As Population Hits 7 Billion, UNFPA Focuses on Youth

By: Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund

This year, world population will hit 7 billion. With this major milestone occurring in my first year as Executive Director of UNFPA, I have an interesting and unique opportunity in leading the organization’s priorities.

One major focus will be today’s large generation of young people. There are an estimated 1.8 billion adolescents and youth aged 10 to 24, accounting for nearly a quarter of the planet's population. Just below 90 per cent of them live in developing countries and that proportion will increase during the next 20 years. They want freedom, participation and dignity and their decisions will define the future.

They need increased support. Under my leadership, UNFPA will strengthen efforts to give young people, especially adolescent girls, the attention they deserve. Along with our partners in many countries, we will push for greater investments in young people across many sectors—in education, including sexual health education, in reproductive health, employment and participation. UNFPA will continue providing technical assistance to implement sexual and reproductive health-care initiatives.

Our efforts help young people, particularly girls, to stay in school, stay healthy and free from unwanted pregnancies and HIV, postpone family formation and eventually enter the labour market with skills to earn an income and contribute to economic growth.

Investing in today’s youth will bring positive returns for current and future generations. This is especially important for the least developed countries that have the highest rates of poverty and mortality, a population growth rate that is nearly double that of developing countries as a whole, and 6 in 10 people below the age of 25.

The large youthful populations are a potential asset if young people enjoy productive employment. This calls for the development of human capital and much higher investment in adolescents and young people and their education, skills and health. Investing in young people, their reproductive health and gender equality, can help put countries on a path to accelerated economic growth and development. This is a message we should all stress whenever we get a chance or an audience.

If we want to shape not only the population of the planet, but also the development of the world, we have to embrace youth as leaders and partners. Young people are energetic and open to the possibilities afforded by new technologies in an interconnected world. Already, they are leading the way on HIV prevention and having a powerful impact on politics and culture. They can make major contributions to solutions to common problems, such as conflict, inequity and climate change. And they will be the parents and teachers of the next generation.

UNFPA remains committed to the core principles of the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), that every person has the right to sexual and reproductive health, every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person has the education and services to grow up healthy, every girl is treated with dignity and respect, and violence against women can and should end. We also rally behind the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health to save 16 million lives by 2015.

As the world prepares to support a 7 billion-strong population, UNFPA is committed to helping young people build a better future for themselves, their families and their nations.

UNFPA Youth Advisory Panel: Youth & the MDG's Ecourse - Creating a pool of MDG...

UNFPA Youth Advisory Panel: Youth & the MDG's Ecourse - Creating a pool of MDG...: "Our E-course 'Youth & the MDGs 'aims to create a pool of Millennium Development Goals Advocates from all around the world Che..."

Youth & the MDG's Ecourse - Creating a pool of MDGs Advocates

Our E-course 'Youth & the MDGs 'aims to create a pool of Millennium Development Goals Advocates from all around the world

Check out details on Youth Dividend's Website

http://youthdividend.weebly.com/

UNFPA Youth Advisory Panel: Round II of "'Youth & the MDG's " E-course - Launc...

UNFPA Youth Advisory Panel: Round II of "'Youth & the MDG's " E-course - Launc...: "UNFPA, Youth Action for Change & Youth Dividend brings you the Second Round of the new online course on 'Youth and the MDGs'.Don’..."

Round II of "'Youth & the MDG's " E-course - Launched by UNFPA, Youth Action for Change and Youth Dividend

UNFPA, Youth Action for Change & Youth Dividend brings you the Second Round of the new online course on  "Youth and the MDGs".Don’t waste your time: read and apply! Please see below for details and register now!

Free Online Short Course on “Youth and the MDGs” Brought to you by UNFPA, Youth Action for Change & Youth Dividend

Register Now (SEE BELOW)!

Course Dates: 13th March – 8th April

Course Description:

This course is designed for young people aged 18-30 who are actively involved in making a difference in their communities. The course aims to help its participants learn about the UN’s 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), their specific targets, and their importance as a framework for global development. The course will then focus on how young people can work towards contributing to the MDGs, what can be done locally, and the potential for young people to make a difference. The course will be led by young professionals from UNDP and UNFPA and will also draw on local experts from UNDP and other UN organizations and will combine theoretical and practical knowledge. The course will be restricted to 25 participants chosen by application – preference is given to participants who are active in their communities and who intend to use the course material to help them make a difference in their communities. Participants must be able to attend all sessions of the course and complete homework tasks in order to obtain a certificate of completion. Participants must also have regular internet access (at least 5 hours per week) to join course sessions. Students who may also be disadvantaged are also encouraged to apply. This course will help students in designing and implementing their own MDG related community development projects. The top 2 to 3 projects will receive small grants to support in their implementation courtesy of UNFPA.

