The world has made remarkable strides in curbing the AIDS pandemic. There is much to celebrate: New HIV infections have dramatically slowed, and AIDS-related deaths are down 51 per cent from 2010. Yet, we are not at the finish line: The virus still claims far too many lives – an average of one per minute in 2022 – and progress towards ending HIV transmission remains uneven. 

In less than a month, the Security Council resolution that allows the United Nations and our implementing partners to provide lifesaving humanitarian aid to northwest Syria from across the border with Türkiye will expire.

UNFPA joins the United Nations Secretary-General and the international community in expressing its deep concern about the grave humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan. It is painful to witness the immense suffering caused by fighting and displacement, and particularly heartbreaking to learn of the devastating impact on women and girls. 

The United Nations General Assembly began building a bridge towards justice this week with its unanimous decision to establish a Permanent Forum of People of African Descent. No country in the world has yet uprooted the deep systems of racial inequity burdening communities of African descent – the result of centuries of discrimination, dispossession and enslavement. 

The population award in the Individual category which Niger has won through my modest person is the fruit of a teamwork of women and men who, nights and days, work tirelessly to watch over the social and security well-being of the population of Niger in general, and of women and children in particular.

For some, it has led some to postponing childbearing. For others, disruptions in health care have led to unintended pregnancies.

The Government of France has announced its intention to contribute €90 million to the UNFPA Supplies Partnership — a flagship programme that provides modern contraceptives and life-saving maternal health medicines to countries with some of the highest maternal death rates in the world.

Statement of UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem to the Annual Session of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS.