In New York, United States on 12 November 2008, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released its annual State of the World Population report. The 2008 report is called Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights. The crux of the report is that international development organizations must be culturally sensitive if they are to successfully advance human rights, and especially women’s rights, in other countries. To do so, UNFPA’s “culture lens” helps organizers develop “cultural fluency” by identifying cultural characteristics that affect development, and why they are important. Women’s rights activists may especially be interested in chapters three, four and six of the report (HTML format), respectively focusing on promoting gender equality and empowering women, reproductive health and reproductive rights, and gender and reproductive health in conflict situations. The chapters also include facts and figures, case studies, and lessons learned from practitioners around the world.
For background information on the report, and for links to each chapter in HTML or PDF format, please click here.
For the full text of the report, please click here (booklet PDF, 108 pages).
Compiled from: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), State of the World Population 2008, Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights (12 November 2008) (booklet PDF, 108 pages).