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 1, SEPTEMBER 1995
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>, <o'haire@unfpa.org>.
==========
In this issue:
Special feature: UNFPA and refugees
Emergency Obstetrics in Bangladesh
South-South cooperation
ICPD follow-up
Top honours from Ecuador
==========
Sadik wins reappointment
New York - Nafis Sadik has been appointed to another term of four
years as UNFPA's executive director by UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali. In 1987, Dr. Sadik became the first woman to head a
major voluntarily-funded UN agency. Her current term will expire on
29 April 1999.
-Further information from: Information & External Relations
Division, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA.
Fax: (212) 557-6416.
==========
Executive Board, ECOSOC: New designations, new essentials
Geneva - Following the recommendation of UNFPA's Executive Board,
the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) last month endorsed the
agreement between the Fund and the UN Development Programme to
designate UNFPA resident country directors as UNFPA
representatives.
"Such a change in designation will greatly enhance the
effectiveness and visibility of the Fund at the country level and
will enable UNFPA to carry out more expeditiously its coordination
and resource mobilization and programming roles," Fund Executive
Director Nafis Sadik said.
ECOSOC further recommended that the General Assembly also
endorse the agreement at its 50th session, beginning this month.
Among its other decisions, the Executive Board in June also
approved new UNFPA core programme areas: reproductive health,
including family planning and sexual health; population and
development strategies; and advocacy. The new core areas are based
on the ICPD (International Conference on Population and
Development) Programme of Action. While allocating resources in the
new core areas, the Board added, the Fund should "give special
attention to the least developed countries and Africa."
For its activities in the reproductive health/family planning
core area, UNFPA will support family planning information and
services at all levels of the health care system, primary,
secondary, and tertiary. At the primary health care level, UNFPA
will help provide a range of programmes aimed at the prevention and
treatment of reproductive tract infections; screening and
prevention of infertility and sexually transmitted diseases,
including HIV/AIDS; and screening for other reproductive health
pathologies. It will do so along with the World Health
Organization, UN Children's Fund, World Bank, bilateral aid
agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
UNFPA will give special attention to the reproductive health
of adolescents and women in emergency situations. The Fund will
also work to lower the rate of abortion and will provide assistance
for the management of consequences of abortion. For the
population policy core area, UNFPA will treat population policy as
an integral component of sustainable development. The Fund will
finance data collection and analysis, research on population
linkages, and research on how to monitor the impact of the ICPD
programme.
For advocacy, the Fund, drawing on its mandate to build up
knowledge and promote awareness of population issues in developing
and industrialized countries, will convey the major messages of
ICPD, including the need to maintain the political commitment and
mobilize additional finances. Using the media, NGOs, special
events, seminars, and parliamentarians' forums, the Fund will
advocate meeting the ICPD Programme of Action's goals and
increasing resources for UN system-wide initiatives on population
and related issues such as human rights, poverty eradication, food
security, sustainable development, and sustained economic growth.
In an address to the Executive Board, Dr. Sadik said that
within each of the core areas, support will be given for research,
training, awareness-creation, and information dissemination on
gender concerns. She also reported that UNFPA's programme delivery
grew dramatically in 1994, the year of ICPD, as project expenditure
increased by 50 per cent. By contrast, administrative and programme
support costs rose by less than one per cent. She said that income
for 1995 was estimated at US$312 million, an increase of 17.6 per
cent over total income in 1994, which amounted to US$265.3 million.
-Further information from: Executive Board, United Nations Liaison,
and External Relations Branch, Information & External Relations
Division, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA.
Fax: (212) 557-6416.
