<p> <strong>UNITED NATIONS, New York</strong> – UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is requesting donors for approximately $28 million to help meet urgent health, hygiene and protection needs for women and youth in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Maldives, the three countries hardest hit by last week’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.</p>

<p> <strong>UNITED NATIONS, New York</strong> - Increased security and better design of humanitarian assistance are urgently needed to minimize attacks on women in areas affected by last week’s earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean, warns UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b>—Amid reports that over 5 million people in the Indian Ocean region have been directly affected by the earthquake-triggered tsunamis, local authorities and humanitarian agencies are racing against time to assist survivors who urgently need clean water, food, shelter and medical care.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b>—In the aftermath of devastating tsunamis that struck several South and South-east Asian countries on Sunday, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is calling on governments, sister UN agencies and other humanitarian partners to ensure that the special needs of women and girls are factored into all short- and medium-term relief planning.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> — The Government of Canada today announced that it would substantially increase its contributions to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, over the next four years.</p>

<p> <b>LIBREVILLE, Gabon</b> — The Sixth Regional Conference of the Network of African Women Ministers and Parliamentarians ended today with the adoption of the Libreville Declaration, a Strategic Action Plan and recommendations of immediate actions to tackle violence against women.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, Beirut</b> — The Arab Population Forum concluded its work in Beirut on Sunday with a declaration reaffirming the region’s commitment to the Programme of Action of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> — The London office of the award-winning advertising agency Young & Rubicam is giving its creative services to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, for the <a href="http://www.endfistula.org/" target="_blank">Campaign to End Fistula</a>.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> — The Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, has urged world leaders and the United Nations Security Council to condemn and act against systematic rape and all forms of degrading treatment of women during conflicts and to help rehabilitate victims physically and mentally.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> — Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has welcomed today’s meeting of European Union (EU) development cooperation ministers, which reaffirmed reproductive health and rights as central to efforts to combat poverty.</p>

<p> <b>BRUSSELS/UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> — UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States today signed an agreement to strengthen their partnership to curb reproductive health problems, including HIV/AIDS, reduce poverty and promote development in 79 ACP developing countries.</p>

<p> <b>STRASBOURG, France</b> — Lawmakers from around the world today called for greater action by countries to “defend the sexual and reproductive health and rights of all individuals” at a conference here.</p>