About the course sponsors:

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and youth to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity.

Youth Action for Change is a global, youth-led organization inspiring and empowering young people worldwide to become active agents of change in their own communities, so as to be able to tackle the issues affecting them and the world at large.

Youth Dividend is a dynamic youth led organization in Pakistan working to develop, inform, inspire and mobilize young people through leadership training, peer education, awareness raising, skill building, policy and advocacy. 

Application (HOW TO APPLY): http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=IIEHIL_40e44dbf

Register your interest in participating in this online course by reading the YAC student guide attached and completing the online application form at tiny by the 4th of March 2011. Successful participants will be notified by the 11th of March. Apply fast as only the first 100 applications will be considered.

For any further details please contact hirahur@gmail.com

Advocacy Event of UNFPA with the Parliamentarians against Early Forced Marriages

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Youth Peer Education Network (PEER) and Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) invites you to submit key advocacy messages “Against Early Forced Marriages and Right to Choose Life Partner” for an Advocacy event being held on Valentine’s Day on 14th February, 2011. During this session UNFPA will link “Right to Choice” with the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights and affects of early/force marriages on young people’s life and health by emphasizing the importance of Meaningful Youth Participation in each and every matter of their lives and decision which have an effect on them directly or indirectly. If you want to express your valuable thoughts or be a part of this advocacy campaign, you have a chance to get your message across the Government, the Parliamentarians and the Civil Society to raise voice against the issue.

Please submit your messages to Sana Sohail, National Focal Point In-charge for Media and Communication, Youth Peer Education Network (PEER) at yap.unfpa@gmail.com by 11th February, 2011 (5:00pm)


Date: 14th Feb 2011Time: 3:30 - 6:30 pm
Theme: "Right to Choose a Life Partner"
Venue: Shah Latif Auditorium, Abdul Latif Bhittai Community Centre, St 3, H-8/1, near Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad
Chief Guests:
Dr. Donya Aziz, Member National Assembly, Pakistan

Youth Coalition invites you to write an article on Comprehensive Sexuality Education

The 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) of the United Nations will be held in New York City from February 22th to March 4th. This year the CSW will focus on Equal Access of Women and Girls to education. As youth SRHR activists, we believe that quality education includes comprehensive sexuality education, which should always be taken into account when educational curriculums are developed (for in and out-of school audiences, in formal and informal educational settings). 

With the purpose of raising policy and decision makers' awareness on that, and to ensure they fully understand the benefits of CSE on the social, mental and physical development of adolescents and young people the YC will prepare for the upcoming CSW an edition of its Watchdog.

The Watchdog is a newsletter distributed by the YC at most international conferences and events we attend, as part of our advocacy and public education activities.

The YC would like to invite you to write an article on topics related to Comprehensive Sexuality Education to be included in our 55th CSW edition of the Watchdog. Articles are welcome in any widely spoken language (not necessarily UN language) and should not exceed 1 page.

you can send your articles to: mariaines@youthcoalition.org by Wednesday February 16th. 

Pakistan court OKs third sex for identity cards

Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered authorities on Wednesday to allow transvestites and eunuchs to identify themselves as a distinct gender as part of a move to ensure their rights, a lawyer said.

Known by the term "hijra" in conservative Muslim Pakistan, transvestites, eunuchs and hermaphrodites are generally shunned by society.

They often live together in slum communities and survive by begging and dancing at carnivals and weddings. Some are also involved in prostitution.

Iftikhar Chaudhry, chief justice of Pakistan, ordered the government to give national identity cards to members of the community showing their distinct gender and to take steps to ensure that they were not harassed.

"The government's registration authority has been directed to include a separate column in national identity cards showing them as hijras," Mohammad Aslam Khaki, a lawyer for hijras told Reuters.

"By doing so, they think they will get a distinct identity and it will help them get their rights."

A hijra association welcomed Chaudhry's order, saying it would ease their suffering.

"It's the first time in the 62-year history of Pakistan that such steps are being taken for our welfare," the association's president, who goes by the name Almas Bobby, told Reuters.

"It's a major step toward giving us respect and identity in society. We are slowly getting respect in society. Now people recognize that we are also human beings."

