Statements and speeches
Statement
Access to quality sexual and reproductive health care can help end extreme poverty
17 October 2016
To eradicate poverty – like any other goal to improve the human condition – we need to fully understand the world’s demographics. Poor countries with burgeoning youth populations may find it difficult to meet many of our global development goals, as they face more people entering primary and secondary school age, more people looking for health care, and many more entering labour markets, looking for productive jobs in the coming years.
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Making Girls Count in the Sustainable Development Goals Era
11 October 2016
“Is anyone out there even thinking of improving our lives?” asks Susmita, a teenager from Odisha, India. Susmita has never gone to school. She tends the few animals her family owns and attends to household chores. Like more than one in three girls in her community, she may be married before turning 18. She dreams about going to school – even just for one day.
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The Transformative Force of Population Ageing
01 October 2016
Population ageing – one of the most significant trends of the 21st century – represents both a cause for celebration and a challenge. To ensure that everyone’s well-being is enhanced through this demographic shift, more efforts are needed to minimize lifelong inequalities and improve the life conditions of older people.
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Statement of Executive Director on addressing drivers of migration
19 September 2016
Statement of UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin to Roundtable 2 - "Addressing drivers of migration, particularly large movements, and highlighting the positive contributions of migrants" - at UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants.
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Uniting as one humanity
19 August 2016
This World Humanitarian Day, we call for global solidarity and stand together with everyone affected by crisis. We unite as one humanity.
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Young People and the Road to 2030
12 August 2016
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, celebrates International Youth Day by reaffirming and recognizing the central role of young people in promoting the well-being of their families, communities and nations. This year’s theme, “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Production and Consumption,” couldn’t be more relevant and timely.
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UNFPA calls for increased support to protect safety, health, rights of South Sudan’s women, girls
08 August 2016
Statement of the United Nations Population Fund in response to reports of increased sexual violence in South Sudan. As fighting in South Sudan continues, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is…
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Investing in teenage girls for a more just, stable and peaceful world
11 July 2016
The teenage years are for some girls a time of exploration, learning and increasing autonomy. But for many others, it is a time of increasing vulnerability and exclusion from rights and opportunities, or just plain discrimination.
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Accelerating efforts to save lives, protect rights and dignity and leave no one behind
23 May 2016
Today, 23 May 2016, as world leaders gather for the World Humanitarian Summit, we jointly commit to intensify support to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in crisis settings to save lives, uphold human rights and dignity, and ensure that no one is left behind.
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Midwives: health heroes for women, adolescent girls and newborns
05 May 2016
Statement by Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, UNFPA, The United Nations Population Fund: On this International Day of the Midwife, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, salutes the contribution of midwives to saving the lives of women, adolescent girls and newborns, sometimes under very difficult circumstances, in hard-to-reach communities, in humanitarian emergencies, and in fragile and conflict-torn countries.
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Statement of Executive Director to the Commission on Population and Development
11 April 2016
Statement of UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin to the 49th session of the Commission on Population and Development on strengthening the demographic evidence base for achieving the ICPD beyond 2014 and SDGs.
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Voluntary family planning, including condoms, essential to prevent spread of Zika virus
10 March 2016
Concerned by reports of the Zika virus spreading through sexual contact, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, strongly urges governments and all other partners to provide information and access to voluntary family planning, including condoms.
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