News

VIA Screening Turns a New Page in Preventing Cervical Cancer in the Maldives

MALE’, the Maldives--To better prevent and treat cervical cancer, the Ministry of Health and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, have begun to promote a new methodology to detect the virus responsible. more

Strengthening Birth and Death Registration

19 April 2013, BANGKOK - At the first-ever Global Summit on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) that concluded today in Bangkok, governments, UN and development agencies made a global Call to Action to ensure that important life events such as births and deaths as well as the causes of death are registered for every person. more

Myanmar Tests Procedures for Its 2014 Census

YANGON—The Myanmar Government with support from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, undertook a pilot census exercise from 30 March to 10 April to prepare for a nationwide census in 2014, the country’s first in 30 years. more

Addressing emerging challenges of fertility decline: Key to maintaining the country's sustainable development

Ha Noi, 27 March 2013 - During the past 50 years, many East Asian countries have witnessed a remarkable decline in Total Fertility Rates (TFR) from a high level of 5 or more children per woman in the period 1965-1970 to below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman in the period 2005-2010. The countries where fertility declined need to foresee the consequences and start preparing for policy response to address the challenges of fertility decline. These key findings were presented today in Ha Noi at the workshop on “Sharing International Experience in Fertility Decline", co-organized by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Viet Nam. more

Expert Group Meeting on Population Dynamics and the Post-2015 Development Agenda

BALI, Indonesia, 25 March 2013 - For sustainable development that is equitable and respects human rights, the Post-2015 Development Agenda should take into account population dynamics (size, structure, composition and spatial distribution) and their impacts to the environment, health, and economic growth, said participants at the Expert Group Meeting on Population Dynamics and the Post-2015 Development Agenda in Bali. more

New Evidence Reveals High Rates of Violence against Women and Girls in the Asia and Pacific Region

New York - One in two men said they had used physical or sexual violence against an intimate partner, one in four reported having raped a woman and one in 25 admitted to having participated in gang rape. more

Child Marriages: 39,000 Every Day

NEW YORK, 7 March 2013 – Between 2011 and 2020, more than 140 million girls will become child brides, according to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). If current levels of child marriages hold, 14.2 million girls annually or 39,000 daily will marry too young. Furthermore, of the 140 million girls who will marry before the age of 18, 50 million will be under the age of 15. more

Strengthening Afghanistan’s National Police Force to Address Violence Against Women

KABUL, Afghanistan - “When I was 14 my family married me to an addict who continuously bit me and our two children. One day I decided to return to my own family, but after my father died I couldn’t afford to take care of myself and the kids. I was so desperate that I wanted to commit suicide. Then I decided to go to the police, and they sent me to the shelter where I live now,” says Fawzia, 23, who lives in a women's shelter in the capital city. Her story is one of many in Afghanistan that show how easily women can fall out of the social protection system because of violence within the family.  more