•  united nations
• Monday, March 19, 2012
• Inter Press Service

A reproductive health advocate from the United States and a Malaysian non-governmental organization (NGO) specializing in family planning and sexual health have been named this year’s recipients of the annual United Nations Population Award.

Adrienne Germain and the Federation of Reproductive Health Associations of Malaysia (FRHAM) were chosen by the Population Award Committee, a body administered by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), in recognition of their contributions to improving public health.

Germain, the first scholar to develop the concept of reproductive health in 1987, has been a vocal proponent of family planning and is widely seen as a pioneer in linking fertility and population policies with the status of women since 1975, according to a UNFPA news release.

In addition, she has served in leadership positions at the Population Council, the Ford Foundation and the International Women’s Health Coalition, where she was President from 1998 to 2011.

Established in 1958, FRHAM is the leading NGO focusing on population, family planning and sexual and reproductive health in Malaysia. Over the years, it has expanded its activities to cover disadvantaged communities, including refugees, sex workers, and transsexual and marginalized youths, as well as providing multilingual publications educating the public in reproductive health issues.

The 2012 Population Awards will be presented at UN Headquarters in New York in June. Past winners include philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, Iranian demographer Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi and Dame Billie Antoinette Miller, a former foreign minister of Barbados. Established by the General Assembly in 1981, the award is given annually to individuals and institutions for outstanding contributions to population concerns and their solutions.

© Inter Press Service (2012) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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