Statements and speeches
Statement
Statement by Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the UN Population Fund, on release of 82 Chibok girls
08 May 2017
UNITED NATIONS, New York–We, at UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, welcome the recent release of 82 more Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram. We call for the urgent release of the remaining girls and all other abductees.
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Midwives, Mothers and Families: Partners for Life
05 May 2017
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, celebrates the heroic and life-saving work that midwives do every day, often in very trying circumstances. Thanks to midwives, millions of women each year are able to exercise their right to sexual and reproductive health services, including voluntary family planning. These services help ensure wanted, healthy pregnancies and safe births.
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Statement by UNFPA on U.S. Decision to Withhold Funding
04 April 2017
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, regrets the decision by the United States to deny any future funding for its life-saving work the world over. This decision is based on the erroneous claim that UNFPA “supports, or participates in the management of, a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” in China. UNFPA refutes this claim, as all of its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions, free of coercion or discrimination. Indeed, United Nations Member States have long described UNFPA’s work in China as a force for good.
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Statement of Executive Director to the Commission on Population and Development
03 April 2017
Statement of UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin to the 50th session of the Commission on Population and Development on changing population age structures and sustainable development.
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Universal access to sexual and reproductive health—the key to gender equality
08 March 2017
Gender equality is a human right. Women are entitled to live in dignity and in freedom from want and fear, without discrimination. Gender equality is also vital to sustainable development, peace and security. It’s not just a women’s issue. It’s an issue for all of humanity.
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The world must make faster progress to end female genital mutilation by 2030
06 February 2017
It irreparably damages girls’ bodies, inflicting excruciating pain. It causes extreme emotional trauma that can last a lifetime. It increases the risk of deadly complications during pregnancy, labor and childbirth, endangering both mother and child. It robs girls of their autonomy and violates their human rights.
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State of Executive Director to First Regular Session of Executive Board 2017
01 February 2017
Statement of UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin to the 2017 First Regular Session of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS.
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Situation in Aleppo
16 December 2016
In the midst of the painstaking efforts to evacuate civilians and rebels from besieged eastern Aleppo, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is concerned about the women, girls and young people who are in urgent need of protection and assistance.
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Confronting discrimination and stigmatization to achieve universal access to reproductive health and rights
10 December 2016
Today, as we commemorate the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we recall its opening words: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. This principle is at the heart of the Programme of Action of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, which guides the work of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. As we join in this year’s theme to “Stand up for Someone’s Rights Today”, I applaud our staff who, working with national partners, are defending the rights of the most marginalized and excluded and bringing to light the discrimination they face.
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HIV prevention goes beyond access to services – it’s about more inclusive societies
01 December 2016
It is past time to get serious about HIV prevention. We cannot hope to end the AIDS epidemic when every day almost 6,000 people are infected with HIV.
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Empowering women and girls requires renewed efforts to end violence and harmful practices
21 November 2016
This is 2016 and yet one in three women worldwide still experiences or has experienced some form of physical or sexual violence, usually perpetrated by someone she knows. Moreover, millions of women and girls have been subjected to other forms of violence and harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation, which affect an estimated 200 million women and girls, or child marriage, with one in three girls in developing countries being married off before the age of 18.
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Protection of Women and Girls in Mosul
18 October 2016
I am deeply concerned about the rapidly escalating humanitarian crisis in Mosul, Iraq, and the heightened threat to the health and lives of pregnant women who may be cut off from life-saving emergency obstetric care.
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