Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire / Dakar, Senegal - 14 February 2022: The United Nations Population Fund Regional Director for West and Central Africa Regional Office, Ms. Argentina Matavel Piccin, has ended an official visit to Côte d'Ivoire from 9 to 13 February 2022 to strengthen cooperation between Côte d'Ivoire and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
During her stay, Ms. Argentina Matavel exchanged with the government authorities of Côte d'Ivoire, the United Nations System Resident Coordinator and UNFPA staff. In these meetings, they discussed best practices, challenges and prospects in reproductive health and the optimization of the demographic dividend and the tools to accelerate the implementation of the commitments of Côte d'Ivoire in the framework of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).
According to Ms. Argentina Matavel, "This visit was an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Côte d'Ivoire and UNFPA, particularly in the context of the new UNFPA strategic plan (2022-2025), which emphasizes the acceleration of strategies and interventions for the achievement by 2030 of the three transformative outcomes, namely: ending preventable maternal deaths, ending unmet need for family planning; and ending gender-based violence and other harmful practices.”
As part of this official visit by the UNFPA Regional Director, specific emphasis was placed on UNFPA's support to Côte d'Ivoire's Population Census process, the use of census data for development planning and the prospects for the implementation of the second phase of the Sahel Women's Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) Project, for which UNFPA plays a key role alongside the government, communities and other key partners.
As part of its eighth programme of cooperation with Côte d'Ivoire, UNFPA is committed to accelerating its strategies and interventions to (i) end preventable maternal mortality, (ii) end unmet need for family planning, (iii) end gender-based violence and harmful practices, and (iv) develop the potential and leadership of youth.
In Côte d'Ivoire, the results obtained in 2021 are encouraging and indicate that: (i) the National Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC) Network is in place with 97% of health facilities strengthened for the provision of EmONC services; (ii) 176,260 unwanted pregnancies, 62,086 unsafe abortions and 686 maternal deaths have been prevented; (iii) 830,000 additional new users of modern contraceptive methods have been registered since 2012; (iv) 1,292,832 students in a new cycle were reached for the first time by life lessons on sexual and reproductive health in the ECS; (v) 8,715
survivors of GBV were assisted with a 55% rate of management of rape cases within 72 hours and 93% of forced marriage alerts and 78% of female genital mutilation alerts successfully managed.
Ms. Matavel's visit was an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Côte d'Ivoire and UNFPA, particularly in the context of UNFPA's new strategic plan (2022-2025), which emphasizes the acceleration of strategies and interventions to achieve the three transformative outcomes by 2030, namely ending preventable maternal deaths, ending unmet need for family planning and ending gender-based violence and other harmful practices.
A Mozambican national, Ms. Matavel Piccin has over 25 years of experience in leading programmes in complex development and humanitarian contexts in the UN system and the non-governmental sector. Since joining UNFPA in 2006, Ms. Matavel has served as Representative in Botswana, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Côte d'Ivoire and India.
About UNFPA
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. UNFPA's mission is to provide a world in where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe and every young person fulfills potential their realized. UNFPA calls for the realization of reproductive rights for all and supports access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services.
For further information visit the website : www.unfpa.org
Contacts:
Jacob Enoh Eben | Regional Communications Advisor | UNFPA WCARO - Dakar, Senegal | Tel: +221 33 859 8228 | Cell: +221 77 450 4780 ; | eben@unfpa.org
Jordan SERA | Communications and Advocacy Specialist | UNFPA Côte d’Ivoire | Tel. +225 07 87 75 54 03 | sera@unfpa.org
