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UN Secretary General sends message on World Population Day

10 July 2009 07:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“APA. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressed the international community on World Population Day, UN Office in Azerbaijan told APA. The UN Secretary General said in his message that there was no better path than the focus of this yearâ€™s World Population Day: investing in women and girls. â€œAs budgets tighten, the crisis threatens to wipe out hard-won progress in improving health and reducing poverty. When household incomes decline, girls are more likely to drop out of school. When profits decline, women are more likely to lose their employment and sources of income. When health systems suffer, women risk childbirth without life-saving services. Even before the crisis, a mother died every minute in pregnancy and childbirth, nearly all in developing countries where the crisis has pushed women deeper into povertyâ€, said the UN Secretary General.
â€œAnd investing in womenâ€™s health, especially reproductive health, can not only save the lives of half a million mothers, but also unleash an estimated $15 billion in productivity each year. As we commemorate the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, let us accelerate efforts to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015â€, said UN Secretary General in his message.