The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UN Population Fund (UNFPA)

  • Nigerian community in U.S. mourns Osotimehin

    Nigerian community in U.S. mourns Osotimehin

    The Nigerian community in the U.S., Organisation for the Advancement of Nigerians (OAN), has expressed sadness over the death of  Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, the Executive Director of UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

    Osotimehin, a former Nigerian Minister of Health, died on Sunday night in New York at the age of 68.

    OAN dedicates efforts toward enhancing the image of Nigerians in the U.S. and addressing the negative stereotypes of Nigerians in the American media.

    It has been highlighting the positive contributions of the vast majority of Nigerians to the American society since 1989.

    In a statement in New York on Wednesday, OAN President Solomon Bakare said the late UNFPA chief spent his life fighting for access to public health for women and girls across the world.

    “The president and members of Organisation for the Advancement of Nigerians (OAN) were saddened by the sudden death of Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, the UNFPA Head and former Minister of Health.

    “He was a selfless and fearless leader who spent his life fighting for access to public health for women, girls and children across the globe.

    “His contribution to global public health is forever engraved in the hearts of many lives he helped to save.

    “We thank his family for sharing Dr Osotimehin with the world; and we pray that God will comfort you during this difficult time.

    “May the patriotic and humane soul of Dr Babatunde Osotimehin rest in perfect peace,” Bakare said.

    Osetimehin was also  a Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) in Nigeria.

  • Nigeria’s envoy pays condolence visit to Osotimehin’s family

    Nigeria’s envoy pays condolence visit to Osotimehin’s family

    Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN, paid a condolence visit to the family of the late Executive Director of UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin.

    The Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Muhammad-Bande was received by Dr Babajide Osotimehin, the deceased son, on behalf of the family on Monday evening.

    Nigeria’s envoy expressed the condolences of the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN, to the family.

    He described the late Osotimehin as an accomplished and distinguished professional who made Nigeria proud during the period he served at the UN.

    According to him, Osotimehin’s death is an irreparable loss not only to Nigeria but to the UN and the entire global community.

    The Nigerian ambassador later signed the Condolence Register opened at the residence of the late UNFPA chief.

    Muhammad-Bande was accompanied on the condolence visit by the Head of Chancery of the Permanent Mission, Dr Cyprian Heen.

    Osotimehin died in his home in New York Sunday night at the age of 68 years.

    A physician and public health expert, he became UNFPA’s fourth Executive Director on Jan. 1, 2011, with the rank of United Nations Under-Secretary-General.

    Before this appointment, the late UNFPA chief was Nigeria’s Minister of Health.

    Prior to that, he was Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), which coordinated HIV and AIDS work in Nigeria.

    Osotimehin qualified as a doctor from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1972, and went to the University of Birmingham, England, where he got a doctorate in medicine in 1979.

    He was appointed Professor at the University of Ibadan in 1980 and headed the Department of Clinical Pathology before being elected Provost of the College of Medicine in 1990.

    Osotimehin received the Nigerian national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger in December 2005.

    He led several councils, including the World Economic Forum.

    Osotimehin was married, had five children and several grandchildren.

  • No woman should die during childbirth – Osotimehin

    No woman should die during childbirth – Osotimehin

    Babatunde Osotimehin, UN Under-Secretary-General and the Executive Director of UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has said that it is no longer acceptable for a woman to die during childbirth.

    Osotimehin said this in an interview with a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of an award dinner organized by the Nigeria Health Foundation in Newark, U.S.

    The UNFPA chief said people should insist that both local and state governments must deliver healthcare to them.

    According to him, if people fail to hold government accountable as far as healthcare is concerned the nation’s health problems will  continue to persist.

    “In the present job I have, it is very painful for me that I would hear and I would see women die during childbirth, as minister and as a doctor.

    “I have seen women die needlessly because they don’t have care and because they don’t get care.

    “So a woman who is in labour goes into a care centre and she bleeds to death. This is totally unacceptable.

    “Those are things that in present day world must not occur at all. These are not things we cannot prevent.

    “We cannot and should not ever leave everything to the hands of the government,” he said.

    Osotimehin, who was a one-time Nigeria’s Minister of Health, regretted that government had become disconnected from the people and urged well-meaning individuals and organizations to come to governments’ aid.

    “We must take charge of our lives and of our people and I want us to all go back to our communities; make sure that we connect with our people.

    “We must make sure we hold our state and local government accountable to deliver care to our people so that at the end of the day, each one of them will have what they deserve in terms of healthcare.”

    He pointed out that in Rwanda, the rate of maternal mortality had been drastically reduced, urging other African countries to learn from the country’s healthcare system.

    “Rwanda is one country that met most of the Millennium Development Goals. You know why? Because of accountability.