==========
ICPD Follow-up: Gender, Population, Development Panel makes
recommendations
New York - The UNFPA Ad Hoc Advisory Panel on Gender, Population,
and Development has urged the Fund to continue its lead role in
ensuring that all UN agencies, multi- and bilateral donors, and
national governments place gender equity and equality and women's
empowerment at the centre of their development activities. The
Panel, which includes experts from governments, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), and academic institutions, recommended that,
among other things:
> UNFPA assist governments in formulating gender sensitive
action plans to implement the International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action in close
collaboration with NGOs, particularly women's NGOs, at all stages
of design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation;
> women's NGOs be represented in structures set up by
governments to implement the ICPD Programme of Action;
> UNFPA support activities to strengthen the capacity of local
NGOs to implement the ICPD Programme of Action, particularly in the
areas of advocacy and the provision of reproductive health and
family planning information and services;
> UNFPA identify and strengthen lead NGOs at the country level
and promote technical cooperation among NGOs at the intra-regional
and inter-country levels;
> adequate resources be provided for programmes designed to
promote women's empowerment and gender equity and equality; and
> UNFPA-assisted information, education, and communication
activities pay due attention to messages encouraging men to be
responsible partners in reproductive health and family planning.
The panel noted the importance to UNFPA of mainstreaming
gender issues in the Fund's three programme areas. It stated,
however, that there remains a critical need for special attention
to specific areas such as capacity building and networking for
women's NGOs; extending UNFPA's policy on assistance to women in
emergency situations to migrant women; and skill and leadership
training for women NGOs with the ultimate goal of mainstreaming
women's issues.
-Source/further information from: Virginia Ofosu-Amaah, Chief,
Gender, Population, and Development Branch, Technical and
Evaluation Division, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY
10017, USA. Fax: (212) 297-5145.
==========
Jamaica: Taking a small investment a long way
Kingston - Folk drama is a particularly effective means of
stimulating public discussion and mobilizing public concern in
Jamaica. The country's socially conscious drama community has long
used plays to explore issues and convey messages on a host of
population- and development-related issues. The Planning Institute
of Jamaica (PIOJ) and UNFPA teamed up to support the effort, and
discovered that a little investment goes a long way.
The belief at the heart of the latest folk theatre hit is that
although life in the inner city can be difficult for a young woman
on her own, she can help other young women to cope with the
pressures of growing up by sharing her experiences.
"Coming in from the Cold," a play, tells the story of Opal, a
teenage girl from the countryside who comes to the city with the
hope of becoming a nurse. Through Opal's physical and spiritual
journey, the play explores such issues as the status and abuse of
the girl child, teenage pregnancies, the roles and attitudes of
young people in general and young men in particular, the
consequences of risky reproductive behaviour, the improvement of
women's status, urbanization, and the environment.
The play was performed to critical and popular acclaim all
over the country and at the famous Ward Theatre in the capital,
Kingston, in June 1993.
The following June, it garnered a special award for "Most
Promising First Play for Didactic Theatre" and was nominated for
Best Set Design by the International Theatre Institute.
With the award under their belt, the cast and crew set to work
on adapting the stage production for television. The resulting TV
mini-series was launched by the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation to
mark UNFPA's 25th anniversary. The premier broadcast was
accompanied by public service announcements on topics related to
the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD),
UNFPA, and the Fund's activities in the Caribbean. The mini-series
appeared in half-hour episodes over five weeks.
By these measures alone, UNFPA's partnership with PIOJ and
small allocation of US$5,000 under its local umbrella project to
support the video production have yielded impressive results. But
there is far more at stake than theatrical acclaim and publicity.
"Coming in from the Cold" speaks to aspects of Jamaica's current
situation.
Jamaica has a population of around 2.4 million people, some
46 per cent of them living in rural areas. Like Opal, many are
leaving the countryside for the city; by 2025, according to UN
projections, fewer than 30 per cent will live in rural areas. In
the same period, the population of Kingston alone is expected to
double, to around 2.3 million. And like Opal, many of the people
doing the moving are young.
The play's treatment of adolescent sexuality and pregnancy are
key in a country where one in four births is to a teenage mother,
according to the National Family Planning Board.
Addressing some of these issues has been an awakening
experience for the play's audiences and cast members, whose ages
range from 19 to 40.
"The play was a good learning experience," said actress
Fluerette Harris-Forrest. "It was a good eye-opener for me. It was
revealing for those not exposed to certain
sociological realities "especially in relation to child-abuse...and
incest. Facing these issues in the play made it an almost true-to-
life experience for me."
Karen Harriet, who played the lead role of Opal, said: "The
play was a very real one. It touched everybody in a positive way.
It was entertaining but made them think. It has a positive message
for young people."
