New York, 18 May 2023 - Today, UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, recognized and thanked Catarina Furtado for her extraordinary contributions during 23 years of service as a Goodwill Ambassador, fighting for the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls worldwide.
"For more than two decades, Catarina has been a tireless advocate of UNFPA and a global champion of women and girls," said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. "We thank her for her enthusiasm, dedication and compassion, and for the enormous impact of her efforts on the people we serve."
As one of Portugal's best-known media personalities, Catarina has used her platform to tell the stories of women and girls to global audiences. Since being appointed a Goodwill Ambassador in 2000, she has traveled to UNFPA programmes in over 10 countries to shine a light on the fundamental needs and rights of women and girls. She has witnessed what antenatal checkups are like for women in rural Haiti, learned about the contraceptive options available to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, sat in on sexuality education classes for teenagers in India and talked to child marriage survivors in Mozambique.
"It's been an honour and a privilege for me to spend the last twenty-three years with UNFPA. Its mandate runs in my veins, and the women it serves are my sisters, mothers and daughters. Their stories and rights are my motivation," said Ms. Furtado. "From the domestic violence survivors in Timor-Leste to the the survivors of female genital mutilation in Guinea-Bissau, the UNFPA programmes I have visited fill me confidence and hope, because I have seen the incredible work that UNFPA's teams do, and that it is being driven by powerful, independent women and girls!"
Since 2006, Catarina's television documentary series, Príncipes do Nada, has introduced audiences to issues ranging from maternal health to adolescent pregnancy. And for the past 10 years, her organization, Corações Com Coroa, has worked to prevent gender-based violence and empower girls and women in Portugal.
She received the award after speaking at a meeting for UNFPA's global leadership in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
