The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will contribute $5 million to aid women and girls in poor and developing countries with maternal health and contraceptives while promoting gender equality and preventing violence against women.
The U.S. State Department made the announcement after discussions in Washington D.C. between UNFP Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem and the organization’s Deputy Secretary Wendy R. Sherman.
The project is designed to provide women and adolescent girls in third-world countries with safe options for family planning and safe child delivery, especially in countries with humanitarian emergencies.
Sherman said the U.S. inaugural contribution topping $5 million would provide lifesaving maternal health medicines and modern contraceptives.
The UNFPA is the sexual and reproductive arm of the United Nations, created in 1969. Its website said the organization’s goal is to help women facing life-threatening complications each month and providing reproductive health care for those in 150 countries worldwide.
Its goal is to provide reliable contraceptive devices to 20 million women per year, to ensure that at least 90% of birth deliveries are conducted by skilled attendants, and to deliver safe birth supplies to countries that have experienced war or natural disaster.
The focus is also on ending violence against women, which the UNFPA said impacts one in three in poor countries, and prevention of teen pregnancies, which is a leading cause of death for girls aged 15 to 19.
The motto of the UNFPA is, “A world where every pregnancy is wanted; every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.”
“The number and rate of women dying from complications of pregnancy or childbirth has been halved," the UNFPA website states. "Families are healthier. Young people are more connected and empowered than ever before.”
Despite this, agency officials said more than 760 million people still face extreme poverty with reproductive health deficiencies a leading cause of death for women in poor countries.
The report added that young people in such countries have the greatest risk of HIV infection and unplanned pregnancy, while millions of girls face the hazards of child marriage and other harmful practices including female genital mutilation.
