The United Nations Population Award is an international award presented annually by the United Nations Population Fund to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to population and reproductive health issues. Recipients of the award receive a medal, a diploma, and a monetary prize.
History The award was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981 to recognize "outstanding contributions to population and reproductive health questions and to their solutions," and was first presented in 1983.
In 1983, the inaugural presentation of the award sparked controversy. Two $12,500 awards were given to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India and China's family planning chief Qian Xinzhong, drawing criticism. Economist Theodore W. Shultz, an agency adviser, publicly condemned the awards, alleging that they disregarded expert advice and endorsed countries with aggressive population control methods. He argued that the awards could undermine family planning efforts, citing India's history of forced sterilization and China's punitive policies. The United Nations Fund defended the awards, highlighting that China had outlawed female infanticide, and no longer faced such issues in India.
Recipients YearRecipientsCountryRef1983 Indira Gandhi Qian Xinzhong India China1984 Carmen A. Miró Sheldon J. Segal Panama United States1985 International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) International 1986 National Population Council of Mexico Mexico1987 Hussain Muhammad Ershad National Family and Population Office of Tunisia Bangladesh Tunisia1988 Shidzue Kato PROFAMILIA Japan Colombia1989 Suharto Programme national de Bien-être familial of Togo Indonesia Togo1990 Alfred Sauvy National Family Health and Population Council of Mauritius France Mauritius1991 Julia J. Henderson Centre for Population Studies and Responsible Parenthood United States Ecuador1992 J. R. D. Tata The Population Council India International 1993 Fred T. Sai Mainichi Shimbun Population Problems Research Council Ghana Japan1994 Hosni Mubarak Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundation Egypt Turkey1995 Halfdan Mahler Inter-African Committee on the Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children Denmark Intercontinental1996 Leticia Ramos Shahani Pathfinder International Philippines International 1997 Elizabeth Aguire de Calderón Sol Toshio Kuroda Mechai Viravaidya El Salvador Japan Thailand1998 Hugh H. Wynter Sabiny Elders Association Jamaica Uganda1999 Alireza Marandi National Committee for Population and Family Planning Iran Vietnam2000 Ismail Awadallah Salam Fundación Mexicana para la Planeación Familiar (MEXFAM) Egypt Mexico2001 Nafis Sadik Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning Pakistan Japan2002 Kwasi Odoi-Agyarko EngenderHealth Ghana United States2003 Werner Fornos Family Planning Association of Kenya United States Kenya2004 John C. Caldwell Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital Australia Ethiopia2005 Mercedes B. Concepcion Asociación Pro Bienestar de la Familia de Guatemala Philippines Guatemala2006 Halida Hanum Akhter Fondation Pour la Santé Reproductive et l’Education Familiale (FOSREF) Bangladesh Haiti2007 Allan Rosenfield Hossein Malek Afzali Le Comité National de Population of Algeria The National Population and Family Planning Board of Malaysia United States Iran Algeria Malaysia2008 Billie Antoinette Miller Family Care International (FCI) Barbados United States2009 Mahmoud Fathalla Movimiento Comunal Nicaragüense (MCN) Egypt Nicaragua2010 Bill Gates and Melinda Gates Asian Forum of Parliamentarians for Population and Development (AFPPD) United States Intercontinental2011 Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi Institut de Formation et de Recherche Démographique (IFORD) Iran Cameroon2012 Adrienne Germain Federation of Reproductive Health Associations United States Malaysia2013 Jotham Musinguzi International Islamic Centre for Population Studies and Research Uganda International2014 Father Aldo Marchesini Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics Italy United States2015 Thoraya Obaid African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) Saudi Arabia Kenya2016 Carmen Barroso Childbirth in Dignity Foundation Brazil Poland2017 Hans Rosling Association of Traditional Chiefs of Niger (Association des chefs traditionnels du Niger, ACTN) Sweden Niger2018 Prince Ramsey Guttmacher Institute Save a Child's Heart Antigua and Barbuda United States Israel2019 Mamadou Tangara National Peace Hut Women of Liberia Gambia Liberia2020 Queen Mother Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck HelpAge India Bhutan India2021 Commissaire Principale Hassane Haousseize Zouera General Directorate of Population of Oaxaca (DIGEPO) Niger Mexico2022 Emma Theofelus National Population and Family Planning Board Namibia Indonesia2023 Angeline Ndayishimiye African Institute for Development Policy Burundi Intercontinental2025 Varsha Deshpande International Union for the Scientific Study of Population India Intercontinental
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