Khaki said the court also ordered the government to evolve a mechanism to ensure that hijras are not harassed and also take steps to ensure their inheritance rights.

Hijras are often denied places in schools or admittance to hospitals and landlords often refuse to rent or sell property to them. Their families often deny them their fair share of inherited property.

Hijras are both feared and pitied in Pakistan. They are feared for their supposed ability to put curses on people while they are pitied as they are widely viewed as the outcast children of Allah.

The number of hijras in Pakistan is not known but community leaders estimate there are about 300,000 of them.

In June, the Supreme Court ordered the government to set up a commission to conduct a census of hijras.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...#ixzz0cKafjmRh

UN Secretary-General Welcomes the New Year and New Executive Director with Visit to UNFPA

NEW YORK — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took time out of his busy schedule yesterday to visit UNFPA, personally wish staff a happy New Year, thank them for their work and welcome the new UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin. Speaking to the staff who gathered in the corridors to hear him speak, the Secretary-General said he was pleased to have the highly qualified Dr. Osotimehin leading the organization, and he also praised the leadership of former Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid.

The UN Secretary-General noted that five of his eight strategic priorities for the coming year involve UNFPA, and he challenged staff to work together to meet the expectations of humanity, in spite of constraints. “We have to be very practical, creative and motivated in utilizing our limited resources to bring maximal results. For this, we have to work as one team, one family, one United Nations.”

In response, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin reiterated UNFPA's strong support to the Secretary-General and United Nations priorities, including the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health, the Millennium Development Goals, humanitarian response, climate change and sustainable development. He pledged that as we face a world population of seven billion, UNFPA will follow the Secretary-General’s leadership to raise awareness about population and population dynamics. The aim, he said, is to ensure a sustainable world, and within that to protect human rights, especially those of women and children.

Source: www.unfpa.org

Fury over doctor's book on sex education for Muslims

By Aleem MaqboolBBC News, Islamabad
Dr Mobin Akhtar is on a mission to educate Pakistanis in sexual matters, but his latest attempt to do so has caused controversy.

The release of his book - Sex Education for Muslims - aims to teach people about sex in a way that is in keeping with Islamic instruction.

Dr Akhtar, 81, says the fact that sex is not discussed in Pakistan is having serious repercussions. As a psychiatrist, he says he has witnessed them himself, and that is why he felt the need to write his book.

"There's a huge problem in our country," he says.

"Adolescents, especially boys, when they get to puberty, and the changes that come with puberty, they think it's due to some disease.

"They start masturbating, and they are told that is very dangerous to health, and that this is sinful, very sinful."

'Misconceptions'

Dr Akhtar says he has seen cases where teenagers, not understanding what is happening to their bodies, have become depressed and even committed suicide.

"I myself passed through that stage with all these concerns, and there's no-one to tell you otherwise, and that these are wrong perceptions. It was only when I entered medical college that I found out that these were all misconceptions."

He says even now in Pakistan, many doctors do not discuss sexual matters openly, and that teachers and parents are embarrassed about the issues. There is no sex education teaching in government schools.

Dr Akhtar says it is not seen as appropriate to broach the subject of sex in the conservative culture of Pakistan, and that it is also felt that doing so might encourage young people to behave in an "un-Islamic" way.

"They ask me when you should start sex education, and I say as soon as the child can talk. They should be told the names of the genitals just as they are told about hands and eyes and ears, and nose," he says.

"When they get a little bigger and they ask where a child comes from, you can say it. That doesn't make the child sexually active or immoral."

Dr Akhtar says there is also nothing un-Islamic about discussing sex.

He says he felt that the best way to help people understand that was to write a book which brought together basic sex education with information about the Islamic perspective on the subject.

"When I started to study what the Koran, Islamic law and religious scholars had to say about it, I realised there is so much discussion about sex in Islam. One would be surprised.

"There are sayings from the Prophet Muhammad about sexual matters, and historical sources tell us he answered detailed queries on the subject from both men and women."

The writings in Dr Akhtar's book are interspersed with quotes from the Prophet Muhammad, and also from the Koran, like this one: "You are allowed intercourse at night with your wives during the month of fasting. They are as intimate for you as your own clothes, and vice versa." (Koran, Surah Baqra, Verse 187)

'Quack'

Among many other topics, Dr Akhtar writes of the Islamic thinking about masturbation, marital problems and how a man should wash himself after having sex so that he is clean enough to perform prayers.

