LONDON</b>—Addressing a critical need in responding to HIV/AIDS, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, have published new guidelines for programme planners, managers and service providers on Integrating HIV Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) Services into Reproductive Health Settings .

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> – A national campaign to end fistula—the most devastating of all pregnancy-related disabilities—was launched in Uganda this week with the participation of the First Lady, Janet Museveni.</p>

LONDON—Gaps in sexual and reproductive health care account for nearly one fifth of the worldwide burden of illness and premature death, and one third of the illness and death among women of reproductive age.

<p class="bodytext"> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> — UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, today welcomed United States lawmakers’ decision to appropriate $34 million for the Fund for fiscal year 2004, and urged the Administration not to withhold the money.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> – Following last month’s deadly earthquake in the city of Bam, deteriorating hygienic conditions and a critical lack of reproductive health services continue to threaten the well-being of thousands of Iranian women, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, warned today.</p>

<p class="bodytext"> <b>UNITED NATIONS, Geneva</b>—Population and reproductive health experts meeting in Geneva have affirmed Europe’s strong commitment to the 20-year action plan adopted in Cairo a decade ago.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, Geneva</b>—More than 350 population and reproductive health experts started a discussion here today on demographic, health and social issues critical to Europe, North America and the former Soviet republics.</p>

<p> <b>GENEVA, Switzerland</b> -- International experts on population and reproductive health will meet at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 12-14 January 2004 to examine key issues in Europe and North America, their causes, consequences and policy responses.</p>

<p class="bodytext"> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> – A lack of funds for population and reproductive health programmes is widening the gap between rich and poor countries and increasing maternal deaths and HIV/AIDS infections, Arab parliamentarians declared earlier this month.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> – UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, received contributions from 142 of the 191 United Nations Member States in 2003, the largest number of donors in the Fund’s history.</p>

<p> <b>New York</b> — The portable Knowledge Asset Development System (pKADS), a knowledge sharing tool used to collect, distill and synthesize lessons learned in a way that would improve results and inform policy and development strategies, was released during the World Summit for the Information Society in Geneva last week.</p>

<p class="bodytext"> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b>—UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, today welcomed African experts’ strong appeal for greater investments in population programmes, which they described as indispensable to poverty reduction and economic development in Africa.</p>