New York, 2 September 2022 (TDI): United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) honored the life and contributions of its previous Executive Director Dr. Nafis Sadik.
Dr. Sadik was a devoted champion of women’s health, rights, and empowerment. This news was shared in a tweet by Executive Director of UNFPA, Dr. Natalia Kanem.
Today, @UNFPA celebrated the life and legacy of former Executive Director Dr. Nafis Sadik, proud champion of choice and tireless advocate for women’s health, rights and empowerment. pic.twitter.com/CuVOA68fsK
— Dr. Natalia Kanem /she/her/ella/ (@Atayeshe) September 1, 2022
Dr. Nafis Sadik: A Profile
Dr. Nafis Sadik is a well-known Pakistani civil servant who served as the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General. She also worked as a Special Envoy for HIV and AIDS in Asia.
She was born on August 18, 1929, and departed this world on August 14, 2022. Furthermore, she was also the previous Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) from 1987 to 2000.
Moreover, Dr. Sadik was designated Secretary-General of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) by the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, in June 1990.
Additionally, she was a member of the Board of Governors of the Foundation for Human Development, and a member of the South Asian Commission on the Asian Challenge.
Also, Dr. Sadik was the President of the Society for International Development (SID) for the period 1994-1997. Apart from that, she owns many writings such as; “Lessons Learned from Two Decades of Experience.”
Other books edited by Dr. Sadik have been widely read. These are also cited in the disciplines of family planning, health, and population and development.
UNFPA: An Overview
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. The organization’s goal is to bring about a world in which every pregnancy is desired, every birth is secure, as well as every young person’s capability is realized.
Besides this, UNFPA supports the above-mentioned objectives in more than 150 nations, which are home to more than 80% of the world’s population. Likewise, it provides reproductive health care for women and young people.
Also, pregnant women’s health, particularly the 1 million who experience life-threatening issues each month is on the support agenda of the UNFPA. Similarly, reliable access to enough modern birth control to help 20 million women a year is one of its objectives.
Correspondingly, thousands of health professionals will be trained to ensure that at least 90% of deliveries are overseen by trained personnel. This too is UNFPA’s mandate.
Moving ahead, gender-based violence, which affects one in three women, must be prevented under UNFPA, along with abandoning female genital mutilation, which causes 3 million girls’ lives to be ruined every year.
Moreover, UNFPA champions the cause of preventing teen pregnancies, which are the main cause of death for females between the ages of 15 and 19 due to their problems.
Aside from that, ending child marriage is a priority since it could have an impact on 70 million girls in the next five years.
