Strong words but quite true. The theme for this year’s World Population Day to be commemorated on 11 July is Men as Partners in Maternal Health.
 
Haven’t we all heard of instances where fathers alone are still making the decisions about when and who their daughter marries, or whether they complete their education or not?

And about how rare it is for men to care for the sick? In African society, the burden of caring for the sick, especially since the advent of HIV and AIDS, has fallen heavily on women.

• If we look around today, who is making the majority of the financial decisions in society?  Who decides whether a woman will see a midwife, use contraception or go for ante-natal visits?

Who is leading on the political, religious and home front?

And who is responsible for the majority of teenage pregnancies and unsafe abortions that young girls find themselves forced to go through?

Even if you look at the resources that are being allocated towards the search for an HIV vaccine, they are being spearheaded by men. And in the majority of cases, more resources are allocated to areas that seem to benefit men more than women. Look at how many different types of condoms have been designed for men and what has happened to the female condom?   

• As we commemorate World Population Day United Nations Population Fund, Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid is saying the world needs to focus on commitment and action to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person free of HIV and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

• As journalists, we need to look at the systems in our countries and see how supportive they are to the women,
  

Sources: www.unfpa.org/wpd
http://www.unfpa.org/wpd/2007/docs/wpd_statement_eng.doc.