The Fine Gael MEP Ms Mary Banotti has been appointed Ireland's Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Population Fund, the agency which assists developing countries with reproductive health and planning.
Ms Banotti's first function will be the Day of Six Billion in Dublin today, where she will also act as the spokeswoman for the agency's Face to Face campaign.
A former nurse who worked in Africa in the 1960s and a campaigner for the protection of children, Ms Banotti said she had personal experience of the suffering caused by a lack of reproductive rights.
"We still face a situation where 350 million women worldwide do not have access to modern family planning methods, which means they have no control over the number of children they have," Ms Banotti told a UN press conference yesterday.
As goodwill ambassador, she will campaign to increase awareness about funding for reproductive health care and education. Working with the Irish Family Planning Association, Ms Banotti will also promote the Face to Face campaign to address the rights of women and youth.
The developing world could learn from Ireland's own experience given the nation's recent turbulent past on reproductive issues, Ms Banotti said. "Ireland does have a lot to offer developing countries. But since we came fairly recently past the stage where it was illegal to have contraceptives in Ireland, we will have a particularly unique experience to bring," she said.
UN officials said Ireland has already increased its contributions to the UNFPA programmes from $300,000 in 1998 to $350,000 this year.
The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, arrived in Sarajevo yesterday for a two-day visit to greet the six billionth person in the world to be born in the Bosnian capital. "It is going to be the first baby born after midnight," a UN spokesman, Mr Douglas Coffman, said. The move is symbolic of the rebirth of peace in a city where women gave birth to the thunderous sound of shells during the 43-month siege of Sarajevo.