For Harriet, Opal "was a real person. I liked how Opal dealt
with the story in a real way. Maybe the strong stage portrayal was
a result of the script or of the actress' interpretation. I'm glad
I got the chance to play her "not because this was the lead role
but because of the young woman's experience."
The future of "Coming in from the Cold" seems bright. PIOJ is
considering a proposal to copy and sell the video version to
educational institutions in the country and around the world. The
organization is also looking into collaborating with the Ministry
of Education, Youth, and Culture to produce an educational workbook
and comic book to accompany the video. Demand for these products is
expected to be high in the formal education system as well as among
community, youth, church, and inner-city groups and family planning
clinics.
-Source: Carmen Miller, IEC Specialist, Population Unit, Planning
Institute of Jamaica and K.V.R. Moorthy, UNFPA Director for the
Caribbean. Further information from: UNFPA, 1 Lady Musgrave Road,
Kingston 5, Jamaica. Fax: (809) 927-9103.
==========
Bangladesh: Promoting emergency obstetric care
Dhaka - In a bid to reduce some of the world's highest rates of
death from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, UNFPA is
working with the government of Bangladesh to improve the country's
capacity to deal with obstetric emergencies.
Project BGD/91/P02, "Strengthening of MCH-FP Services at
Mother and Child Welfare Clinics (MCWCs) in Bangladesh," aims to
reduce maternal mortality to 450 deaths per 100,000 live births by
year's end, from an officially estimated 500, and reduce infant
mortality to 80 per 1,000 live births, from around 110.
It is hoped that the combination of improved maternal and
reproductive health and greater confidence that children will
survive their infancy will help raise the contraceptive prevalence
rate to 50 per cent of married women of reproductive age by year's
end, up from around 40 per cent, and in turn help to slow
population growth, estimated at around 2.4 per cent per year.
In full swing since 1993, the project has refurbished 13
district-level MCWCs in one of the country's five divisions,
Rajshahi, picking up where funding from the World Bank group's
International Development Association trailed off. The emphasis has
been on functional amenities, from equipment for anaesthesia right
down to elbow taps for scrubbing.
At the same time, teams of doctors, nurses, and health workers
all over the country are being trained in everything from emergency
procedures to clinic housekeeping and how to maintain an operating
theatre. Clinic and health service managers are being trained to
improve supervision, service monitoring, planning, and logistical
support. The training curricula were developed locally, in
collaboration with the government, local medical colleges and
training institutions, and other UN agencies. Clear lines of
referral from MCWCs to hospitals at district level and above also
have been established.
Only 5-6 per cent of deliveries take place in hospitals, hence
the focus on MCWCs. Officials express optimism that the strategy
will pay off in improved early diagnosis and treatment of the
leading obstetric emergencies, including post-partum haemorrhage,
obstructed labour, eclampsia, infection, and complications from
incomplete, incorrect, or unhygienic abortions.
The process has its challenges, however. Often, it is
difficult to reach referral hospitals. Where transport is not a
problem, the questions are: Who pays for the transport, and who
donates the blood needed for emergency surgery? And although the
project deals with the immediate causes and symptoms of obstetric
emergencies, wider problems such as iron deficiency and poor
nutrition remain major causes of anaemic pregnancy and the risk of
cardiac failure during delivery.
-Source/further information from: Dr. Zafar Ulah Gill, MCH-FP
Adviser, c/o UNFPA, G.P.O. Box 224 Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. Fax:
(880-2) 813196.
==========
South-South: Population partners take initiative
Jakarta - Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzania have teamed up with Indonesia
in a new initiative of the 10 Partners in Population and
Development.
Under the initiative, organized by BKKBN, Indonesia's Family
Planning Coordinating Board, and supported by UNFPA, the three
African countries are observing the Indonesian family planning
programme and applying its lessons at home through study tours,
internships, and technical assistance.
BKKBN has long offered study tours and training opportunities,
but this project is being designed specifically to meet the needs
of the countries taking part. Staffers from the BKKBN training
programme were accompanied by a consultant from UNFPA on a planning
mission to Accra, Lilongwe, and Dar es Salaam, and the project will
work closely with the UNFPA offices in these capitals and in
Jakarta.
