This brochure briefly describes the scope of the challenge posed by the AIDS epidemic and UNFPA's strategic response to it, highlighting its focus on prevention. The brochure also describes UNFPA's work with vulnerable groups, including young people, and women and girls, as well as its role in building demand for and securing the supply of male and female condoms.

Prevention is for Life: HIV/AIDS: Dispatches from the Field

This report documents experiences and lessons related to training and scaling-up the midwifery workforce. These lessons were shared at the First International Forum on Midwifery in the Community (Tunisia, 2006).

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD, September 1994) established the effective prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, as an integral component of reproductive health services. There is a key programmatic linkage between family planning and the prevention of HIV in women and children.This was the focus of a high-level consultation convened by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Glion, Switzerland, in May 2004.

Although the international community has pledged to address mental health problems related to sexual and reproductive health, too many women and men still suffer their deleterious effects. For example, 20-30% or more women experience depression during pregnancy or after childbirth in developing countries. Mental health should be addressed routinely as part of sexual and reproductive health services.

This guidance note is designed for countries seeking to scale up midwifery services, especially at the community level. It is part of a UNFPA-ICM (International Confederation of Midwives) Joint Initiative to support the call for a Decade of Action for Human Resources for Health made at World Health Assembly in 2006.

This note outlines in detail the action required by policy-makers and programme managers to effect change at country level and scale up midwifery capacity, specifically in poor and hard-to-reach areas.