<p> <strong>DUBAI —</strong> Young people, who make up the majority of Arab population, represent a great opportunity and an important wealth of new energy that local and national authorities must invest in, said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, an Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.</p>

<p> <strong>UNITED NATIONS, New York</strong>—Members of the United Nations have emphasized the need to integrate the goal of universal access to reproductive health by 2015 in strategies to attain the world’s development goals.</p>

<p> <strong>NEW DELHI</strong>—The lives of 7 million women, newborns and children could be saved each year if health programmes were refocused to overcome inequality and scaled up to provide wider access to proven, cost-effective measures, experts meeting here agreed on Saturday.</p>

<p> <strong>UNITED NATIONS, New York —</strong> The Government of New Zealand has decided to increase its contribution to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, by NZ$1 million for 2005.</p>

<p> <strong>NEW YORK —</strong> UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, called today on all parties to the conflict in Nepal to facilitate development and humanitarian assistance, and respect human rights.</p>

<p> <strong>UNITED NATIONS, New York</strong>—Donor countries should honour their commitment to fund population and reproductive health programmes in order to reduce poverty and achieve the <a href="http://www.unfpa.org/icpd/mdgs.htm">Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)</a>, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has said today.</p>

<p> <strong>JAKARTA, Indonesia</strong>—Responding to the second strong earthquake to rock Indonesia in three months, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has sent supplies to help ensure the health and hygiene of displaced people, particularly pregnant women.</p>

<p> <strong>KHARTOUM</strong>—UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has started planning for a comprehensive population census in Sudan – that country’s first in more than 20 years.</p>

<p> <strong>UNITED NATIONS, New York—</strong>Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, today welcomed the new report by the Commission for Africa, saying: "UNFPA supports the report’s findings and pledges to continue its close cooperation with all concerned, particularly African governments, to ensure that key recommendations are put into effect for the well being of every African man, woman and child.</p>

<p> <strong>UNITED NATIONS, New York</strong>—Stronger political leadership and increased financial and human resources must be found to improve the lives of women and girls as well as promote their empowerment and health, said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.</p>

<p> <strong>ABUJA, Nigeria</strong>— A total of 564 women were operated on during the "<a href="http://www.endfistula.org/fortnight">Fistula Fortnight</a>," an unprecedented surgical effort to treat women living with obstetric fistula and train doctors in repair techniques at four sites in northern Nigeria.</p>

<p> <strong>SOKOTO, Nigeria</strong>—By Day 8 of “Fistula Fortnight,” 348 women with obstetric fistula had been surgically treated by a team of Nigerian and volunteer international doctors at four sites in northern Nigeria.</p>