mer., 22 mai 2013 03:24:40 +0000 mer., 22 mai 2013 03:24:40 +0000 http://unfpa.org UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. UNFPA – because everyone counts. en-us serrano@unfpa.org (Alvaro Serrano) gruber@unfpa.org (Kimberly Gruber) http://unfpa.org/images/unfpalogoxs.gif http://unfpa.org 80 36 The world's largest international source of funding for population and reproductive health programmes http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/14128;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 UNFPA’s office in Kosovo marked the International Day of Families on 15 May by providing basic health care services in the capital, Prishtina. More than 300 citizens of all ages made use of the opportunity to consult family medicine doctors and undergo free medical check-ups in two tents that were set up in Prishtina’s main square. http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13982;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 ALMATY, 13 May 2013 - Some 40 emergency management, cartography and statistics experts from the South Caucasus and Central Asia have gathered in Almaty to learn and share best practices in information management in emergencies. The four-day workshop will allow the participants from emergency situations ministries, cartography and geodesy departments and statistics agencies to use international best practices and tools for disaster mitigation planning and emergency assessment.   http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13973;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 It is the responsibility of religious leaders to ensure that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, is correctly interpreted, Mufti Naim Ternava, the head of Kosovo’s Islamic Community, said at a UNFPA roundtable on the role of Islam in preventing gender-based violence on 8 May. “Men and women are equal according to the Quran, and violence against women has no basis in Islam,” said Mufti Ternava, stressing that verse 34, which describes the relation between men and women, needs to be interpreted in this sense. http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13970;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 Nearly 93,000 women will be missing in Armenian society by 2060 if the country’s high pre-natal sex selection rate remains unchanged, according to projections included in a new report released by UNFPA on 2 May. With 114 boys born for every 100 girls in 2012, Armenia has one of the highest sex imbalance levels in the world, surpassed only by China (118) and Azerbaijan (116). The imbalance is particularly dramatic for third births: the record level of 173 sons born for every 100 daughters has no known equivalent anywhere else in the world. http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13972;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 It is the responsibility of religious leaders to ensure that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, is correctly interpreted, Mufti Naim Ternava, the head of Kosovo’s Islamic Community, said at a UNFPA roundtable on the role of Islam in preventing gender-based violence on 8 May. “Men and women are equal according to the Quran, and violence against women has no basis in Islam,” said Mufti Ternava, stressing that verse 34, which describes the relation between men and women, needs to be interpreted in this sense.   http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13937;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 ISTANBUL – Health ministry officials and civil society representatives from 19 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia developed action plans for introducing a “total market approach” to ensuring universal access to modern contraceptives and other reproductive health commodities at two meetings, in Sarajevo and Kyiv, in April. The meetings, organized together with together with PATH, a global health organization, marked a major step towards establishing the total market approach in the region, as the ministry officials committed to finalizing and implementing the action plans. http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13919;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 As the national consultations in Kazakhstan on the post 2015 development agenda are drawing to a close, UNFPA increased its efforts to engage young people in the process. In a lecture for students at the Kazakhstan National University on 11 April, Nikolai Botev, the Director of UNFPA’s Sub-regional office in Almaty, spoke about the international development debate since the 1990s. He stressed the importance of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, calling it “a landmark forum, which not only resulted in a paradigm shift in the way the international community views the interlink between population and development, but also laid the ground for the emergence later of the Millennium Development Goals”. http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13893;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 BUCHAREST, 26 April 2013 – Sexuality education in schools is key for improving sexual and reproductive health in the region, experts said at a two-day regional meeting organized by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which ended today. “Unfortunately misconceptions about sexuality education remain widespread in many countries in the region, with many parents fearing that such education could lead to teenagers having sex sooner and more often,” said Werner Haug, UNFPA’s Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.   http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13876;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 SARAJEVO, 17 April 2013 – Government and civil society representatives from eight South-eastern European countries gathered in Sarajevo today for a meeting convened by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), together with PATH, a global health organization, to discuss a road map for the introduction of a “total market approach” to ensure universal access to modern contraceptives and other reproductive health commodities in the region. The total market approach, or TMA, looks at what the public sector, commercial suppliers and non-governmental organizations can do to ensure a reliable supply of reproductive health commodities. It takes into account that not all population groups are able or willing to pay the full market price for such commodities, and foresees subsidies or free supplies for those who cannot afford them.   http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13869;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 BELGRADE, 16 April 2013 – Stronger commitment is needed to reduce inequality and reverse the social exclusion of disadvantaged groups, experts said at a two-day regional meeting organized by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which ended today. “Evidence shows that societies that are more unequal do worse on a whole variety of indicators ranging from health and life expectancy to the incidence of teenage pregnancy and social mobility. What is more, the negative consequences of inequality do not only affect the poor, but harm societies as a whole, including the rich,” said Werner Haug, UNFPA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.   http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13866;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 AMMAN—The international community should urgently increase its support to refugees and displaced persons fleeing the Syrian crisis, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, said, following visits to Syrian refugee camps in Turkey and Jordan. “It is heartening to see the open-door policy of Syria’s neighbouring countries,” said Dr. Osotimehin. “But we are concerned that, with the number of refugees steadily increasing, the economies of host countries will be affected. The international community will need to step up.” http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13845;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 Kazakhstan’s child marriage rate stands at 4.5 percent, according to the latest Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey published by the country’s Agency of Statistics, UNICEF and UNFPA. This means that nearly one in twenty teenage girls between the age of 15 and 19 is married or in union. “Although this is not a particular high number in comparison to other countries in the region, every effort must be made to fully eradicate the practice of child marriage,” said Nikolai Botev, UNFPA’s Country Director in Kazakhstan. “Child marriage is a human rights abuse that constitutes a grave threat to young girls’ lives, health and future prospects,” he added. http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13839;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is visiting a camp for refugees from Syria near the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep on 13 April. Dr. Osotimehin will speak with refugees, aid workers and Turkish officials in the Nizip camp to assess the impact of UNFPA’s assistance and identify needs that the Fund can address, in particular related to reproductive health and sexual and gender-based violence. Some 14,000 people fleeing the violence in neighbouring Syria have found refuge in the camp, almost three quarters of them women and children. During the visit, the Executive Director will also meet with members of the Turkish Parliament and the mayor of Gaziantep. http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13824;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 For the first time since independence in 1991, one of Kyrgyzstan’s regions succeeded in reducing maternal mortality to zero: in the north-western Talas region, not a single woman died during 2012 while being pregnant or as a result of giving birth. The UNFPA Country Office in Kyrgyzstan has contributed to this success by training health care providers in the Talas region on effective perinatal care with a focus on emergency obstetric care and antenatal care. UNFPA experts also provided practical on-the-job exercises and trained health promotion specialists on educating local communities, including village health committees, about reproductive health issues. http://unfpa.org/public/site/eeca/cache/offonce/pid/13823;jsessionid=B381DEDE5D2313B83BA85B1DFC715794.jahia01 The United Nations and partners are calling for renewed attention to the Millennium Development Goals as the target date for achieving the goals, the year 2015, is drawing nearer. Friday, 5 April 2013, kicks off the countdown of the last 1,000 days. The UN Population Fund, UNFPA, has been involved in organizing consultations with citizens in most countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The goal has been to hear their views about progress made so far and ideas for the post-2015 development agenda. The Fund has focused on MDG5: to improve maternal health and universal access to reproductive health. In total, such consultations have been conducted by the UN in 14 countries across the region. So far over 50,000 people have taken part in this exercise either in person or online.