Note to Correspondents

Commission on Population and Development to Feature Side Events with Focus

 

on Effects of Fertility, Reproductive Health on Development, 11-15 April

 

Reductions in fertility help countries in their development efforts, both at the national level and with the well-being of families and individuals, according to a report of the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to this year’s session of the Commission on Population and Development, starting at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Monday, 11 April.

The Commission, held annually to follow up on the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, will examine the many links between fertility, reproductive health and development, in official meetings and numerous side events.

During the session that runs from 11 to 15 April, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and its partners will host three side events, which underline the centrality of population in national development.

The events include, on Monday, 11 April, “Family Planning:  Key to Saving Lives”:  an event on how to revitalize interest in, and increase support for, family planning at the international level, with insights from key decision-makers and experts from international organizations, governments and civil society.  It will be held in Conference Room C in the North Lawn Building from 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Participants will include Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director, UNFPA; Miguel Berger, Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations;Sharon Camp, President and CEO, Guttmacher Institute; Musimbi Kanyoro, Director Population Programme, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation;Caroline Kwamboka, Advocacy Manager, German Foundation for World Population (DSW) Office in Kenya; and Guy Zoungrana, Senior Technical Adviser, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Office in Burkina Faso.

On Tuesday, 12 April, an event to underscore the close ties between the reproductive health of girls and young women and their overall health, well-being and opportunities, “Putting Girls First”, will be held in Conference Room 1, also in the North Lawn Building, from 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Participants will include Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, UNFPA; Dr. Gill Greer, Director-General, International Planned Parenthood Federation; Judith Bruce, Senior Associate and Policy Analyst, Population Council’s Poverty, Gender, and Youth Programme; and Sadaf Nasim, Volunteer, Rahnuma – Family Planning Association of Pakistan.

On Wednesday, 13 April, an event entitled, “No woman left behind in the fight against NCDs (non-communicable diseases):  Towards health services that address breast and cervical cancer”,will include the launch of the Cervical Cancer Action Report on the Progress in Cervical Cancer Prevention, which features global best practices in breast and cervical cancer control.

It will be held from 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., also in Conference Room 1 of the North Lawn Building.  Participants will include Ms. Mane, Deputy Executive Director, UNFPA; Clover Allen Wilson, Breast Cancer Survivor, introduced by the American Cancer Society; and Scott Wittet, Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH).

For more information, please contact: Abubakar Dungus, tel.:  +1 212 297 5031, e-mail:  dungus@unfpa.org; or Omar Gharzeddine, tel.:  +1 212 297 5028, e-mail:  gharzeddine@unfpa.org.

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For information media • not an official record