TANZANIA: Our Daughters Must Stay in School
Daily News on 26 December published an article on education, particularly of girls, as a fundamental element towards regulating birthrate. This is because, as UNFPA Tanzania Country Representative Dr. Julitta Onabanjo points out, “a lot of factors determining population change are driven by education and what is invested in girls education in particular.” The likelihood of a girl educated up to secondary education to have fewer children than those who leave during primary school is high, which in turn affects their future living standards and country’s economy. The article underscore the need to keep girls in school, including taking actions to institute (legal and policy) mechanisms that will facilitate young mothers to re-start or continue with schooling.
PHILIPPINES: UNFPA Sends Support to Sendong Victims
The Philippine Star and the Manila Bulletin on 25 December and Shanghai Daily on 24 December and reported on aid being sent to the survivors of tropical storm Sendong. They reported that UNFPA mobilized funds and supplies to provide medical services to more than 12,000 pregnant and lactating women in the affected areas and that nearly 35,000 hygiene kits will be distributed to affected women and girls, including 4,200 mothers who are breastfeeding, in and around the evacuation centers. Read in English: The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin and Shanghai Daily
CAMBODIA: Workshop on Population Growth Issues
The Rasmei Kampuchea reported on 24 December that members of parliament have critical roles to address issues as a result of world population growth. About 20 Members of Parliament met at a workshop on “Population Dynamics, Family Planning and Implications in a world of 7 billion people” in the afternoon of 22 Dec at the National Assembly Palace. The objective of the workshop was to provide updated information on Cambodian people and challenges in a world of 7 billion people and to encourage them to have better policies for Cambodians. Dr. Marc Derveeuw, UNFPA Representative, highlighted the linkage between demography and implications. Key implications from the population growth include poverty, food security, migration for employment opportunity, urbanization, environment (climate change), health services, nutrition, gender, youth, reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, fertility and family planning.
MOZAMBIQUE: UNFPA Supports Journalism Awards
Notícias reported on 23 December that the Minister of Health, Dr. Alexandre Manguele, led the health journalism awards ceremony in Maputo. “Mass media are vital to inform and sensitize the society on health matters,” Manguele is quoted as saying. The report mentions that the Ministry of Health with the support of UNFPA and other UN agencies organized the awards. Seven journalists received the awards.
MOROCCO: Second National Forum of Peer Educators Launched
Maghreb Arab Press on 23 December reported on the launch of the second national forum of peer educators under the theme, “Peer Educator: agent for change.” The forum was organized by the Ministry for Youth and Sports and the national peer educators network with the collaboration of UNFPA, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Directorate for National Cooperation, and the Rabeta of Oulemas (high religious consortium). The objectives of this forum that gathered 120 young people and representatives of similar networks from Tunisia and Algeria were to exchange experiences regarding the peer education approach and participation of youth, and also to establish a structure for this network along with a mechanism for its work and a work plan for 2012.
UGANDA: Karimojong Mothers Get Radios
The Daily Monitor reported on 22 December that UNFPA donated 630 radio sets to Karimojong mothers as part of the healthy choices radio project.
UGANDA: Challenges to Five-Year Plan
The Daily Monitor on 22 December published an article on the country’s lack of qualified medical personnel and the launch of a new five-year strategy in which the Uganda Nurses and Midwife’s Council will weed out all nurses and midwives who are currently practicing without licenses. UNFPA Representative Janet Jackson was quoted at the end of the story as saying, “the challenge is for the council to mobilize resources to implement the plan." Read more in English: Daily Monitor
BANGLADESH: Negative Attitudes Lead to Violence
Bangladesh Today, The Independent, Prothom Alo and Kalerkantho on 21 December reported on a dissemination seminar organized jointly by the Internatioanl Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh(ICDDR, B) and UNFPA. The ICDDR,B conducted a survery on men's attitudes and practices regarding gender and violence against women in Bagladesh with the support of UNFPA and Partners for Prevention. The survey was released at the seminar. UNFPA Representative Arther Erken addressed seminar participants saying, "We need to nurture more gender equitable young men through our individual actions, through positive male role models, through effective policies and education programmes."
