Every minute a woman dies from lack of life-saving emergency obstetric care. Addressing this need is the centrepiece of UNFPA's efforts to make motherhood safer. The new Maternal Mortality Update explains the critical importance of timely medical interventions hen complications develop -- as they do in more than 5 per cent of all deliveries. It also documents UNFPA's efforts to reduce maternal mortality throughout the developing world.

From 1998 - 2002 the European Commission, UNFPA and European and local NGOs came together under the Initiative for Reproductive Health in Asia (RHI) to improve the RH of vulnerable populations in 7 countries in South and Southeast Asia. This publication presents the activities, experiences and lessons learned over the course of the first phase of this innovative programme.

Partnering with men is emerging as an important strategy for improving reproductive health. This new publication offers guidance on effective and gender-sensitive ways to engage men in the reproductive and sexual health of themselves and their partners. It includes examples of successful strategies and programming as well as lessons learned. A checklist summarizing key points makes this programme advisory note an especially useful tool for both designing and evaluating projects.

Some 340 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections, excluding HIV, occur each year. This technical publication outlines the main issues involved in diagnosis and treatment of these infections, which cause serious health problems and also increase vulnerability to HIV. The publication also describes associated challenges for programming and implications for reproductive health policy.

Countries are making real progress in carrying out a bold global action plan that links poverty alleviation to women's rights and universal access to reproductive health. Ten years into the new era opened by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, the quality and reach of family planning programmes have improved, safe motherhood and HIV prevention efforts are being scaled up, and governments embrace the ICPD Programme of Action as an essential blueprint for realizing development goals.