WINNERS OF 1998 UNITED NATIONS POPULATION AWARD ANNOUNCED

Press Release
POP/670

WINNERS OF 1998 UNITED NATIONS POPULATION AWARD ANNOUNCED

NEW YORK, 5 June (UNFPA) -- The Sabiny Elders Association of Uganda, which dramatically curtailed female genital mutilation in its area of Uganda, and Dr. Hugh H. Wynter of Jamaica, a prominent leader in the Caribbean for family planning programmes, will share the 1998 United Nations Population Award.

The 1998 winners were announced today by the Chairman of the Award Committee, Ambassador Julio Armando Martini Herrera of Guatemala. Each winner will receive a diploma, a gold medal and an equal share of the monetary prize of $25,000.

The Award is presented annually by the Committee of the United Nations Population Award to individuals and institutions which have made outstanding contributions to increasing the awareness of population problems and to their solutions.

The Sabiny Elders Association was nominated primarily for its efforts to curtail the practice of female genital mutilation among the Sabiny community in northern Uganda. The Association was formed in 1992, bringing together the elders of the 161 Sabiny clans to promote the development of the Sabiny, to preserve its language and its culture, and to improve the welfare of the Sabiny people. It has been active in promoting awareness of HIV, the development of traditional medicine, children's education and environmental conservation.

The Association's most dramatic success has been its participation in the REACH (Reproductive, Educative and Community Health) programme, which substitutes gift-giving and public celebration for the traditional practice of genital cutting as the rite of passage into womanhood. Through its culturally sensitive leadership, the REACH programme has reduced female genital mutilation by 36 per cent in 1996. The strategy is being studied for use in other communities where female genital mutilation is still practised.

Dr. Hugh H. Wynter, Chairman of the national Family Planning Board of Jamaica, was nominated for his work in promoting safe and effective family planning, both in the private sector and in government policy. A professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of the West Indies, and Director of the Advanced Training and Research in Fertility Management Programme there,

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Dr. Wynter trained scores of medical doctors and is generally credited as being one of the most important people in helping his country, although poor, to achieve one of the lowest rates of population growth, fertility and infant mortality in the region. Jamaica also has the highest level of contraceptive use and second highest level of women's health in the region. Professor Wynter is a widely respected leader in the Caribbean region, and has assisted many other countries there with their national family planning programmes.

The two winners will receive the award at a ceremony to be held in July at the United Nations. The Committee of the United Nations Population Award is made up of representatives of United Nations Member States elected by the Economic and Social Council for a term of three years. The current members are Cape Verde, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Iran, Lesotho, Netherlands, Romania and Thailand. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Nafis Sadik, serve as ex-officio members. In addition, the Committee has five eminent individuals as honorary members who serve in an advisory capacity for a renewable term of three years.

There were 28 nominations for the 1998 award, including 19 individuals and nine institutions. Nominations can be made by: Member States; intergovernmental organizations engaged in population-related activities; population-related non-governmental organizations having consultative status with the United Nations; university professors of population or population- related studies; heads of population-related institutions; and past laureates.

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