BANGLADESH: World at 7 Billion Revisited
The Financial Express on 21 December published a piece by Strategic Directions Officer at UNFPA in Dhaka Tauhid Alam on the world at 7 billion. The article "provides some messages along with a few critical facts, figures and prognosis of global population trends as well as an analysis of global population challenges." Read in English: The Financial Express
NIGER: CARMMA Launched
Le Sahel reported on 21 December on the launch of the Campaign to Accelerate the Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) by Niger Republic President, Mr Issoufou Mahamadou. All the republic institutions Presidents, the two First Ladies, government members, ambassadors and chiefs of diplomatic missions, religious and traditional leaders and many health experts took part in this ceremony.
During the ceremony, the President of Republic announced his decision to create a high council for accelerating the reduction of maternal death in Niger.
In his speech on this occasion, the UNFPA Niger Representative, Dr. Edwige Adekambi Domingo, urged religious and traditional leaders to continue their actions of awareness of the populations for the adoption of best behaviour for maternal health.
Dr. Adekambi reiterated the commitment of technical and financial partners to support Niger in its efforts to fight against maternal mortality. Read in French: Le Sahel
TANZANIA: Speaker Makinda on Launch of Three UN reports
The African on 21 December reported that in the spirit of Delivering as One in Tanzania, three UN agencies – UNFPA, UNICEF and UNWomen - jointly launched their global reports together with the Adolescent in Tanzania report. Commenting during the launch, Speaker of the National Parliament, the Hon. Anne Makinda, said UNFPA’s global report focuses on “People and Possibilities in a World of 7 Billion,” the theme is particularly timely for Tanzania as we embark on the 2012 Population and Housing Census. “Population growth is a critical issue for Tanzania as it is with a number of other developing countries. Our country has one of the highest rates of population growth in the world; on average every Tanzania woman gives birth to five or six children,” Hon. Makinda further commented.
TANZANIA: Law on school girls pregnancy obsolete, must go
The Daily News on 21 December published an interview with a teenage girl, a grade four school drop out in Tanga region. Her neighbor, who later paid some monetary fine to the girl's parents and was let free, impregnated the girl. Teenage pregnancy is still a problem in some of the regions in Tanzania, but, to date, there is no definite law that states clearly that a pregnant girl should be allowed to continue with her studies. There have been pleas for the government to tackle the problem in order to give teenage girls a second chance in education. At a workshop organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the city this year, it was revealed that only 27 per cent of women in the country have access to family planning – a situation alarming as it results in uncontrollable population growth.
LAO People’s Democratic Republic: Essay Winners of World at 7 Billion Contest Announced
KPL on 21 December reported that the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in cooperation with UNFPA, announced the winners of the essay competition "The World at 7 billion: Opportunities, Challenges and Implications for Lao Development." The feature contest was part of the 7 Billion Actions Campaign, a global initiative led by UNFPA to highlight the critical role population changes play in shaping our world's future.
NIGERIA: UNFPA Donates Mattresses and TV to Aid in Fistula Fight
The Nigerian Television Authority and Tribune News on 20 December reported on the visit by UNFPA regional advisor Mr. Laurent Osagba and Mr. Audu Alayande to Maryam Abatcha Hospital in Sokoto to deliver over 100 mattresses and a 29 inch flat screen television set to the hospital's chief medical director.
In her welcome address the Director for Child Development, who is also UNFPA’s project coordinator Zubaida Abubakar, expressed the gratitude of her Ministry for all the contributions by UNFPA to the centre adding that this shows strong support for the women of Sokoto and most especially the fistula women.
