PRESS BRIEFING ON UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND REPORT

Empowering girls was one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to fight poverty, stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, bring about greater prosperity and further the global development agenda, correspondents were told this morning during the launch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report on The State of World Population 2003.

The speaker was Ann Erb Leoncavallo, UNFPA Information Officer.  Also taking part in the launch were Laura Laski, UNFPA Technical Officer specializing in work with adolescents; and Ellen Themmen, Vice-President for Programmes with Family Care International.

Introducing the report on the theme of “Making one billion count: investing in adolescents’ health and rights”, Ms. Leoncavallo said it was a wake-up call to recognize that young people were the largest youth generation in history.  They were the future.  Half the 6.3 billion people on earth were under the age of twenty-five.  One in five, or over 1 billion, were adolescents between the ages of ten and nineteen.  Given education, health services and opportunities, they were a powerful force for a healthier, more prosperous and more stable world.

Girls were a key, she continued.  It was known that girls who stayed in school married later, bore children later and were more likely to pass education and health benefits to their children, which helped to break the cycle of poverty.  It was also known that young people were the key to promoting equality of the sexes and helping to end violence against women and girls.

However, she stated, the report made clear that the needs of many weren’t being met.  All over the world, youth faced the increasing risks of widespread poverty; social transformation and breakdown; HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections; early pregnancy and marriage; and pervasive gender discrimination and violence that took many forms.  The statistics in the report spoke for themselves.

One young person in four lived in extreme poverty, she enumerated.  Fourteen million teenage girls between the ages of fifteen and nineteen gave birth each year and 5 million had unsafe abortions.  Half of all new HIV infections occurred among young people and 14 young people were newly infected every minute.  This “human tragedy of unprecedented proportions” demanded urgent address.  Young people needed to be given information and services for the spread of HIV/AIDS to be reversed.  That meant providing condoms to sexually active youth and admitting that reproductive and sexual health was a critical issue warranting far greater recognition and financing than at present.

UNFPA’s Dr. Lasky gave examples from her practice about the consequences that befell girls as a result of ignorance, neglect and lack of choice or opportunity.  Those included a twelve-year old who’d already had two children with a husband 30 years her senior, a thirteen-year old who gave birth without knowing she was pregnant and a twenty-year old who’d had 10 children after being forced to marry at eleven.  Gender discrimination was at the root of such developments, she said.  Girls weren’t sent to school when seen in roles limited to being wives and mothers.  When seen as economic instruments with little value beyond that, they were sexually abused and sex became a commodity of exchange for shelter or buying care for families.

“The good news is that we know what to do”, she said.  The UNFPA programme centred on a system of ABC basics to fight ignorance and support youth by promoting among girls the triplet aims of Abstinence, Being Faithful and Condoms.  Yet, many girls couldn’t assert their rights.  The UNFPA therefore also emphasized the EFG basics of Empowerment, Female Control and Gender Equality.

Ms. Themmen of Family Care International said there were happy ending stories in the report.  They began when adolescents received information and access to services that helped make them safe, healthy choices.  For example, it was a learned skill to resist pressures to have sex.  There was overwhelming evidence that providing young people with sex education resulted in later initiation of sexual activity, greater use of contraception and fewer sexual partners.  Further, when they received the education and skills prior to initiating sexual behaviour, they were far more likely to develop healthy habits.

There were two major challenges to overcoming resistance to the promotion of healthy family practice behaviours, she continued.  One was poverty.  When a girl was without food, for example, it was difficult for her to resist a “sugar daddy”.  The other obstacle was adult discomfort about the issues involved.  The HIV/AIDS pandemic had forced attitudes to change.  The argument that family planning education promoted health rather than promiscuity was finding success now with governments, community groups and even faith-based groups.  Healthy activity was no longer a matter of saving souls but also lives.

She said increased advocacy and funding added to the growing success of the UNFPA approach with all regions and religions of the world, including Catholics and Muslims.  The key to progress was political commitment, not just on the part of political leaders but members of communities at all levels.

Asked about the $4 billion contributed so far to the Global Fund when the Secretary-General had said 10 was needed, Ms. Themmen said the response was dismal.  It showed a lack of commitment on the part of governments.

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