New Executive Director Makes First Official Visit to Nordic Countries

STOCKHOLM/ COPENHAGEN/OSLO/HELSINKI – Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, the new Executive Director of UNFPA, is making his first official visits to Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, four countries that are among UNFPA’s strongest supporters as well as long-term champions of women’s empowerment and right to sexual and reproductive health.

Dr. Osotimehin started his series of visits on Tuesday in Stockholm where he held a number of fruitful meetings with government and civil society representatives. During the visit, Ms. Gunilla Carlsson, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation hosted a lunch where Dr. Osotimehin met with representatives from a Swedish youth organization, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Swedish Family Planning Association, RFSU. During the lunch the Executive Director expressed great appreciation of Sweden’s high prioritization of the implementation of ICPD.

In Stockholm, Dr. Osotimehin also attended a seminar, organized by the United Nations Association of Sweden, where he gave a presentation to civil society organizations about young people’s reproductive health and rights, gender equality and empowerment of women.

“One thing that we see in so many countries is that adolescents and youth face high risks and yet have the least access to sexual and reproductive health information and services,” he told the audience, pledging that “UNFPA will place a special emphasis on young people and their reproductive health and rights.”

On Wednesday, Dr. Osotimehin traveled to Copenhagen to meet with Mr. Søren Pind, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation. He thanked the Minister for the Government of Denmark’s strong support to the mandate of UNFPA. During their meeting, Mr. Pind and Dr. Osotimehin signed a partnership agreement to allocate 15.7 million USD to UNFPA’s humanitarian activities over the next five years. The increased contribution to UNFPA is part of the new Danish humanitarian strategy for 2010-2015.

In Copenhagen, Dr. Osotimehin gave a presentation at a seminar in the Danish parliament on the world population approaching 7 billion, reminding the audience that “population is not just about numbers, it is about people.” He added, “In a world of 7 billion, every person should enjoy human rights and human dignity. And we need to create greater balance between people and our planet.”

Dr. Osotimehin’s Nordic visit continued in Norway on Thursday, where he met with Mr. Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister of the Environment and International Development and had a working lunch with Ms. Tora Aasland, Acting Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion. In Norway, he also met with senior government representatives and parliamentarians. During the meetings, Dr. Osotimehin stressed the importance of Norway’s political and financial support to UNFPA.

While in Olso, the Executive Director also took part in a panel together with Ms. Ingrid Fiskaa, State Secretary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ms. Gro Lindstad, Director of FOKUS, Forum for Women and Development, a Norwegian NGO. The panel, held at the Nobel Peace Center, addressed the theme: “No woman should die giving life – How can we improve maternal health in the developing world?” addressed an audience of about 100 people, many of them representatives from Norwegian civil society organizations. Dr. Osotimehin stressed the importance of UNFPA’s collaboration with civil society, as well as the importance of girls’ and women’s education and access to medical care, in order to reduce maternal mortality.

Dr. Osotimehin closed the panel by introducing Congo/Women, a photo exhibition that portrays women’s vulnerability in war and poverty, which was projected on the Nobel Peace Center’s façade following the panel. The event was organized in honor of Mother’s Day, which was celebrated a few days later in Norway, in a joint effort by UNFPA, Sex og Politikk (the Norwegian Family Planning Association), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nobel Peace Center.

UNFPA Executive Director concluded his Nordic tour in Finland where he met with President Ms. Tarja Halonen and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Mr. Paavo Väyrynen, among others. Dr. Osotimehin expressed gratitude to the Finnish government for its strong support of UNFPA’s mandate and for increasing its funding of the organization over the last years.

The Executive Director met with Finnish NGOs at a meeting organized by the Finnish Family Planning organization, Väestöliitto, where the Executive Director stated that "With the Secretary-General’s Global Strategy, the push to achieve the MDG’s by 2015 and the world population reaching 7 billion, we have a unique opportunity to promote and advance the sexual and reproductive health agenda". He pledged that "UNFPA will support countries to invest more in the education, health and skills of young people. And we will place priority on a comprehensive package of information and services for sexual and reproductive health, and sexuality education that reaches and engages young people."

Dr. Osotimehin concluded his four-day tour speaking at a dinner with Finnish parliamentarians hosted by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.