<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK</b> – On the eve of Mother’s Day, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid today called on world leaders to ensure safe motherhood for all women.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK</b> - The founders of the grassroots <a href="http://www.unfpa.org/support/friends/34million.htm">campaign</a> "34 Million Friends of UNFPA" today announced it has raised $1 million to support the United Nations Population Fund, mostly in small donations.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK</b> — Midwives in Timor-Leste will be able to better reach pregnant women across the country by moving around on motorcycles contributed by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.</p>

<p class="bodytext"> <b>NEW YORK</b> – Population awareness advocate Werner Fornos and the Family Planning Association of Kenya have been named winners of the 2003 United Nations Population Award. Mr. Fornos is the President of the United States-based Population Institute.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK</b> – As fighting continued today in Iraq, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, called on all parties to the conflict to fulfil their obligation to protect civilian lives.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK</b> – UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, today welcomed Luxembourg’s decision to increase by nearly 33 per cent its allocation to the Fund’s regular resources. This would take Luxembourg’s contribution to about 727,000 euros for 2003.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> – UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has expressed concern that the world has dropped further behind its Cairo Conference commitment to invest $17 billion a year on population and reproductive health by the year 2000.</p>

<p class="bodytext"> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> – UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the European Union (EU) signed an agreement yesterday for a 22-million-euro, three-year Reproductive Health Initiative for Youth in Asia, which will be implemented in seven countries.</p>

<p> <b>AMMAN, Jordan</b> — The Al-Ruwaished Hospital, in eastern Jordan, yesterday received a fresh shipment of emergency medical equipment, supplies and medications that would further prepare it to treat people displaced as a result of the Iraqi conflict.</p>

<p class="bodytext"> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> - To protect the health of pregnant women displaced by the war in Iraq, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has put essential medical supplies and equipment in place inside the country and at sites in neighbouring countries where refugees are anticipated.</p>

<p> <b>UNITED NATIONS, New York</b> - Population growth is a driving factor in the world's growing water crisis. Under current trends, two thirds of the world's population may face moderate to high water shortages in 2025.</p>

<p> <b>FREETOWN, Sierra Leone</b> - After more than a decade of civil war, Sierra Leone is now confronted with a new enemy: HIV/AIDS. In response to this emerging crisis, the United Nations today launched a ground-breaking initiative involving United Nations peacekeepers to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and slow the spread of infection.</p>