Women's needs in Pacific disaster focus of UN help

Radio Australia
8 October 2010

Now we are going to turn our attention to the special needs and vulnerabilities of women and young people after natural disasters which include prenatal care, assisted delivery, and emergency obstetric care.

Radio Australias presenter, Geraldine Coutts speaks with Dr Wame Baravilala, Reproductive Health Adviser for the United Nations Population Fund in Fiji.

Cambodia: Alarming Maternal Deaths Require a Mix of Solutions

12 October 2009
By Robert Carmichael, IPS - Inter Press Service

Early this year, heavily pregnant Vorn Yoeub, 37, arrived at a hospital in the western Cambodian border town of Pailin. The mother of seven other children died later that evening along with her unborn child after suffering complications from bleeding. For most of this decade Cambodia has been trying to cut the number of deaths of women, who, like Vorn Yoeub, are the human face behind the country's stubbornly high maternal mortality rate. The figure has been running at around 461 per 100,000 live births for 10 years, and is one of nine development objectives the country is trying to improve as part of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Vietnam: Exiled From School, HIV-Infected Orphans Learn a Bitter Lesson

By Seth Mydans, New York Times
13 October 2009

The first day of school was a special one last month for the 15 children from the Mai Hoa orphanage here. They are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and for the first time they would be allowed to attend the local primary school.

Asia Pacific conference reaffirms commitment to reproductive and sexual health

20 October 2009
UNFPA media release

The effort to ensure that all people from Asia and the Pacific can access reproductive health services is falling short, despite global agreement that this is essential to meeting other development goals. That was the consensus at a regional forum here involving a wide range of experts, activists and practitioners in the field.

High-level meeting affirms family planning key to improving maternal health

 27 October 2009
UNFPA media release

Ending the needless death and suffering of women during pregnancy is one of the greatest moral, human rights and development challenges of our time, agreed more than 150 delegates that met in Addis Ababa on 26 October 2009. Facing that challenge requires concrete action to protect and fulfill everyone's right to sexual and reproductive health, they declared.

UN: Asia and the Pacific leads way in advancing action plan for women

UNESCAP media release

Although overall progress has been uneven 15 years after the landmark international women's conference in Beijing, Asia and the Pacific has led the way in shaping how governments integrate a gender perspective into economic and social development programmes, the top United Nations official in the region said at a forum in the Philippines in late October.

IPCI: Parliamentarians commit to women's health and rights by 2015

28 October 2009

Legislators and ministers from 115 countries reaffirmed their commitment to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action, noting its indispensable role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Addis Ababa Call to Urgent Action for Maternal Health

 Maternal death and disability is one of the greatest moral, human rights and development challenges of our time and is the world’s largest health inequity. Ending the needless death and suffering of women from complications of pregnancy and childbirth and achieving MDG5 to improve maternal health will only happen if concerted action is taken in the remaining five years to 2015 to protect and fulfill everyone’s right to sexual and reproductive health. Together with the right comes the responsibility of men and boys to contribute to reduce gender inequalities and combat gender-based violence. Investing in the health and rights of women and girls is smart economics for families, communities and nations, especially during the financial crisis.

Donors focus on MDG 5

Through Millennium Development Goal number five (MDG 5), donors and governments have committed to improve maternal health and achieve universal access to reproductive health. But many countries of Asia and the Pacific are lagging far behind in work to achieve this goal.

To accelerate action on MDG 5, countries of Asia and the Pacific need additional resources. Donors must renew and strengthen their commitment to meet the challenge.

Time to Plan Another UN Population Meeting

 By Thalif Deen - IPS
19 October 2009

When the United Nations commemorated the 15th anniversary of the 1994 landmark conference on population and development (ICPD) in October 2009, one of the questions lingering in the minds of many seemed obvious: is it time to plan another major conference on population?

The United Nations, which has hosted international conferences on population every 10 years, is increasingly facing new economic and social challenges relating to population growth, reproductive rights, gender empowerment and sexual violence.