Tamale, Nov. 16, GNA - The United Nations Population Fund

(UNFPA), has launch this year's edition of the State of the World's

Population Report to guide policy makers and researchers to

institute measures to prevent conflicts and enhance development. The report under the theme: "From Conflict and Crisis to

Renewal: Generation of Change," draws attention to how protracted

conflicts are experienced globally and their devastating effects

particularly on women and children. It also talks about how women and young people had overcome

seemingly insurmountable obstacles and begun rebuilding their lives

and laying the foundation for peace and the renewal of their

societies. Alhaki Issaku Salia, the Upper West Regional Minister, who

launched the report in Tamale last Thursday, said the document

would help to broaden the knowledge base of leaders on the extent

of damage conflicts could cause and how the phenomenon could be

managed. He said the report was the first of its kind to illustrate how

women and girls were affected by disasters and conflicts as well as

providing models of rebuilding. Alhaji Salia noted that in conflict situations and large-scale

disasters, women and children were vulnerable to attacks, including

sexual violence in which the physical, psychological and social harm

caused to rape victims could not be overstated. The Regional Minister said empowering women was an

indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing

poverty, adding: "The achievement of gender equality will require

transformation of all aspects of our cultures and institutions. "We must work towards this if we recognise that the promotion

of gender equality and the empowerment of women are critical to

the reduction of conflicts and crises, hunger and disease and the

achievement of development that is truly sustainable", he said. Dr Robert K. Mensah, a reproductive health specialist at the

UNFPA, who read a speech on behalf of Ms Thoraya Ahmed

Obaid, Executive Director of the Fund said on 31 October 2000, the

United Nations Security Council recognising the low level of

women's representation in efforts to prevent war and build peace,

passed resolution 1325, to ensure the active participation of women

in promoting peace. Ms Obaid said the 2010 Report was different from previous

editions because it took an academic approach to topics related to

the mandate and work of UNFPA. She said this year's report adopted a strategy called the three

'Rs' which meant: resilience, renewal and redefining roles between

boys and girls and men and women. "The current report takes a more journalistic approach, drawing

on the experiences of women and girls, men and boys, living in the

wake of conflict and other catastrophic disruptions." "They speak for themselves about the challenges they face, the

ways their communities were coping and becoming more resilient

and about how many of them have become involved in

reconstruction and renewal," she said. Ms Obaid said the individuals featured in the report were rural

people living off the land and urbanites trying to survive in broken

cities. Many survivors of conflict and natural disasters, she said, were

now working in their communities to help fellow citizens to recover

and to readjust. Ms Obaid said the report was undertaken in a number of

countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, Jordan, Liberia

and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (West Bank),Timor-Leste

and Uganda.