| As confirmed at the International Conference
on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994, it is the
enhancement of women's health, rights, life, education,
and socio-economic activities that leads to the fundamental
solutions of population issues. The United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA) gives examples of some of the terrible situations
that women in the world suffer: |
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Some 500,000
pregnancy-related deaths occur each year. |
|
Women undergo
an estimated 20 million unsafe abortions resulting in
the deaths of 78,000 women each year. |
|
About 80 million
pregnancies each year are unwanted and mistimed by women
with no access to contraceptive means, even if they want
to practice contraception. |
|
There are as
many as 5.4 million new HIV infections each year, and
the number of infections by women exceeds that of men.
The number of so-called "AIDS Orphans," child
HIV carriers through vertical transmission whose parents
have died from AIDS, is rapidly increasing. |
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More than 14
million adolescent girls get pregnant against their intention
or desire each year. As many as 4.4 million adolescent
girls undergo abortions each year. Early marriage and
child marriage followed by early childbirth heighten their
RH risk. |
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The problems
of gender-based violence are also becoming more serious.
Over two million girls and women each year are engaged,
either through coercion or out of poverty, in the commercial
sex market. In addition, it is estimated that more than
130 million women have been subjected to female genital
mutilation (FGM). |
| It is not easy to abolish these situations.
International organizations, governments and NGOs must
work together at the international level to solve these
problems, for the good of all humankind. |
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