UNFPA is concerned about the impact of the recent escalation of violence in and around Damascus, particularly on women, youth and their families in areas under fire. The Fund is also alarmed over raging violence against civilians in other parts of the country, which has forced large numbers of women and girls to flee for safety into Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Earlier this year, I met Muneera Sha’ban in Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan. A 65-year-old midwife, Muneera retired years ago, but every day at 6 am, she embarks on the two-hourbus journey from Jordan’s capital, Amman, to the camp near the Syrian border. Muneera trains midwives working in the camp and supervises them in UNFPA supported clinics which provide antenatal, obstetric, delivery and post-natal care.
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In his remarks during the opening ceremony of the Latin America and Caribbean ICPD review Conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, Dr, Osotimehin highlights successes and challenges of the Region towards implementing the ICPD Programme of Action.

"The dynamism and imagination of young people can transform the social and economic fortunes of developed and developing countries alike," UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin said in his statement on the occasion of International Youth Day With their dynamism and imagination, young people can transform the social and economic fortunes of developed and developing countries alike. With more than 12 per cent of all 15- to 24-year-olds migrating across borders today, this year’s International Youth Day focuses on how young migrants move development forward.

With over 400,000 civilians currently displaced around the city of Homs, Syria, particularly in the area of Al-Waer, due to heavy fighting, it is estimated that hundreds of pregnant women may require urgent medical attention.

Complications from pregnancy and child birth are the leading cause of death among the 6 million girls aged 15-19 who give birth each year, especially in developing countries. Adolescent pregnancy is not just a health issue, it is a development issue. To bring these issues to global attention, this year’s World Population Day is focusing on adolescent pregnancy.

In her speech at the opening session of the UNECE Regional Conference for the ICPD Review, Anne-Brigitte Albrectsen addresses opportunitites and challenges in the field of population and development for the European region.

<p>Investing in women's health is a key to economic development. In this opinion piece for Kyodo News, Dr. Osotimehin calls for increased investments in women's health in Africa, which has the highest maternal mortality ratio in the world with 57 per cent of all maternal deaths occurring on the continent.</p>

<p>CAIRO -- In his statement for the opening of the Arab States Regional Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin addresses population and development opportunities and challenges in the Arab States Region.</p>

<p>In this speech, the UNFPA Deputy Executive Director outlines challenges and opportunities presented by population trends and dynamics, and underscores their importance to post-2015 development agendas. </p>

Remarks of UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin at the Annual Session of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board 2013

In this blog for the Huffington Post, the UNFPA Executive Director sketches out the grim, everyday reality faced by 200 million women living with obstetric fistula. "We cannot allow this grave injustice to continue," he concludes.