The Hon. Commissioner for Women Affairs Sokoto, Mrs. Nuhu Abubakar thanked UNFPA for coming to their aid, saying UNFPA is a great family. The Ministry of Women Affairs provide feeding and also give the women skills acquisitions after they are repaired for the period of six months before the women were integrated back to their communities.
Representing UNFPA, Mr. Laurent Osogba during the handing over ceremony expresses UNFPA's willingness to support the partnership in fighting for the promotion of quality health care for the women, and that the state should also focus on prevention of VVF.
In a similar development UNFPA is also supporting Borno state in VVF repairs and the hospital has repaired 34 patients as of today. With a bed capacity space of 15 and with more than 100 women on the waiting list, the Borno hospital has set a target of repairing 50 women before the end of December 2011.
JORDAN: National Conference Recommends Revision of National Policies
All local newspapers and Petra News Agency reported on 20 December that the National Conference for the Prevention of Violence against Children and Women: “Reality and Challenges,” organized by the Jordan River Foundation, in cooperation with UNFPA and UNICEF in Jordan, was concluded yesterday.
The conference recommended the need to review all current legislation and policies to be compatible with the United Nations conventions. They also recommended identifying the role of the country in organizing awareness and media campaigns to strengthen knowledge and positive attitudes towards the prevention of all sorts of violence, and also its role in supporting and institutionalizing different programmes working on this issue.
The experts suggested that the United Nations in Jordan should work more on protecting vulnerable groups, specially people with disabilities.
The conference stressed the importance of the media in promoting positive images of family relationships, and the building of the capacities of journalists to cover all cases of violence as an important issue and a social disease and not as a news or headline.
It was also decided to hold the Second National Conference on 28 November 2012, which will be also in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF. Also, it was agreed that a scientific periodically meeting should take place for the professionals network. Read in Arabic: Al Rai, Ad Dustour, Ad Dustour, Al Arabalyawm, Al Ghad, Petra News Agency and Petra News Agency
BELARUS: Band Becomes Ambassador for Y-Peer
Belta reported on 20 of December that the musical band Open Space has become the ambassador of the youth network Y-peer. The band members and a representative of the UN/UNFPA in Belarus, Antonius Broek, signed the corresponding agreement. For the next two years, the musicians will officially represent the youth network and promote the key themes (which are responsible attitude towards their health, HIV/AIDS, how to protect themselves from drugs, say "no" and be able to resist peer pressure) among teenagers. Read in Russian: Belta
BURKINA FASO: Conference an Opportunity to Learn About Family Planning
Sidwaya on 20 December reported on an interview with Burkina Faso country office Representative, Dr. Mamadou Kanté. This interview was conducted during the international conference on family planning, held from 28 November till 2 December in Dakar. Dr. Mamadou Kanté, UNFPA/Burkina Representative, said that, “This conference was an opportunity for many countries and Burkina Faso to learn more about family planning. We took advantage of other countries' family planning experiences...Burkina Faso had an opportunity to present some experiences and participated at many sessions of the conference.” Read in French: Sidwaya
JORDAN: Launch of the First National Conference to Address Violence Against Women and Children
All local newspapers and Petra News Agency reported on 19 December that the “First Jordanian National Conference for the Prevention of Violence against Children and Women: ‘Reality and Challenges’ was launched by the Jordan River Foundation/Queen Rania Foundation in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF.
Also, and for the first time in Jordan, a network of Jordanian professionals to prevent all sort of violence against children was launched.
The Queen’s Representative, the Minister of Social Development Mrs. Nisreen Barakat, said that Jordan worked to develop an integrated work plan for all the legislative and executive institutions, and ratified and committed to all international conventions on human rights.
From his part, Mr. Luc Stevens, UN Resident Coordinator and UNFPA Representative in Jordan, said that the timing of this conference is very important as it comes days after we concluded the global annual 16 Days campaign to end violence against women which is marked every year from 25 November to 10 December.
