Dakar, Senegal/Praia, Cabo Verde - 19 March 2022: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Goodwill Ambassador for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, Ms. Catarina Furtado, will visit Cabo Verde between 21st and 22nd March 2022. The UNFPA Deputy Regional Director for the West and Central Africa region, Ms. Fabrizia Falcione and UNFPA Representative for Cabo Verde, Mr. Steven Ursino will join Ms. Catarina Furtado.
During the mission, conducted on the occasion of the March Women's Month celebrations, the Goodwill Ambassador will meet with the Cabo Verdean government officials and national partners and will advocate on the issues of sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and elimination of all forms of gender based violence. .
“We are most excited to welcome Ms. Catarina Furtado to Cabo Verde and the region. Her visit is an opportunity to engage people directly, particularly women and girls, to raise their voices for causes related to gender-based violence, who, need to see their rights guaranteed,” remarked Ms. Fabrizia Falcione, UNFPA Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
Through meetings with different national authorities, the United Nations system, civil society organizations, journalists and different community groups, Catarina Furtado will experience firsthand the progress made by the Country and the challenges faced in achieving zero maternal deaths, zero unmet needs for family planning and zero forms of gender-based violence.
The UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, who arrives in the country on 20 March, will also visit health facilities, engage with young people and youth associations, women with HIV/AIDS and women with disabilities and their associations, activists, influencers, artists and journalists.
“My mission to Cabo Verde, as UNFPA Ambassador, will allow me to visit projects on the ground, health centres and hospitals to speak directly with the populations. I will also meet with ministers, parliamentarians, the First Lady, associations and activists, focusing on the themes of gender equality, maternal, sexual and reproductive health, HIV, disability, and youth potential.” Goodwill Ambassador Catarina Furtado added that she looks forward to learning more about the lives of the ordinary Cape Verdean as advocates for the urgency to achieve UNFPA’s “three zeros” as part of sustainable development and in the fulfillment of human rights for all.
Ms. Catarina Furtado was appointed UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador in 2000 by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on the recommendation of dr. Toraya Obaid, then UNFPA Executive Director. Ms. Catarina Furtado has shared her experiences on the ground while supporting and promoting different approaches to UNFPA's mission, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality, human rights of girls and women, youth empowerment and elimination of gender based violence and all harmful practices.
About UNFPA
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. To learn more, visit: https://www.unfpa.org/about-us
Contacts:
Jacob Enoh Eben, | Regional Communications Advisor | UNFPA WCARO | Phone: +221 77 450 4780; +221 77 3586662 | Email: eben@unfpa.org
Ms. Natacha Magalhães | Communications Analyst | UNDP UNFPA, UNICEF Joint Office, | Tel. +238 5857770| Email: natacha.magalhaes@cv.jo.un.cv
