<p>UNITED NATIONS, New York — UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, warmly welcomes the human rights award presented today by the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) to UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. The Louis B. Sohn Human Rights Award, established in 1997, is given annually to individuals for substantial contributions to human rights.</p>

<p>UNITED NATIONS — The Government of Australia is contributing $A42.5 million to support efforts by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, to improve reproductive health and safe motherhood for women in developing countries, especially those in Asia and the Pacific.</p>

<p>KAMPALA — The largest conference on family planning in fifteen years concluded yesterday with nearly 1,300 international experts, policy makers and representatives of civil society reaffirming their commitment to family planning and to revitalizing it by sharing research findings and best practices.</p>

<p>LONDON - Women bear the disproportionate burden of climate change, but have so far been largely overlooked in the debate about how to address problems of rising seas, droughts, melting glaciers and extreme weather, concludes The State of World Population 2009, released today by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.</p>

<p>ISTANBUL – Decision-makers and government officials from 20 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have pledged to step up the fight against needless deaths and suffering resulting from pregnancy and childbirth.</p>

<p>KAMPALA - Over 1,200 leading policymakers, researchers, academics and health professionals from 59 countries will meet in Kampala, Uganda, from 15 to 18 November, where they will share the latest scientific findings and refocus the world’s attention on family planning’s contribution to development.</p>

<p>ADDIS ABABA — Lawmakers from 115 countries reaffirmed their support today to the principles and goals of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and underlined the indispensable role of its Programme of Action in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)</p>

<p>ADDIS ABABA — Ending the needless death and suffering of women during pregnancy is one of the greatest moral, human rights and development challenges of our time, agreed more than 150 delegates that met here yesterday. Facing that challenge requires concrete action to protect and fulfill everyone’s right to sexual and reproductive health, they declared.</p>

<p>BEIJING, China — The effort to ensure that all Asians can access reproductive health services is falling short, despite global agreement that this is essential to meeting other development goals.That was the consensus at a regional forum here involving a wide range of experts, activists and practitioners in the field.</p>

<p>UNITED NATIONS — The General Assembly today marked the fifteenth anniversary of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), which adopted a 20-year plan to provide access to reproductive health, reduce maternal deaths, promote women’s rights and help reduce poverty.</p>

<p>SANTIAGO, Chile—The teenage fertility rate in Latin America is one of the highest in the world, surpassed only by sub-Saharan Africa. For this reason, teenage motherhood “is a concern and calls for urgent action,” stated experts meeting here.</p>

<p>BANGKOK—Following the recent series of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is providing humanitarian assistance in affected countries throughout the region.</p>