<p>Today, on this commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, UNFPA pays tribute to all our indigenous sisters and brothers. We renew our commitment to empower indigenous women and adolescent girls around the world to reclaim their human rights, especially those dealing with the most intimate aspects of their lives.</p>

This op-ed by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin andSharon L. Camp, PhD., President and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute was published in The Standard (Kenya).

The world’s population surpassed 7 billion last October and is expected to grow to 9 billion by the middle of this century. The paramount challenge of sustainability is to meet the needs of 7 billion consumers now—and the billions more to come—while protecting the intricate balance of nature that sustains life.  Demands for water, trees, food and fossil fuels will only increase as world population grows.

This editorial by UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin, which talks about the upcoming family planning summit and the need to expand access to family planning worldwide, was published in the Poverty Matters Blog of the Guardian.

In this opinion piece written on the occasion of Mothers' Day, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin talks about how his own remarkable mother shaped his attitudes toward women, human rights and empowerment."She would say that Providence has put me here to accomplish an important mission in the world," he writes.

The following tribute to his mother, and women in general, was written for the Huffington Post by UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin on the occasion of Mothers' Day. He says, "My mother had a strong sense of self. She believed that as a woman she had rights, and she knew that women had to be empowered if lives were to be saved and if families and communities were to thrive. "

<p>Urgent action is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on child and maternal health before the target year of 2015, and investing in human resources for health, especially midwifery, is one the soundest investments a country can make to accelerate progress, state UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, and ICM Secretary-General, Agneta S. Bridges, on the International Day of Midwife.</p>

<p> </p> <p>"<span>We are committed to ensuring that youth perspectives are included in global plans to reduce poverty and open the way to a sustainable future," stated UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, at the 45th Commission on Population and Development.</span> </p>

This opinion piece arguing about the importance of access to family planning services for adolescent girls, by UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin, was published in the Global Motherhood Blog of the Huffington Post.

<p> <span>"People are the central concern of sustainable development and efforts to promote more sustainable development pathways must take account of people – their numbers, location and age structures, as well as their living conditions, ambitions and opportunities," stated Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, at briefing event "The road to Rio goes through Cairo: why population issues matter for sustainable development" in New York.</span> </p>

This opinion piece arguing for universal access to family planning, by UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin,  was printed in the Global Motherhood Blog of the Huffington Post.

<p>“As members of Parliament, you are in a key position in ensuring adequate budget lines for health, holding governments accountable for their commitments, building partnerships and tearing down legal and economic barriers to put women and men, and boys and girls, on an equal footing in the spheres of life,” said Dr. Osotimehin in his address to the IPU Assembly in Kampala.</p>