URUGUAY: Study Finds Concern Over Youth Emigration, Population Aging
Multiple media outlets reported on 24 March - 1 April on the release of the study "Leadership and population policies," conducted by Jaime Mezzera, Pablo Mieres and Dardo Directions Rodriguez for the Rumbos Institute, with support from UNFPA. The study surveyed opinion leaders in a variety of professional fields and sectors of Uruguayan society on population and demographic issues. Read in Spanish: La República, El País, and IPS
URUGUAY: Presentation Of Gender Indicators For The Development Of Equity Policies
Multiple media outlets reported on 24 and 25 March that female poverty exceeds males in all departments of the country in people between 18 and 6, according to the report "Indicators of land for developing gender equity policies,” conducted by the National Institute of Women of the Ministry of Social Development (Mides) with UNFPA support. Read in Spanish: La República, Presidencia, El País, La Diaria, UYPRESS.
TAJIKISTAN: Training for Promotion of Effective Prenatal Care Held
Khovar reported on 25 March that the national training on Promotion of Effective Prenatal Care (PEPC) Initiative was conducted in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from 22-26 March. The training was conducted for the representatives of the Gynecology and Midwifery Department of the Tajik State Medical University and the Postgraduate Training Institute of Republican Medical College. The training was conducted by highly skilled international experts. It is planned that in the future the curricula of the above mentioned institutions will be revised in accordance with the given programme. The UNFPA country office will continue its efforts on promoting PEPC on the national level. Read in Tajik: Khovar
UGANDA: Bearing the Pains of Double Discrimination
IPS reported on 25 March that Ugandan women living with disabilities say the greatest challenge facing them is related to their reproductive health. Women with disabilities are vulnerable to sexual violence because many in the society believe that they are asexual and thus are free from HIV/AIDS, says State of Uganda's Population report 2008. Moreover, the report says, these women are also often left out of reproductive health sensitisation and awareness programmes because the providers also consider them asexual. Consequently, girls with disabilities suffer from sexually transmitted infections without access to counselling and treatment because they are always kept at home. "They (girls) are easily taken advantage of because of their (disability) status. Taking care of them is hard and most parents ignore them when they are sick," says 'Rapid Sexual and Reproductive Health Assessment in Northern Uganda,' a 2006 study by UNFPA.
ARGENTINA: UN Report Highlights Inequality
Multiple media outlets reported on 23-25 March that Argentina is confronting “clear inequities” as reflected by the incidence of “avoidable” maternal deaths during childbirth, the frequency of abortion among poor women and the concentration of new HIV infections in the most marginalized sector of the population, according to a U.N. report released on 23 March. Despite the country’s great economic growth since the collapse it suffered at the end of 2001, inequalities among provinces and class and gender disparities exist and are some of “the challenges to overcome,” said the study by UNFPA. “The tragedy of maternal mortality – which stands at 4 per 10,000 live births – takes on its true dimension when one notes that it is, in large measure, avoidable,” UNFPA said. UNFPA representative Eleonor Fuar expressed her hope that the report would inspire renewed interest in such studies for designing public policy. Read: Latin American Herald Tribune, Crítica Digital, AnsaLatina.com, TeleCinco, Los Andes, Los Andes, EFE, El Liberal Digital , ABC.es (Spain), Clarín.com and Somosparaguay (Paraguay)