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Sub-Saharan Africa
While 2003, 2004 and early 2005 have seen improvements in economic growth levels and in governance, the challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa as it strives to meet its development objectives remain the most daunting facing any region in the world. These objectives include reaching the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015 and the closely-related goals for 2015 set at the ICPD in 1994 and the ICPD+5 follow-up in 1999, including universal access to reproductive health services, gender equality and women's empowerment. This region, which is home to 34 of the world's 49 least developed countries, will continue to need the highest per capita levels of technical and financial support of any region, along with sustained political commitment by all stakeholders, if it is to make major progress towards meeting those goals by 2015.
Unfortunately, efforts to eradicate poverty, empower women, reduce child mortality and improve maternal health in the region continue to be severely undercut by the devastating AIDS pandemic and by massive human displacements in the wake of natural disasters, violent conflicts and debilitating political strife. In a region that is home to more than 60 per cent of the world's HIV-positive people, halting and reversing the spread of HIV, as well as addressing related issues of malaria and tuberculosis, must be among the highest priorities. Addressing the reproductive health needs of the millions of women and adolescents currently at risk for contracting the infection is critical to this effort. Two-thirds of those newly infected with HIV in the region are women. About 7 per cent of young women and 2.2 per cent of men aged 15-24 years in sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV at the end of 2004. more
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UNFPA worldwide: Sub-Saharan Africa 
