Stabilization By World Leaders" and presenting it to the Secretary-
General of the United Nations. President Soeharto of Indonesia in
October presented the statement, set in bronze, to Secretary-
General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The leaders, whose countries are
home to nearly seven out of every ten humans, "believe that the
time has come now to recognize the world-wide necessity to achieve
population stabilization and for each country to adopt the
necessary policies and programmes to do so, consistent with its own
culture and aspirations." Such programmes "should be voluntary and
should maintain individual human rights and beliefs." Soeharto
presented the statement to Boutros-Ghali on 25 October to
commemorate the UN's 50th anniversary. Similar statements signed by
12 and 40 heads of government, respectively, were presented in 1966
and 1985. Soeharto said the latest one resulted from the consensus
reached in 1994 at the ICPD.
-Sources: "Statement on Population Stabilization By World Leaders,"
Information & External Relations Division.
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World Population Day: On the streets, where you live
With Habitat II, the Second United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements, approaching in June, the subjects of urbanization,
human settlements, and reproductive health care in cities have been
chosen as themes for World Population Day (11 July) 1996. In 1995,
World Population Day was celebrated in more than 100 countries by
thousands of people, including the women pictured above performing
songs about family planning in Burkina Faso. Other events included
a procession led by a brass band in Tanzania, a healthy baby show
in Pakistan, and a championship soccer match in Cape Verde. Mali
dedicated two days to the occasion, opening a national conference
and exhibition on UNFPA-supported projects. Concerts and plays were
staged, and on the River Niger, large wooden puppets atop canoes
performed dances to traditional music.
The Habitat II conference, also known as the "City Summit," is
expected to confront the projection that 56 per cent of Earth's
human inhabitants will be living in urban areas by 2015. In this
context, "Where We Live Now" has been chosen as the theme of
UNFPA's 1996 international poster contest.
-Sources: UNFPA Country Offices, Information & External Relations
Division. Further information on World Population Day from: Alex
Marshall, Deputy Director, Information & External Relations
Division, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA.
Fax: (212) 557-6416. E-mail: <marshall@unfpa.org>. Further
information on the international poster contest from your UNFPA
Country Office or: Fumika Ouchi, Information & External Relations
Division, address and fax as above. E-mail: <ouchi@unfpa.org>.
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