Delegates from the three African countries also are being given
the opportunity to work out a "partnership plan" involving their
Indonesian counterparts in aspects of their own national family
planning programmes.
Indonesia secured funding for exchange activities for an
initial period of two years from UNFPA through multi-bi funding
arrangements with the Dutch government. The funds will cover 36
fellowships for study tours and another 12 for three-month
internships, and up to a month's worth of technical assistance from
Indonesian experts for each of the three African countries.
The 10 Partners in Population and Development are: Bangladesh,
Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Thailand,
Tunisia, and Zimbabwe.
- Source/further information from: UNFPA, P.O. Box 2338, Jakarta
10001, Indonesia. Fax: (62-21) 327-902.
==========
Ecuador: Top honours
Quito - The Ministry of Health has bestowed upon UNFPA a decree and
medal of merit for exceptional services rendered in public health.
UNFPA assistance to Ecuador began in 1970 in the form of a
fellowship in population census techniques. Since then, most of the
Fund's resources have been directed at improving the health of
women and increasing contraceptive use. Maternal mortality fell
from 211 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1975 to 156 per 100,000
in 1988. Infant mortality fell from 82 deaths per 1,000 live births
in 1975-80 to 61 per 1,000 live births in 1989.
Current assistance is aimed at meeting the urgent health care
needs of rural, marginal urban, and adolescent populations living
in the country's poorest regions.
Reducing adolescent pregnancy and abortion also are priorities
in a country where some six in ten people are younger than 24 and
an estimated one in three births is to women aged 15-24. A project
in the cities of Esmeraldas and Riobamba is providing Integrated
Youth Services at centres located near public schools. These
services include reproductive health information and counselling;
education on sexuality and interpersonal relationships; information
on women's rights; legal assistance; and income-generating
activities.
- Sources: UNFPA Country Director Juan Esteban Aguirre and the
UNFPA Latin America and the Caribbean Information Kit. Further
information from: UNFPA, Casilla 17-03-4731, Quito, Ecuador. Fax:
(5932) 500-552/500-553.
==========
Nicaragua: Twenty-three years later, a census
Managua - The results of Nicaragua's first census after decades of
civil war and destabilization are being analyzed.
Last year's Population and Housing Census taken by INEC, the
National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, with support from
UNFPA and the UN's Department for Economic and Social Information
and Policy Analysis, was the country's first in 23 years. Its
findings will inform the government's bid to stem the rising tide
of poverty, shore up the economy, and manage diminishing national
resources.
UNFPA provided training and technical assistance throughout
the census process; provided basic equipment for INEC's offices;
and coordinated a nationwide publicity campaign to encourage people
to participate in the census.
- Source: Programme documents. Further information from: Marisela
Padron, Chief, Latin American and Caribbean Division, UNFPA, 220
East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017. Fax: (212) 297-4906.
==========
Cuba: Pill plant construction boosted
Havana - UNFPA has boosted its support for the construction and
equipping of Cuba's first oral contraceptives manufacturing plant.
The Fund and the Cuban government in June signed an agreement
bringing UNFPA's support to the plant to over US$1 million. The
plant will produce contraceptive pills to international standards.
It is expected to meet domestic demand and generate a new export.
IUDs (intra-uterine devices) and diaphragms are available free
of charge, but Cuban women must pay for the pill. Nevertheless, it
remains their method of choice. Contraceptive shortages -- brought
on, in large part, by a United States-imposed embargo -- have led
to a slump in contraceptive usage and an increase in the incidence
of abortions.
Despite shortages of even basic medical supplies such as
sutures, Cuba has become one of fewer than 25 countries, most of
them industrialized, whose infant mortality rates (IMRs) are below
10 deaths per 1,000 live births. Health ministry officials
attribute this success to the "family doctor" primary health care
system, which provides medical coverage to 98 per cent of the
population. Another important factor was the introduction of
special perinatal care units, where women with high-risk
pregnancies are given intensive care, and neonatal intensive care
units for premature or particularly vulnerable newborns.
-Sources: Rainer Rosenbaum, UNFPA Country Director; Granma
International; Inter Press Service. Further information from:
UNFPA, Apartado postal 105-39, 11581 Mexico D.F., Mexico. Fax:
(525) 254-7235.
