Statements and speeches
Speech
Demographic Dividend Roadmap for Africa: Moving from Commitment to Action
20 September 2017
Opening Statement by Dr. Natalia Kanem, Acting Executive Director, UNFPA, to the African Union side event "Demographic Dividend Roadmap for Africa: Moving from Commitment to Action" on the margins of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
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Securing Health, Hope and Dignity for All: Ending Obstetric Fistula within a Generation
18 September 2017
Opening remarks by UNFPA Acting Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem at the side event "Securing Health, Hope and Dignity for All to Achieve the SDGs: Ending Obstetric Fistula within a Generation", held on the margins of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
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Statement of Acting Executive Director to Second Regular Session of Executive Board 2017
07 September 2017
Statement of UNFPA Acting Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem to the Second Regular Session of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS.
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Reproductive health and rights must be protected in crises
19 August 2017
Every woman has the right to decide whether or when she will become pregnant, to give birth safely and to be protected from gender-based violence. Yet every day, untold millions of women and girls, whose lives have been upended by wars, conflicts or natural disasters, cannot enjoy these rights.
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Peace depends on the participation of young people
12 August 2017
Young people have the potential to act as greater forces for positive social change and to build the foundation for a just and peaceful world.
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Family Planning Summit Opening Plenary Remarks
11 July 2017
Remarks by Dr. Natalia Kanem, Acting UNFPA Executive Director, at the Family Planning Summit in London: It is a pleasure to be here – but for all of us at UNFPA, the pleasure is bittersweet. There is a powerful voice missing.
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Family planning: empowering people, developing nations
11 July 2017
Every day, vulnerable women, especially those who are poor and are refugees, face social, economic and geographic obstacles to voluntary family planning services and information.
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Tribute to Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin
06 June 2017
Tribute to Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin by Dr. Natalia Kanem, Acting Executive Director of UNFPA, during a ceremony in his honour during the Annual Session of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS.
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Statement of Acting Executive Director to Annual Session of Executive Board 2017
06 June 2017
Statement of Acting UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem to the 2017 Annual Session of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS.
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Statement by the President of the UN General Assembly on the passing away of Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin
05 June 2017
The President of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Peter Thomson, issued the following statement on the passing away of Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin: “I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing away of Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
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Statement by United Nations Secretary-General on the death of Babatunde Osotimehin
05 June 2017
I am profoundly saddened by the sudden passing of my good colleague and friend, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin. I offer sincere condolences to his family, to the staff of UNFPA, to the Government and people of Nigeria, and to all those around the world touched by this loss.
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Hope, healing, and dignity for all
23 May 2017
Over the past year, I followed the total transformation of two women’s lives. Alice, from Malawi, was successfully treated for obstetric fistula at the age of 83, after living with this terrible and treatable condition for 66 years. Jumwa, from Kenya, was treated at the age of 77, after living with fistula for 50 years. I have no words to describe the sense of hope, healing, and restored dignity that this treatment provided, first and foremost to these two women, but also to their loved ones.
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