But many Pakistanis have found Dr Akhtar's book unpalatable.

He tried to tone down the title - Sex Education for Muslims is the name of the English version of the book, in Urdu the title is Special Problems for Young People.

But that has not been enough to appease some.

"I have had threats. Even other doctors have accused me of acting like a maverick, a quack," he says.

"A provincial politician even hauled me into his office and said I was encouraging pornography. I explained I was doing nothing of the sort."

Dr Akhtar says he has found very few bookshops willing to stock his book, or any newspapers that will print paid advertisements for it.

"It is a very sad reaction. Ignorance about sexual matters is causing a lot of our young people unnecessary psychological distress, and we have to change that.

"I am only talking about educating people gradually and sensitively, but at the moment we are not even doing that."

Virtual Leadership Development Program (VLDP)

Virtual Leadership Development Program (VLDP) for local public and private sector

family planning/reproductive health teams working in M&E in Anglophone countries 

Applications due January 14, 2011 

USAID’s MEASURE Evaluation Population and Reproductive Health (PRH) Associate Award is pleased to announce a Virtual Leadership Development Program (VLDP) for local public and private sector family planning/reproductive health teams working in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in Anglophone countries.  PRH priority countries are especially encouraged to apply but all qualified applications will be considered.  The main goal of this VLDP is to empower those involved in the collection, analysis, and use of health data, at all levels of an organization, to lead teams to face their M&E challenges and achieve their desired results.

The VLDP M&E is designed to strengthen leadership and management practices for both public and private sector organizations. Experience delivering the VLDP in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia has shown that participation in this leadership program strengthens individual leadership skills, improves team work climate and results in stronger teams that deliver improved performance.

The VLDP is comprised of thirteen-week Internet-based facilitated modules on leadership development that are hosted on the VLDP website of MEASURE Evaluation partner, Management Sciences for Health (MSH).  A highly interactive learning program, the VLDP consists of seven learning modules, a supplementary participant workbook, expert virtual facilitation from experienced leadership and organizational development specialists along with M&E experts who will provide continual support, feedback and guidance to participating teams during the program. During the program, participants work in teams to identify key leadership challenges within their units and organizations that can be addressed through strengthened Leadership and management practices, and they develop and implement action plans to being successfully address these challenges. 

The application deadline is January 14, 2011. The program will begin on February 14, 2011 and conclude on May 13, 2011.

This VLDP is being offered free of charge to qualified teams.  The cost of the program is being supported by USAID.

Please find the application at the following website: 

This announcement is not only intended to inform you of the availability of the program, but also to ask for referrals of applicants.  There may be promising teams working in M&E of family planning and reproductive health programs that would be able to increase their contributions to this field in your country by enhancing their leadership skills through this program.   We would therefore appreciate your forwarding this announcement to potential applicants.

 For more information, contact the VLDP mailbox (VLDPMandE6@msh.org). You can also fax (617) 250-9090.

http://programs.msh.org/clm/applications/application_VLDP_ME6.doc

Need for the UN is greater than ever

More is being asked of the United Nations by more people in more places.

The United Nations today leads what seems at times like a double life. Pundits criticise it for not solving all the world's ills, yet people around the world are asking it to do more, in more places, than ever before - a trend that will continue in 2011.

It is not hard to see why. Newspapers, television and the internet make clear the sheer scale of the need. Conflicts rage in too many places. Natural disasters strike with greater fury and in greater numbers than ever.

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On top of all this, we face a new generation of threats, unlike any in history, which spill across borders and have global reach. No single country or group, however powerful, can deal with them alone. All must work together - in common cause for common solutions - to tackle challenges such as climate change, poverty and nuclear disarmament.

But there is profound scepticism that we can do so. The world looks to the UN as never before, yet the conventional wisdom is that we are not up to the job. The problems are too complicated. Resources are too few. The UN appears too divided to make the vital difference.

The conventional wisdom is, however, wrong; worse, it is dangerous, for we have all seen how quickly it can take hold, distort reality, and then harden like cement. For example, four years ago, when I came to office, only a handful of global leaders knew enough even to talk about climate change - the defining challenge of our times, whose effects we see every day, all around us. Today, we have moved climate change to the top of the global agenda.

But make no mistake: it has been a difficult road. In December 2009 in Copenhagen, world leaders talked far into the night and emerged, according to the conventional wisdom, with virtually nothing. In fact, though we did not get a comprehensive, legally binding treaty that would usher in an era of sustainable, low-carbon prosperity, as we had hoped, there were significant achievements in Copenhagen.

