Table of Contents
UNFPA
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN organization.
- Their work involves the improvement of reproductive health; including creation of national strategies and protocols, and birth control by providing supplies and services. The organization has recently been known for its worldwide campaign against child marriage and female genital mutilation.
- The UNFPA supports programs in more than 150 countries. The agency began operations in 1969
WORKING
- voluntarily plan and have the number of children they desire and to avoid unwanted pregnancies
- undergo safe pregnancy and childbirth
- avoid spreading sexually transmitted infections
- decrease violence against women
- increase the equality of women
- encouraging the use of birth control
- UNFPA uses a human rights-based approach in programming to address three “transformative goals”:
- Zero preventable maternal death
- Zero gender-based violence
- Zero unmet need for family planning.
REPORT
- India accounts for 45.8 million of the world’s 142.6 million “missing females” over the past 50 years.
- The number of missing women has more than doubled over the past 50 years – from 61 million in 1970 to a cumulative 142.6 million in 2020.Of this global figure, India accounted for 45.8 million missing females as of 2020 and China accounted for 72.3 million.
- Between 2013 and 2017, about 460,000 girls in India were missing’ at birth each year.
REPORT
- Citing data by experts, it said that China and India together account for about 90-95 per cent of the estimated 1.2 million to 1.5 million missing female births annually worldwide due to gender-biased (prenatal) sex selection.
- The two countries also account for the largest number of births each year.Campaigns spotlight the importance of daughters and highlight how girls and women have changed society for the better. Campaigns that celebrate women’s progress and achievements may resonate.
REPORT
- This so-called “marriage squeeze”, where prospective grooms outnumber prospective brides, has already been observed in some countries and affects mostly young men from lower economic strata.
- “At the same time, the marriage squeeze could result in more child marriages, the report said citing experts.
- Some studies suggest that the marriage squeeze will peak in India in 2055. The proportion of men who are still single at the age of 50 is forecast to rise after 2050 in India to 10 per cent, it said.
REPORT
- At least 19 harmful practices, ranging from breast ironing to virginity testing, are considered human rights violations, according to the UNFPA report, which focuses on the three most prevalent ones: female genital mutilation, child marriage, and extreme bias against daughters in favour of sons.
- This year, an estimated 4.1 million girls will be subjected to female genital mutilation. Today, 33,000 girls under age 18 will be forced into marriages, usually to much older men and an extreme preference for sons over daughters in some countries has fuelled gender-biased sex selection resulting in the 140 million missing females.
REPORT
- The report said that ending child marriage and female genital mutilation worldwide is possible within 10 years by scaling up efforts to keep girls in school longer and teach them life skills and to engage men and boys in social change.
- Investments totalling USD 3.4 billion a year through 2030 would end these two harmful practices and end the suffering of an estimated 84 million girls, it said.
REPORT
- The report pointed out that successful education-related interventions include the provision of cash transfers conditional on school attendance or support to cover the costs of school fees, books, uniforms and supplies.
- The report took note of the successful cash-transfer initiative such as ‘Apni Beti Apna Dhan’ in India.
Latest Burning Issues | Free PDF
WhatsApp