United Nations Population Fund

What are the Main Issues that UNFPA Addresses?

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect and gender equality and equity are promoted.

UNFPA is the world’s largest international source of funding for population and reproductive health programmes, focused on (i) ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health, including family planning and HIV prevention especially among young people 10-24 years old, to all couples and individuals; (ii) supporting population and development strategies that enable capacity building in population programming; and (iii) promoting deeper understanding of population and development issues, including the linkages with poverty and to advocate the mobilization of the resources and political will necessary to accomplish these areas of work.

UNFPA promotes the principles of the ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development) Programme of Action that aim at meeting the people’s education and health needs and sexual and reproductive as a precursor to sustainable development.

UNFPA in Malawi

"Young people are the future generation that need special protection"

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health is a means to sustainable development as well as a human right. Investments in sexual and reproductive health save and improve lives, slow the spread of HIV and promote gender equality.

Through its contribution to the health sector, UNFPA in Malawi works towards strengthening health systems to increase access to comprehensive client-oriented and gender sensitive reproductive health services.

HIV Prevention among Young People

In the spirit of UN Reforms and the “three ones initiatives” UNFPA leads efforts that build consensus and enhance capacity development to ensure accountability and coordination mechanisms on HIV Prevention among young people 10-24 years. Youth, especially young women, are vulnerable to reproductive health problems and particularly exposed to the risk of unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, sexually transmitted infections and HIV.

Gender

"Improved health systems ensures good maternal and neonatal health"

UNFPA has been supporting gender and development programmes in the country and is the lead UN agency for MDG 3 (gender equality and empowerment.) UNFPA has played a catalytic role in supporting government and civil society in addressing gender based violence, negative cultural practices that contribute to the spread of HIV and other practices that prevent women and girls enjoy their rights. UNFPA also supports efforts to create a conducive legal and policy framework by supporting efforts to review gender related laws and lobbying for the inclusion of women in leadership position at national, district and local levels as guided by principles of the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and the African Union Additional Protocol on Women.

Data for Development

Data is vital for the development, monitoring and review of all development programmes and frameworks. UNFPA has been supporting government efforts to collect, compile, analyse and disseminate official statistics. The major sources of official statistics in Malawi are the censuses and various periodic surveys such as the DHS, CWIQ and IHS. The last census was conducted in 1998 and the next one is planned for 2008. The Malawi Socio-Economic Database (MASEDA/DevInfo) is currently in the final stages of completion and will provide a great opportunity for collating and updating of all vital statistics. UNFPA will continue to support efforts to develop a sustainable robust M&E system linked to a regularly updated database like MASEDA.

For details on UNFPA activities between 2002 and 2006, please follow this link

For more information, visit www.unfpa.org or contact

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Evelyn Court, Area 13
P.O. Box 30135, Lilongwe 3
Tel: (265) 01 771 444/474/08828155/154
Fax: (265) 01 771 402/01 773 637