ONLINE DIALOGUE/BLOG: UNFPA Commits to three years of Women's Health Programmes in Africa

Source: 
International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Duration: 
Monday, August 5, 2013 - 20:00
Countries: 
Africa
PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
General Women, Peace and Security
Human Rights
Initiative Type: 
Online Dialogues & Blogs

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has committed to supporting eight African countries in their efforts to ensure adolescent girls have access to reproductive healthcare and human rights education.

It will partner with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Tanzania for a period of three years, targeting women perceived to be at high risk of suffering poor sexual and maternal health.

Some 45 million girls between the ages of 15 and 19 live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Women from this age group succumb to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications more than any other cause of death.

The UNFPA's executive director, Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, said the organisation would establish programmes to ensure that the continent's adolescent girls receive comprehensive sexuality education and "are able to decide whether and when to marry and have children" - as well as remaining safe from HIV.

"Over the next three years, in partnership with governments and young people themselves, we will commit to making a tangible difference," he said.