Note to Correspondents

HEADQUARTERS CEREMONY TO HONOUR BANGLADESHI DOCTOR, HAITIAN FAMILY PLANNING

PROVIDER WITH 2006 UN POPULATION AWARD

 

Winners of the United Nations Population Award 2006 will receive their medals this week at an official ceremony at United Nations Headquarters, in the Trusteeship Council Chamber on Wednesday, 7 June, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.  The two laureates were chosen by the Population Award Committee from 27 international nominees for their outstanding work in population and in improving the health and welfare of individuals.  The Committee consists of 10 United Nations Member States, with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) serving as its secretariat.

The 2006 laureates are:

-- Dr. Halida Hanum Akhter, the Director-General of the Family Planning Association of Bangladesh, one of the world’s oldest Planned Parenthood affiliates.  She also chairs the Board of Directors of the Seattle-based Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH).

-- FOSREF (Fondation pour la Sante Reproductive et l'Education Familiale), a private, non-profit organization devoted to reproductive health and the promotion of family life in Haiti.  Established in 1988, FOSREF provides reproductive health care that covers more than 1.2 million people through a network of 26 centres.

Ceremony participants will include:  Ambassador Judith Mbula Bahemuka of Kenya, Chairperson of the Population Award Committee; Jan Eliasson, President of the United Nations General Assembly; Mark Malloch Brown, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations; and Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA.

Journalists are welcome to the award ceremony.

Contact: Abubakar Dungus, +1 (212) 297-5031, dungus@unfpa.org; Omar Gharzeddine, +1 (212) 297-5028, gharzeddine@unfpa.org.

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For information media • not an official record