UNITED NATIONS, New York — Columbia University’s Allan Rosenfield, Iran’s Hossein Malek Afzali and two institutions have won this year’s United Nations Population Award. They were selected for outstanding work in population and in the health and welfare of individuals by the 10-nation Committee for the United Nations Population Award. This is the first time that the Award has gone to four laureates since it was established in 1981.

The two institutions are Algeria’s National Population Committee and Malaysia’s National Population and Family Development Board.

The Award Committee, chaired by Sweden’s Ambassador Anders Lidén, chose the laureates from 29 international nominees. Each winner will receive a diploma, a gold medal and an equal share of a monetary prize. The Award is due to be presented at a ceremony here on Thursday, 7 June.

Dr. Rosenfield has been affiliated with Columbia University in New York since 1975, and is now Dean and Professor of Family Health at its Mailman School of Public Health. He has taken part in high-level advocacy and other work, serving on the boards of numerous organizations or in advisory groups for the United Nations Millennium Project, World Health Organization, National Academy of Sciences, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Kaiser Family Foundation and the Global Health Council. He has been involved not only in reproductive health, but also in women’s health and human rights issues. In 1985, Dr. Rosenfield co-wrote a seminal paper on maternal death in The Lancet; subsequently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Averting Maternal Death and Disability programme, which supports projects in some 50 countries, according to information sent to the Award Committee.

Dr. Afzali, Deputy Minister for Research and Technology at Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education since 1999, first served as a Health Corps Officer in several Iranian provinces in 1965. Dr. Afzali has helped design strategies to improve health procedures, particularly primary health care, adolescent health, reproductive health and family planning. According to information sent to the Award Committee, he played a major role in advocacy, helping to engage policymakers and religious leaders in the design and implementation of reproductive health programmes in Iran.

Created in 1996, Algeria’s National Population Committee has been advising the Government in formulating population policies and incorporating the population dimension into social and economic development plans and programmes, according to information provided to the Award Committee. It has also helped introduce population education in the core curriculum, sponsor important research on the determinants of fertility and taken part in a variety of advocacy work.

Malaysia’s National Population and Family Development Board has been active since 1966, conducting socio-demographic research and monitoring population trends and programmes in order to create awareness among policymakers and managers, according to information sent to the Award Committee. The Board focuses on family development and on promoting family well-being, including family education and counselling. It also promotes reproductive health through the provision of family planning and a wide range of services, such as infertility management, early cancer detection screenings, psychosexual counselling, and special programmes for adolescents.

The Population Award Committee consists of 10 Member States, elected to three-year terms by the Economic and Social Council. UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, serves as its secretariat. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid are ex-officio members.

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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. UNFPA supports 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.

Contact Information:

Omar Gharzeddine
Tel.: +1 (212) 297-5028
Email: gharzeddine@unfpa.org