For the first time, developed and developing countries acknowledged their responsibility to curb emissions of greenhouse gasses and agreed on the goal of limiting global temperature rise to below 2 degrees. And, for the first time, countries made large pledges to finance mitigation and adaptation efforts: $30 billion over the next three years for fast-start financing, and $100 billion a year by 2020.

The lesson is that we should not dream of overnight breakthroughs, or allow ourselves to fall into despair in the absence of immediate progress. We must work to build on many smaller advances, wherever we can make them - by mobilising support, creating broad alliances, building coalitions, and taking into account a web of moving parts and complex issues - because that will set the stage for the eventual breakthroughs.

Collective action has never been easy, but it has never been more necessary than in achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goals - the world's blueprint for ending extreme poverty. The conventional wisdom will tell you that the MDG targets - reducing poverty and hunger, improving the health of mothers and children, combating HIV/AIDS, increasing access to education, protecting the environment, and forging a global partnership for development - are simply unattainable. In fact, we are controlling disease - polio, malaria and AIDS - better than ever, and making big, new investments in women's and children's health - the key to progress in many other areas.

Nevertheless, on climate change, poverty and other issues, the conventional wisdom is that the UN should cede responsibility to the G20. But the G20, by itself, is not the answer. Despite strenuous debate about currency issues and trade imbalances at its summit in Seoul in November, the sole area of agreement concerned an issue on the G20's agenda for the first time - economic development. Recognising that global recovery depends on the emerging economies (that is, the developing world), G20 leaders embraced investments aimed at lifting the world's most vulnerable people out of poverty.

That is why G20 leaders accept the need to work closely with the UN. After all, no organisation does development better. The G20 and the UN are finding new ways to work constructively together - not as rivals, but as increasingly close partners. And that is the way it should be.

Forty years ago, a great American statesman, Dean Acheson, looked back at the excitement he felt in helping to build the post-World War II order. Present at the Creation, he called his memoir.

Today, we find ourselves at an equally exciting moment, no less critical to the future of humankind. We, too, are present at a new creation. And the UN must constantly recreate itself as well. We must evolve and keep pace with a rapidly changing world. We must be faster and more flexible, efficient, transparent and accountable. In an age of austerity, resources are precious; we must make every dollar count.

People everywhere live in growing anxiety and fear. There is near-universal loss of trust in institutions and leaders. Amid such uncertainty, our future depends on a UN that brings together the countries of the world not only to talk and debate, but also to agree and to act; that mobilises civil society, business, philanthropists and ordinary citizens to help the world's governments solve current problems; and that delivers peace, development, human rights, and global public goods - in a word, hope - to people around the world every day.

Ban Ki-moon is Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2010.

UN Women Begins Its Work

Posted on January 1 2011 | News

The United Nations made history today as UN Women, the UN agency dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, has officially begun its work. This ambitious new organization consolidates and scales up UN actions to achieve gender equality, offering the promise of accelerated progress in realizing the rights of women worldwide.
Formally known as the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, UN Women emerged from agreement by UN Member States — backed by strong advocacy from the global women’s movement — that more must be done so women can claim equal rights and opportunities.
“UN Women will significantly boost UN efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity and tackle discrimination around the globe,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
“This is a time of great promise,” said UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, formerly President of Chile. “We have a historic opportunity to accelerate the achievement of what champions of gender equality have worked towards for years.”
UN Women was created by a UN General Assembly resolution in July 2010, becoming fully operational on 1 January 2011. It merges and builds on four parts of the UN system:

• Division for the Advancement of Women
• International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
• Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women
• United Nations Development Fund for Women

As a global champion for women, UN Women will work with UN Member States to agree on international standards for gender equality, and help countries implement those standards. It will assist other UN agencies engaged with a broad spectrum of development issues to integrate gender equality priorities in their activities. Carrying out its programmes, UN Women will also work closely with civil society partners.
Gender equality is a basic human right and has enormous socio-economic ramifications. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, for example, spurring productivity and growth.
Many countries have made significant progress in advancing women’s standing, but gender discrimination remains deeply entrenched in every society. Women continue to suffer extreme forms of violence, and are locked out of many economic opportunities. Only low numbers participate in politics.
The United Nations has consistently supported progress in addressing these shortfalls but has faced hindrances including inadequate funding. A minimum of US$500 million has been set as the annual operating budget for UN Women.