The conference also comes at a very opportune time as the UN agencies are finalizing the UNDAF, the United Nations Assistance Framework for the coming five years and developing their detailed plans with their national partners. UNFPA and many other agencies have identified violence against women and children as a key area that we need to continue working closely on and we are hoping that the outcome of the conference will be a concrete road map that we can all turn to as we develop our detailed plans for the years to come.
He also affirmed that this issue is a top priority for the United Nations, stating that UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, in Jordan, has been working for the past five years with the Ministry of Health and many other partners to address this and to integrate the detection and care for women victims of violence within the health system in close coordination with UNICEF. We are looking for continued and expanded partnerships as we respond to your priorities and join hands with all partners to bring greater attention and speak as one against this unacceptable violation of human rights. Read in Arabic: Al Rai, Ad Dustour, Al Arabal, and Petra News Agency Read in English: Jordan Times
BURKINA FASO: Repositioning Family Planning
Sidwaya on 19 December published an article on a caravan press on repositioning family planning. This caravan press was organized by directions from the Minister of Heath and by the support (financial and technical) of UNFPA/Burkina. This activity provided journalists with an opportunity to assess the family planning situation in the southwest region of Burkina Faso. The journalists made an analysis of the repositioning of family planning in this region. They said that the rate of contraceptive prevalence was 21% in 2007 and 37% in 2009. This evolution of contraceptive prevalence is possible by the support of UNFPA/Burkina. Read in French: Sidwaya
TANZANIA: Women’s Education Key to Cutting Population Growth
The Citizen on 17 December reported that every day across the country, hundreds of school girls become pregnant, bringing their learning to a halt. Tackling the taboo of mothers returning to school, say campaigners, will reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies. "Education is an absolute priority in these regions," says Dr. Julitta Onabanjo, UNFPA Representative. "It is really stark, in regions like Arusha and Kilimanjaro where education is valued, for example, women have an average of two to three births, but in places like Shinyanga there are seven births on average. It is still a widespread mentality in Africa that your family is your wealth".
EL SALVADOR: Medical Kits Delivered
El Diario Colatino and El Mundo reported on 16 December on the UNFPA delivery to the Salvadorean Ministry of Health of 22 medical kits with materials to be distributed in affected areas by Tropical Depression 12-E. Read in Spanish: El Diario Colatino
GEORGIA: Addressing the elephant in the room
Georgia Today reported on 15 December that from December 1 till December 10 UNFPA Georgia Country Office, in partnership with the International Centre on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN), Georgian Youth Development and Education Association (GYDEA) and the Caucasus Social Marketing Association (CSMA), organized the Youth Contest within the frames of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence and UNFPA global “7 Billion Actions” campaigns. During ten days - from December 1 till December 10 - every day a group of young people presented their flash mobs or performances in Tbilisi streets and created own articles, slogans, connected with gender- based violence and HIV/AIDS. The global theme for the 2011 campaign is From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence against Women! “Domestic violence, raping, militarism are the main reasons that are ruining lives of many woman,” said Gvantsa Kordzakhia, 21, one of the participators of the campaign.
The youth contest will finish on December 13, 2011 by the awarding ceremony of the contest winners. Read in English: Georgia Today
SUDAN: Midwifery Promotions
Al Sahafa reported that the federal ministry of health in Sudan, together with UNFPA, organized an advocacy open on midwifery in the federal midwifery school of Sudan. The day activities were covered by the media highlighting the role of UNFPA in supporting midwifery in Sudan. Alsahafa, a popular Arabic daily, made the support of UNFPA to midwifery as a head line to the article and quoted Pamela Delargy UNFPA acting representative. Read in Arabic: Al Sahafa
SIERRA LEONE: UNFPA Hands Over Special Care Baby Unit
The Concord Times Newspaper reported on 15 December that as a demonstration for its continuous support for the free health programme for lactating mothers and pregnant women to minimize death rates in the country, the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, on Monday 12 December handed over the refurbished and expanded Special Care Baby Unit and Mother’s Lodge at the PCM Hospital, to the Government of Sierra Leone. While handing over the unit, the UNFPA Country Representative among other things said that UNFPA Sierra Leone committed its own core resources to the refurbishment, expansion and creation of the mother’s lodge and baby care unit for neonates in the hospital. The Minister of Health and Sanitation, Haja Hawa Bangura, thanked UNFPA for their support in the health sector.
