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News/Event Item
UNFPA Releases Annual Report on State of World's Population
Nov. 15, 2008
On Wednesday, November 12, 2008, the State of the World 2008 report was released by the United Nations Population Fund. The report - titled "Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights" - calls for culture to be a primary component of development policy and programming for low-income countries. The report notes that 60 percent of the world’s poorest people are women and girls, and emphasizes the importance of access to family planning, reproductive health, and skilled maternal care.
According to the report, taking local cultural realities into account can reveal the most effective ways to address harmful cultural practices and human rights abuses and strengthen beneficial practices. For example, the report notes that despite global health community agreement that female genital mutilation or circumcision is a human rights violation that threatens women's health, the practice is entrenched and widespread in many communities. Therefore, different cultural meanings must be taken into account in finding effective alternatives.
The full report is available online on UNFPA’s Web site:
http://www.unfpa.org/swp/
category: Global Health Council News : Announcements
contributed by Liza Nanni on 3 September 2008
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