RON CORBEN writes at VOICE OF AMERICA:
BANGKOK — The chief of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) is calling for Asia governments to give higher priority to women’s development programs. Babatunde Osotimehin says countries should address increasing population concerns with what he called “foresight and justice”.
Greater empowerment for women
U.N. Population Fund Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin is calling for greater empowerment of women and young girls to address issues of social inequality and to boost economies as women take up greater roles in development.
Before this week’s Asian Population conference in Bangkok, Osotimehin says empowering women would reduce violence against women and help boost economic and social development. “Violence against women would reduce considerably, it would reduce the issues of teenage and early marriages, and it would reduce those things, which at this point in time are present in many parts of the world, particularly in this part of the world,” he said. READ MORE.