UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations and Pakistan expressed sorrow over the death of Nafis Sadik, a Pakistani doctor who championed women’s health and rights and spearheaded the breakthrough action plan adopted by 179 countries at the 1994 United Nations population conference.
She died early Monday, four days before her 93rd birthday, Omar Sadik, her son said. He said his mother died of natural causes at her home in New York.
Her funeral took place on Wednesday.
Nafis joined the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 1971, became its assistant executive director in 1977, and was appointed executive director in 1987 by then Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar after the sudden death of its chief, Rafael Salas.
She was the first woman to head a major United Nations program that is voluntarily funded.
In June 1990, Perez de Cuellar appointed Nafis to be secretary-general of the fifth UN International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, and she became the architect of its groundbreaking program of action which recognised for the first time that women have the right to control their reproductive and sexual health and to choose whether to become pregnant.
The Cairo conference also reached a consensus on a series of goals including universal primary education in all countries by 2015 — a goal that still hasn’t been met — and wider access for women to secondary and higher education. It also set goals to reduce infant and child mortality and maternal mortality and to provide access to reproductive and sexual health services, including family planning.
While the conference broke a taboo on discussing sexuality, it stopped short of recognising that women have the right to control decisions about when they have sex and when they get married.
In a statement, released by his spokesman, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recalled: “When Sadik took up her post at UNFPA in 1987, she became the first woman to head one of the UN’s major voluntarily-funded programmes.
“She consistently called attention to the importance of addressing the needs of women, and of involving women directly in making and carrying out development policy, which she believed was particularly important for population policies and programmes.
“Sadik will be remembered for her significant contributions to women’s health and rights and population policies and for her tireless efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.
“The Secretary-General extends his sincere condolences to her friends and family,” the statement added.
Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram said: “I am deeply saddened by the passing of Dr Nafis Sadiq, a proud Pakistani woman, a great leader and a visionary internationalist, who served her country and the international community with a bold vision.”
“She was a role model for generations of women in Pakistan and across the world. She was also my friend and mentor. I will miss her,” Ambassador Akram added.
UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem also praised her leadership qualities.
“As secretary-general of the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 and architect of its groundbreaking Programme of Action, Sadik was a trailblaser who made indelible contributions to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, women’s leadership and global development.
“Her bold vision and leadership in Cairo set the world on an ambitious path — a journey that passed through Beijing and the 1995 World Conference on Women, helped shape the Millennium Development Goals and anticipated the transformative vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 integrated and universal Sustainable Development Goals. This journey has helped transform the lives of millions of women and girls.
“On behalf of UNFPA, I extend sincere condolences to Sadik’s family, to the Government and people of Pakistan, to women around the world and to all who are mourning her loss.”
