Alexander Ilyin, UNFPA Deputy Representative, Speaks About IPD 2006.

Alexander Ilyin, Deputy Representative of the UNFPA, gave an interview to the 14 October newspaper (http://www.14october.com/IssuesFiles/8f76f09b-ca17-452c-82a4-a3262e87d9bc/06.pdf ) in advance of World Population Day. Yemen , a country of 21 million people, faces challenges typical of many developing countries as its population has not yet made the demographic transition from high to low fertility rates. Illyin describes the current state of population activities in Yemen and events planned for WPD, which is July 11, in the following text.

The world, including Yemen , in a few days will celebrate World Population Day (WPD), which will focus on youth. At the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), how do you rate the importance of this theme and the observance of WPD, from an international, regional, and local prospective for each country?

AI: Young people make the future of any country within the region or the world. The population of the Arab region is young and Yemen is one of the most populous Arab countries with a huge cohort of youth, which needs prospective for education, employment, and health—including reproductive health. The youth in the region need a better future and they want a better life today.

Does the UNFPA prepare any programs or activities to celebrate this day? Could you comment on them?

AI: Yes. Currently, the preparations for celebrating this occasion is on going. There will be different events for the occasion. There is a ceremonial inauguration that will be held in the Ibb governorate which was chosen this year to host the celebration. The celebration will include a youth carnival. There will be mobile cinema that will show programs about population, family planning, HIV/AIDS and other topics. There will also be a joint broadcast by nine Yemeni radio stations about the population issue and young people. Finally, there will be two televised symposiums and a special newspaper supplement that will be published by the Al-Thawra newspaper as well as other cultural and artistic events.

When will the annual World Population Report be released? Do you know what the report will concentrate on, especially with concern to Yemen ?

AI: The annual World Population Report usually becomes available at the time of WPD. Based on data and data analysis, the report is very comprehensive especially thematically. The most recent and accurate data will be in the report. Hence, let us wait for it to learn about the data on population trends at the global, regional, and national levels.

Based on the 2005 report and indications in 2006, do you see any improvement in the statutes relating to population in the world generally, and in Yemen specifically? Does the UNFPA in Yemen help to prepare the report? What are the sources that the UNFPA depends on for data used to prepare the report?

AI: The UNFPA in Yemen works mainly to collect data and to publish annual reports. The report relies on national statistics, surveys, estimates, and data evaluation techniques. A team of world class professionals contribute to the report. As for concrete global data, I propose that we wait for the report to be published. Regarding Yemen , we could say that population dynamics are slightly improving according to some, but progress is very slow.

Could you briefly discuss the UNFPA's role in Yemen ?

AI: The role of the UNFPA in Yemen is to support the implementation of the National Population Strategy using national expertise and partnering with institutions from the governmental and non-governmental sectors. The office provides technical assistance, particularly in specialized fields such as demography, statistics, reproductive health, and gender.

How do you assess the Yemeni government and its efforts in the population field? What is your opinion about cooperation and partnership between the UNFPA and the Yemeni government with activities relating to population? How do you see the future of these relations?

AI: In the past few years the government of Yemen has been very active in setting national strategies, policies, and systems in order to meet the challenges of national population dynamics and reproductive health problems. There is agreement among all partners that the time has come to concentrate on the implementation of these national strategies and policies. It has now been translated into an important section of the new national five-year plan.

How much money does the UNFPA allocate to subsidize Yemen annually? What have been the results of UNFPA-funded activities?

AI: The UNFPA provides around four million dollars (USD) annually to Yemen and remains the major donor supporting national population, reproductive health, and gender activities. The UNFPA is a main supplier of free reproductive health commodities and contraceptives to the public health sector in Yemen .

According to these results, what would you say is the future of UNFPA support to Yemen ?

AI: UNFPA support to Yemen is supposed to continue, subject to the current program evaluation and progress in developing the new country program cycle for 2007-2011, which is a part of the common United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).

What place does population information have in the UNFPA agenda? To what extent does the UNFPA give attention to the media as a vector of raising population awareness?

AI: The UNFPA gives special attention to the media whether traditional or innovative because of its important on population work-activities. Hence, there are different programs and projects in this field implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Public Health and Population, the National Population Center , and universities. In addition, information about population issues is available on our national website http://yemen.unfpa.org and on the international one http://www.unfpa.org .

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