LEBANON:LEBANON: Launching SWOP and 7B National Statistical Booklet
Several media outlets reported on 15 December on the launching of UNFPA’s State of World Population report 2011 as well as a 7B national statistical booklet entitled “Lebanon in a World of Seven Billion: New Figures … Pending Issues.” This double event was held in the presence of the Minister of Social Affairs. The various sections of the 2011 SWOP were briefly presented in the event with key highlights and examples from the Arab States. The national statistical booklet was developed by the Population and Development Project, a joint collaboration between the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) and UNFPA, in an effort to contribute to the promotion of the theme for the World Population Day 2011 “Seven billion people counting on each other.” The booklet includes key indicators/statistics on a number of population and development themes relevant to Lebanon and seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues and on the need to find solutions. It also includes national data pertaining to the 7B Campaign themes. It also aims to serve as an advocacy tool targeting primarily media professionals however could also be addressed to key stakeholders such as parliamentarians, officials in public administrations, researchers, and NGOs, to draw their attention on priority population issues in Lebanon. As such, the booklet is meant to act as an important source of concise, friendly and quick information on main indicators/statistics at the national level. Read in Arabic: Lebanon Files, National News Agency, Al Balad, As Safir, El Nashra, Al Moustaqbal.
CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE): UNFPA Representative op-ed on social policies
Metropolis published on 15 December an op-ed by UNFPA Representative David Lawson on the occasion of the end of the 7 Billion Campaign launched on the occasion of the world population reaching 7 billion. Mr. Lawson outlined the need to plan ahead and define urban, and social policy to deal with ageing, youth, and ensure a better world for future generations.
CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE): UNFPA Chief Gathers Representatives for United Vision
Congo-site reported on 15 December on a meeting called by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin with all UNFPA Representatives worldwide in Jordan, from 5-7 December, to discuss the UNFPA’s new business plan, the Executive Director's vision for the organization, and a unified strategy to support government and civil society for the benefit of peoples. Read in French: Congo-site
MALAWI: Fistula camps restore hope in women
The Nation reported on 15 December that up to 400 women suffering from fistula have been treated since 2009 through fistula camps run by the Malawi government, with assistance from the United Nations Population Fund.
Although Malawi has no specific data on the extent of the fistula problem, a UNFPA survey in 2009 indicated that the problem is rampant, especially in rural areas with data collected from hospital records and through community surveys in nine districts revealing that 1,581 women had fistula that year. Read in English: The Nation
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY: UNFPA Continue to Support Cultural Initiatives
Multiple media outlets reported on 14 December on UNFPA’s continued support to youth, this time through the Sharek Youth Forum, by assisting young intellectuals and artists in various fields and topics, such as poetry and literature through the Darwish Fund another initiative of Be the Change. “UNFPA encourages youth ages 18 – 29 to pursue aspirations of writing poetry, novels, or through art, producing documentaries of cultural nature, and through music,” Mr. Bader Zamareh, Sharek Executive Director, said.
TANZANIA: Gender-based violence on rise in Zanzibar
The Guardian Weekly on 14 Decemebr reported that gender-based violence (GBV) has been on the rise in Zanzibar, while a civil organization to assist those in need has called for more coordination among stakeholders. Although Zanzibar has managed to establish a centre from helping abused women and children at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, but it has not been fully effective due to many challenges. The centre which is supported by UNFPA was established five months ago through the initiatives from Zanzibar’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Youths, Children and Women Development and the Zanzibar Female Lawyer’s Association (ZAFELA) as one of the interventions in GBV.