UNFPA Highlights Need to Address Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women in Crisis Areas

The $683 million will be used for efforts towards women’s reproductive and sexual health rights across 57 countries, of which about $300 million will be directed towards UNFPA’s projects in Arab state regions, including countries such as Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, and Somalia. Credit: Abdurrahman Warsameh/IPS By Samira SadequeUNITED NATIONS, Feb 7 2020 (IPS) The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is appealing for $683million in their mission to address sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls in conflict areas in the world.  At the Humanitarian Action Overview 2020, launched on Thursday, the sexual and reproductive health agency highlighted the urgency with which the issue should be treated.  With more than 168 million people currently requiring humanitarian assistance in the world, UNFPA projects 45 million women, girls and young people will be affected by some kind of conflict this year.  For women and girls, sexual and health reproductive health rights have often come as secondary priority in crisis situations, but experts say it’s time to make them a primary concern.  “[These] types of service have long time been forgotten,” Arthur Erken, Director of UNFPA Division of Communications and Strategic Partnerships (DCS), told IPS. “It should not be an afterthought, it should be part and parcel of [the whole concern].”   “We’re focusing on women and what they’re going through because they’re on the front lines,”  Ann Erb Leo...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Armed Conflicts Development & Aid Featured Gender Global Headlines Health Human Rights Regional Categories TerraViva United Nations Women's Health International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Sexual and Reproductiv Source Type: news