PHA-Exchange> UN EXPERT URGES DONORS TO MAKE GOOD ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PLEDGES

[claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn]

from Vern Weitzel <vern.weitzel at undp.org> -----
 
UN EXPERT URGES DONORS TO MAKE GOOD ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PLEDGES
New York, Aug 31 2004  7:00PM
Developing countries have made tremendous strides in improving reproductive 
health and tackling 
women's rights issues, but rich nations have only paid a little more than half 
of the $6.1 billion 
they pledged for these goals a decade ago at a watershed United Nations 
population conference, a 
senior United Nations official said today.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), 
made her 
<"http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=494">comments in an address 
to "Countdown 2015," a global 
round table discussion in London organized by non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs) to mark the 10th 
anniversary of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development 
(ICPD).

Countries incorporated the ICPD Programme of Action into their national 
policies, and have 
reconfirmed their commitment to it in regional meetings, but "they are 
hampered by inadequate 
support from rich nations," she said.

Ms. Obaid told a subsequent news conference that a recent 
<"http://www.unfpa.org/">UNFPA survey 
answered by 169 governments showed that most have taken steps since 1994 to 
empower women and 
address key reproductive health concerns.

"But it also showed that much more needs to be done to improve maternal 
health, slow the spread of 
<"http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp">HIV/AIDS and ensure adequate supplies 
of essential 
contraceptive commodities," she said.

The donors' share of funding for contraceptive supplies, plus condoms for the 
prevention of HIV/AIDS 
infection, has declined by one-third since 1994, but the need for such 
commodities will grow 40 per 
cent by 2015, she said. Meanwhile, UNFPA has collected $3.1 billion of the 
$6.1 million pledged.

"In 2004, it is a crime that women still die because they are having babies," 
Ms. Obaid added, 
referring to the persistence of high maternal death rates in many developing 
countries, especially 
among poor and young women.


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