    “If a woman dies in labour in Rwanda, the doctor who is attending to that woman is obliged to send a text to the Minister of Health the moment she dies.

    “And you must send the text and tell the minister why the woman dies. That’s not all, they would investigate it.

    “If they find that you were negligent, then they must punish you because life is not something we play with; life is what we all doctors are trained to preserve and to save.

    “We lose patients not because we want to lose them but if you lose a patient because you are careless, then you must be punished,” he said.

    According to him, people must be accountable in whatever they do, whether in the health or any other profession.

    “Accountability must be the watchword for all of us in the practice. Accountability in health is what must be there for everybody. There’s no reason why you cannot be accountable.

    “There’s no reason why a nurse should not be at work. There’s no reason why a doctor should not be at work.

    “There’s no reason why a pharmacist should not be there. There’s no reason why drugs should not be available.

    “There’s no reason why a child should die of malaria or a woman should die giving birth.

    “Those are things that in today’s world and in today’s Nigeria, we can look at them and be sure that we accomplish.

    “And to say we must go beyond that; we must also make each one of us accountable for what we do in practice, in medicine and in every sphere of our lives,” Osotimehin said.

  • Buhari, NPC call for urgent investment in Africa’s out-of-school girls

    Buhari, NPC call for urgent investment in Africa’s out-of-school girls

    The Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari and the National Population Commission (NPC), have called for urgent investment Africa’s out-of-school teenage girls.

    Buhari and the commission, made the call at a side event organised by the Federal Government in collaboration with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) at the UN headquarters on Wednesday in New York.

    The Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was part of the ongoing 50th session of the UN Commission on Population and Development.

    Buhari, whose speech was read by Rep. Asabe Bashir, Deputy Chairperson, House of Representatives Committee on Women in Parliament, said the population of Africa’s out-of-school teenage girls was alarming.

    “Out-of-school teenage girls – ages 10 to 19 years – represent almost a quarter of the female population in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    “These girls are without opportunities to attend schools or complete their education because of severe economic, social and cultural issues.

    “These issues include poverty; early, forced or child marriage; childbearing and motherhood; and lack of access to quality and timely reproductive health care services among others.

    “The conditions are particularly worse for those girls caught in the web of insurgency.

    “Thus, they are on the verge of losing the opportunities of achieving their aspirations,” Buhari said.

    According to her, the event was Nigeria’s means of calling global attention on the three enumerated areas of investment that are prerequisite to realising the girls’ full potential.

    “First is addressing their sexual and reproductive health needs, family planning counselling and services.

    “Second, re-enrolment into formal schools to at least secondary school completion level; and third, skills acquisition and entrepreneurship”.

    The wife of the president explained that the event was aimed at presenting different dimensions of the challenges that these out-of-school teenage girls encountered.

    “It is also to showcase how a modest investment in their lives can make difference and accrue benefits that are important for realising the future we want in Africa.

    “The future that we want is reaping demographic dividends, achieving sustainable development and relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to our development aspirations.

    “By this, Nigeria welcomes partnerships and collaborations that will support efforts in Africa.

    “Such efforts must be tailored towards ensuring that these girls are not left behind as we strive to achieve the SDGs.”

    Also speaking, the Chairman, NPC, Mr Eze Duruiheoma, said “if we must reap demographic dividend in Africa, all population segments, particularly those further left behind, must be included.

    “The demography in focus – out-of-school teenage girls – constitutes a huge resource for reaping the dividend we seek, which is full implementation of the 2030 agenda.

    “The agenda seeks to realise the SDGs, if the right and timely investments are made to address their needs.

    “The event is to showcase the far-reaching benefits derivable from investing in the girls’ education – re-enrolment to completion of at least secondary school level”.

    The Director-General of the commission, Mr Ghaji Bello, called for the enforcement of the relevant laws that made provision for ensuring that children are educated to a basic level.

    “We have the resources to do that in Nigeria and we have to hold our leaders accountable to the promises they made to the people.

    “If our leaders can spend only 10 per cent of the resources on those things which make life meaningful for the masses, there will be great improvements in the lives of the citizens,” Bello said.

    In his remarks, the Charge D’affaires, Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN, Anthony Bosah, regretted the impacts of culture and corruption on the continent and its citizens.

    Represented by the Spokesperson for the Mission, Bolaji Akinremi, Bosah said the mission recently sponsored a resolution on “Illicit Financial Flows and Asset Recovery” at the UN.

    According to him, this is in tandem with the President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption agenda.

    The theme of the event, attended by African representatives and partners, was: “Investing In Out-of-school Teenage Girls: A Priority for Achieving Demographic Dividend, Sustainable Development and SDGs in Africa”.