==========
Albania: Waiting for a CD
Tirana - Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi has expressed delight that
UNFPA is seeking Executive Board approval to appoint a Country
Director to Albania and its neighbours. Speaking at the
inauguration of Albania's first national workshop on follow-up to
last year's International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD), he expressed his full support for translating the ICPD
Programme of Action into "Albanian reality."
- Source/further information from: Peter Schumann, United Nations
Resident Coordinator, Deshmoret E4, Shkurtit Street, Villa No. 35,
Tirana, Albania. Fax: (355-42) 32075/34448.
==========
Special Feature:
The reproductive health of refugees: UNFPA's role
-----
by Daniel Pierotti, UNFPA Senior Adviser for Emergency Relief
Operations -----
Twenty years ago, there were 2.5 million refugees in the
world. Today, there are 23 million, with another 26 million
internally displaced persons. In total, some 50 million people --
roughly the equivalent of the population of Spain and Portugal
combined --have been forced from their homes by disasters wrought
by nature and humans.
If the world seems powerless to prevent the disasters that
displace people, it has learned fast how to bury the dead, heal the
wounded, and set up the humanitarian machinery needed to help the
survivors of these nightmares. But the public health machinery is
still rudimentary, and the reproductive health machinery is still
being invented.
The traditional public health priorities in refugee camps
include providing safe drinking water and food, sanitation, and
measures to prevent or contain outbreaks of infectious disease and
malnutrition. Where people are struggling for basic survival and
disease and deprivation are rampant, reproductive health and family
planning appear at first to be luxuries.
In fact, birth rates are generally higher in refugee camps
than in the host country, and sexual violence and exploitation are
now recognized as major problems. In many parts of the world, it is
difficult for women and men to find reproductive health services,
let alone high-quality services, and protection from sexual
violence and exploitation. In a refugee camp, it can be virtually
impossible to find safety and services.
UNFPA's response
Until recently, reproductive health services in refugee camps
were limited to prenatal, childbirth, and postnatal care. Here and
there, condoms were distributed as an AIDS-control measure.
Anything else -- even sanitary napkins -- was virtually out of the
question.
Things are changing. In June, an agreement on joint activities
was signed by UNFPA and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR). The two agencies teamed up to organize the Inter-
Agency Symposium on Reproductive Health in Refugee Situations, held
in Geneva 28-30 June in collaboration with the UN Children's Fund
and World Health Organization. A key recommendation of the
symposium was to create an inter-agency committee to ensure follow-
up and continuity in the production of a field manual and other
practical tools for reproductive health services. Meanwhile, a
UNHCR reproductive health coordinator has been assigned to Goma,
Zaire and UNHCR and UNFPA will be the catalysts for similar
arrangements elsewhere.
Although UNFPA had assisted in establishing family planning
services in long-term refugee camps in Thailand and elsewhere, it
turned its full attention to emergency situations last year, when
four major developments took place:
> In May, UNFPA policy on emergency relief operations was
introduced. It recognized that refugees and the internally
displaced have the same right to reproductive health as anyone
else. It called on the Fund to work within its mandate and in
collaboration with other specialized agencies to safeguard this
right.
> In June, the Fund's Executive Board committed it to providing
emergency assistance in Rwanda.
> In September, the International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD) adopted a Programme of Action containing
objectives and broad guidelines for assistance to refugees.
> In November, UNFPA set up its Emergency Relief Operations
office in Geneva. Tasked with specifying and coordinating
appropriate responses to reproductive health needs in emergency
situations, this unit will promote and reinforce reproductive
health care services for refugees and work with country offices and
Country Support Teams to establish and evaluate projects and
identify operational partners. Data collected from UNFPA Country
Directors and Country Support Teams show that:
> 35 countries in which UNFPA has programmes of assistance have
international or internal refugees;
> in 34 of these countries, conflict forced them from their
homes;
> UNFPA provides assistance to refugees in 17 of the 35
countries.
