Stronger Political Leadership Needed Now to Enhance Progress of Women, Girls, Everyone, Says UNFPA

UNITED NATIONS, New York—Stronger political leadership and increased financial and human resources must be found to improve the lives of women and girls as well as promote their empowerment and health, said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. These, she said, should be combined with greater capacity to reach the poorest people and strong systems to roll back high rates of HIV infection, maternal death and violence against women.

“We need political leaders who fully represent the interests of women and all members of their populations, especially the most disadvantaged,” said Ms. Obaid as she addressed the Commission on the Status of Women yesterday, which was also International Women’s Day. The Commission was reviewing the implementation of the outcomes of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995.

Ms. Obaid hailed last week’s renewed support for the Beijing Platform for Action as an important milestone, especially following the reaffirmation of the Programme of Action of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development.

“The Cairo and Beijing agendas are intrinsically linked,” said Ms. Obaid. “Both have human rights as their framework and gender equity and equality as their focus.” Full implementation of the results of the United Nations global conferences of the 1990s, she stressed, “is necessary for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.”

“Ten years ago in Beijing, world leaders agreed that progress for all depends on progress for women and girls,” said Ms. Obaid. “They agreed that none of the world’s most pressing problems could be solved without the full and equal participation of women,” she said, adding that no investment was better than educating and empowering women and girls.

Much had been achieved since Beijing, with many successes in all regions of the world, Ms. Obaid continued. Yet, “we still have a long way to go before we fully achieve the goals of Cairo and Beijing and the Millennium Declaration,” she said.

The UNFPA head said that further action must be taken to guarantee the right to sexual and reproductive health, adding: “This is not merely a health issue, it is a matter of social justice, basic human rights and sustainable human development.”

“We all know the figures,” Ms. Obaid said about reproductive health problems. “Every minute, one woman dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Each minute, 10 people are newly infected with HIV/AIDS, which is striking harder and harder at women and adolescent girls. This does not have to be the reality; we know what needs to be done.”

The challenge for 2005 and beyond, Ms. Obaid added, was to turn the international community’s agreements into deeds.

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UNFPA is the world’s largest multilateral source of population assistance. Making motherhood safer for all women is at the heart of the Fund’s mandate.

Contact Information:

Abubakar Dungus
Tel.: +1 (212) 297-5031
Email: dungus@unfpa.org

Omar Gharzeddine
Tel.: +1 (212) 297-5028
Email: gharzeddine@unfpa.org