Press releases
Press release
UNFPA ramps up its support to civil registration and vital statistics – a cornerstone of gender equality
29 September 2021
After five years at Canada’s International Development Research Centre, UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, has become the new institutional host of the Centre of Excellence for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS).
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UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Natalia Vodianova onstage at Global Citizen Live calls for urgent funding for reproductive health supplies and contraception
25 September 2021
Paris, France, 25 September 2021 – Today at Global Citizen Live event in Paris, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Natalia Vodianova announced the creation of a Challenge Fund of up to $50 million for UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. The Fund, created by three private foundations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, is intended to address a severe shortfall in funding this year to the UNFPA Supplies Partnership, which delivers a choice of modern contraceptives and life-saving maternal health medicines into the hands of adolescents and women who need them most.
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UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Natalia Vodianova onstage at Global Citizen Live calls for urgent funding for reproductive health supplies and contraception
25 September 2021
Paris, France, 25 September 2021 – Today at Global Citizen Live event in Paris, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Natalia Vodianova announced the creation of a Challenge Fund of up to $50 million for UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. The Fund, created by three private foundations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, is intended to address a severe shortfall in funding this year to the UNFPA Supplies Partnership, which delivers a choice of modern contraceptives and life-saving maternal health medicines into the hands of adolescents and women who need them most.
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UNFPA calls for urgent funding for the health and safety of 1.5 million Yemeni women and girls at risk
23 September 2021
As world leaders gather at the United Nations for a high-level event on Yemen, UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, calls for the prioritization of the health, safety and rights of Yemeni women and girls, and immediate action to end their ongoing suffering.
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UNFPA calls for urgent funding for the health and safety of 1.5 million Yemeni women and girls at risk
23 September 2021
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 23 September 2021 – As world leaders gather at the United Nations for a high-level event on Yemen, UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, calls for…
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As women and girls bear the brunt of the crisis, UNFPA urgently seeks $29.2 million to save and protect lives in Afghanistan
13 September 2021
UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, is appealing for funding to respond to the urgent needs of Afghan women and girls as a humanitarian catastrophe looms in the country...
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UNFPA scaling up humanitarian assistance in Haiti to help survivors of earthquake
24 August 2021
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 24 August 2021 - UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, is scaling up its humanitarian assistance in Haiti following the 7.2 magnitude quake that struck in the southern region of the country on the morning of 14 August. More than 2,100 people are reported to have been killed, and 12,000 injured, with hospitals, schools, churches, bridges, and roads reduced to rubble. Days after being rocked by the earthquake, conditions on the ground deteriorated further as Tropical Storm Grace swept across southern Haiti, bringing heavy winds and rainfall and triggering localized flooding and mudslides.
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Pioneering female police superintendent from Niger and General Directorate of Population for Oaxaca, Mexico, win 2021 UN Population Award
15 July 2021
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 15 July 2021 – Announced in a virtual ceremony today, the 2021 United Nations Population Award individual laureate is Commissaire Hassane Haousseize Zouera from Niger’s…
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Dr. Natalia Kanem welcomes renewed support from the United States Government in first meeting with U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
07 June 2021
New York, 7 June 2021 – UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem today met with Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Today marks the first time the two leaders have met and comes in the wake of the Biden-Harris Administration’s pledge to restore support to UNFPA, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency.
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“What’s in my bag?” Supermodel, philanthropist, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Natalia Vodianova unpacks a ‘dignity kit’ to raise awareness about women’s health
28 May 2021
New York / Paris, 28 May 2021 - The Internet is awash in videos of celebrities sharing the contents of their luxury bags. Natalia Vodianova and UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, have teamed up to show off a different kind of bag: a ‘dignity kit’ for women and girls that contains the essential supplies they need to manage their menstrual health in crisis settings.
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Women in Tigray need immediate support: Race against time to save lives
28 May 2021
New York, 28 May 2021 - In the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, where conflict erupted last November, hundreds of thousands of women and adolescent girls remain in urgent need of life-saving health, protection and support services. Gross violations and abuses against civilians, including sexual violence, continue to be reported. The well-being of women and adolescent girls is further threatened by food insecurity, the spread of COVID-19, and a lack of fully functioning health facilities. To scale up the response, UNFPA is deploying more personnel, security reinforcements, and supplies to deliver life-saving services.
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New report sounds the alarm on global shortage of 900,000 midwives
04 May 2021
Fully investing in midwives by 2035 would avert roughly two-thirds of maternal, newborn deaths and stillbirths, saving 4.3 million lives per year. UNITED NATIONS, New York -- Millions of…
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