UNFPA’s contribution to the end poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
The United Nations Population Fund aims to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals by calling on everyone to stand up against poverty,
stand up for women’s rights and universal access to reproductive
health. UNFPA recognizes that poverty is more than a lack of income. It
is a lack of opportunity and choice. It is a lack of rights and
resources, of social support, of voice and of power. UNFPA focuses on
the significant number of poor people, especially women and youth, who
continue to lack access to education and health care, including health
information and services, which kept them trapped in a vicious cycle of
poverty.
What is UNFPA’s goal?
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an International
development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and
child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. We support
Countries in using population data for policies and programmes to
reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every
birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl
and woman is treated with dignity and respect. UNFPA was established in
1969 as the United Nations Fund for Population Activities. In 1987, the
Economic and Social Council decided to rename it the United Nations
Population Fund, but to retain the Original abbreviation – acronym.
UNFPA’s mandate
UNFPA focuses on meeting the reproductive health needs of individual
women and men, rather than achieving demographic targets. Key to this
approach is empowering women and providing them with more choices
through expanded access to education, health services and employment
opportunities. The ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) calls for making
reproductive health care, including family planning, universally
available by 2015 or sooner and to meet the reduction of poverty
through the MDGs.
Collaborating Institutions in the current Programme
UNFPA works closely with the National Planning Commission, the
Government agency that is responsible for the coordination of all
external assistance to Nigeria. Furthermore, at the National level,
UNFPA currently works with the Federal Ministries of Healthy, Women
Affairs, Information and National Orientation, as well as the National
Population and Planning Commission.
UNFPA also works directly with State governments in the formulation and
implementation of UNFPA supported projects anchored at the State
Planning agency, while the state Ministries of Education, Health and
Information are also implementing project activities in 15 States. At
both National and State levels, UNFPA collaborates with civil society,
non-governmental and community based organizations, as well as other
donors.
UNFPA works in 15 states to save women’s lives, reduce infant and
Mortality and pregnancy related morbidity, prevent and treat STIs
(including HIV/AIDS), increase awareness of young people on
reproductive health issues; collect, analyze and disseminate reliable
population data, advocate for gender equity and equality and raise
awareness of reproductive health and population issues, advocate for
close attention to population problems and mobilize resources to solve
them. UNFPA supports the vulnerable groups (young people and women/
aged) to have voice and access to commodities and health facilities
globally.
“POPULATION IS NOT ABOUT NUMBERS, IT IS ABOUT THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF PEOPLE’
Contact for media: Kori Habib, media associate
Tel 09- 4618540, Email: habib@unfpa.org
UNFPA website