Projects vary in type, size, and duration. Generally, they
involve medical equipment and contraceptive supplies (usually,
almost exclusively condoms, as in Bosnia); workshops for refugees
and camp staff; or family planning information. In some cases, the
Fund has sought to re-open service-delivery centres closed or
destroyed by armed conflict and to provide counselling to women
traumatized by conflict and sexual violence. As yet, however, there
is no single project that takes a holistic approach.
Programme issues
Given the importance of reproductive health and family
planning services, and the difficulty of providing them during the
scramble for essentials such as shelter and safe water, programmers
need to take advantage of the time lag between exodus, the
establishment of refugee camps, and the introduction of services to
draw up demographic and health profiles of the populations
involved. Rapid needs assessments should be conducted, and the
necessary political and procurement machinery set in motion.
Since emergency relief projects are usually short-term --
typically running to between three months and a year --
administrative procedures need to be streamlined and specific
budgets established. Since these projects are almost always
executed by collaborators such as government agencies, NGOs, and
other UN or international agencies, UNFPA is establishing a set of
criteria for selecting collaborating agencies and a shortlist of
qualified agencies.
Just as in conventional settings, reproductive health and
family planning need to be integrated into overall basic health
programming. It should be made clear that reproductive health care
and family planning cannot be provided one without the other, and
that clinical services must be complemented by counselling. Various
models of integrated service delivery are being discussed,
including a proposal to set up a "house for women" to deal with all
aspects of women's reproductive health --clinical, psychological,
and social.
Sexual violence and exploitation are among our top concerns.
The severity of the problems have been acknowledged by UNHCR, which
has issued guidelines meant to prevent officials from abusing their
power and enable staff to respond to women's needs. For its part,
UNFPA should include in all its projects measures to prevent sexual
violence and to treat women affected by it.
Emergency contraception is rarely provided although it is
simple to prescribe, safe, and available at low cost. Yet, for the
victims of sexual violence, it is an essential service.
Our special focus is on the women and children who make up
more than three-fourths of the world's refugee population. However,
men should not be overlooked. Adolescent men, in particular, also
may be vulnerable to sexual violence; refugee men, like all other
men, need to be brought into family planning and reproductive
health programmes, and need to be encouraged to practise healthy
and responsible sexuality.
- Further information from: Dr. Daniel Pierotti, Senior Adviser for
Emergency Relief Operations, UNFPA, European Liaison Office, Palais
des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: (41-22) 979-9016.
==========
Philippines: US$26.7 million projects in place
Manila - Work has begun on implementing five projects worth US$26.7
million as part of UNFPA's fourth programme of assistance to the
government's Population Management Programme.
The projects focus on providing access to reproductive health
and family planning services; reducing infant, child, and maternal
mortality; bringing about gender equity and equality; improving the
quality of care; addressing the needs of adolescents; enhancing
partnership with non-governmental organizations (NGOs); and
focusing on problems related to sexually transmitted diseases and
AIDS.
US$22.6 million has been allocated to strengthening the
management and field implementation of reproductive health and
family planning services by the Department of Health, two other
government agencies, 16 NGOs, and 127 local government units.
Special attention is also being given to gender research aimed at
a better understanding of women's, population, and health issues
and formulating and implementing gender-sensitive policies,
programmes, and projects.
Like the Fund's US$35-million Fourth Country Programme
(1994-98), the projects were formulated on the basis of a UNFPA
Programme Review and Strategy Development mission and are
consistent with the government's Medium Term Philippine Development
Plan and President Fidel Ramos's Social Reform Agenda.
- Source/further information from: Satish Mehra, UNFPA Country
Director, P.O. Box 7285, Domestic Airport, Post Office Lock Box,
1300 Domestic Rd., Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Fax:
(63-2) 817-8616.
==========
PHOTO CAPTION: ALL FOR EQUALITY. Reddouane El Fadil, a 26-year-old
art instructor from Morocco, won the grand prize in the fourth
UNFPA international poster contest with the design pictured here.
El Fadil was among 225 entrants from 56 countries to try their
hands at illustrating the theme "Women's Equality: A Gateway to
Population." The contest was open to entrants six years of age and
older. The first round of judging was done at country level, with
only the designs of the first-plaze winners in each of five age
groups being submitted to UNFPA headquarters for the final judging.
==========