16 February, 1994 Dear Dr. Luthra, On behalf of the IYF Coordinator, I would like to acknowledge, with thanks, receipt of your letter to him of 9 February 1994. We are very pleased to learn that you have established close contacts with Dr. Belsey of WHO and have made good progress on your plans and activities on health and status of women in developing countries, as a specific contribution to the International Year of the Family. The IYF Coordinator and his Secretariat will continue to be of assistance whenever possible. As regards the proposed dates for the conference on the Year, kindly note that a major international event is planned to be held in Montreal from 12 to 15 October, held in cooperation with the IYF Secretariat, and on 18 October the General Assembly is scheduled to hold a special conference on families. I am attaching, by fax, relevant pages of the Calendar of events related to the Year, which you may find useful in your planning. A copy of the Calendar is sent by mail. I look forward to our continued and mutual beneficial cooperation. With best wishes, Yours sincerely, George Puthuppally Social Affairs OfficerRead More

12 October, 2002 Mr. Paul Hoeffel Chief, NGO Section United Nations New York, NY 10017 Dear Sir: Please accept this letter of recommendation for the Women’s Health and Education Center of Springfield, Massachusetts. I have met with Dr. Rita Luthra on several occasions and understand the mission of the Center. It is my judgment that the Center is well qualified to be an accredited NGO to the DPI of the United Nations. Dr. Luthra has attended and participated in meetings of the UNA/USA and the Connecticut Division of our national organization. The Center is developing a useful and ambitious worldwide ob/gyn information system. If you have any questions, I would be pleased to respond. Sincerely, Irving Stolberg President, Connecticut Division UNA/USARead More

Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 25 August 2005 Dear Dr. Luthra, This is to acknowledge with many thanks the receipt of your letter dated 15 August 2005 with an interesting article on “Safe Motherhood: A Matter of Human Rights and Social Justice”, which we have also forwarded to Ms. Thelma Kay, Chief of Emerging Social Issues Division, for her information. With best regards, Yours Sincerely, David Lazarus Chief United Nations Information ServicesRead More

29 July 2005 Dear Dr. Luthra, I have great pleasure in enclosing two advance copies of the UN Chronicle issue just published (No.2, 2005), in which we are privileged to include your article on “Safe Motherhood: A Matter of Human Rights and Social Justice“. The article will also appear in the UN Chronicle Online (www.un.org/chronicle), which is updated frequently. Please let us know if you need additional copies. Thank you very much for your contribution. With kind regards, Sincerely yours, Russell Taylor Senior Editor, UN Chronicle Educational Outreach Section, CSS/OD/DPl United Nations, Room L-172 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel. (212) 963-4763; E-mail: taylor3@un.orgRead More

Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Psychiatry Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT (USA) Dr. Philip M. Sarrel, MD is currently Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. He was appointed to the Yale faculty in 1969 and has remained at Yale throughout his career, rising to the rank of Full Professor in 1988. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in New York, Dr. Sarrel completed his internship at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Yale-New Haven Medical Center in New Haven. Following his appointment to the Yale faculty in 1969, along with Lorna Sarrel, he founded the Yale Sex Counseling Service. In 1971, he and Mrs. Sarrel were trained in sex therapy by William Masters and Virginia Johnson and in 1975-1976; Dr. Sarrel received a Macy Foundation Faculty Scholar Award for one year at Oxford University in England, where he worked with John Bancroft in the Department of Psychiatry. In 1976, Dr. Sarrel started the Yale Menopause Program and in 1982-1983, he devoted a sabbatical year to the study of the menopause working with Dr. Malcolm Whitehead at the Kings College Hospital in London. He was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 1988 at Yale. In 1989-1990 his appointment in Cardiac Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute in London enabled a year of cardiology research into the effects of ovarian hormones on arterial function. Also in 1990, Dr. Sarrel began his tenure as Co-Director of the Yale Neuro-Gynecology Clinic, which continues today. In the 1996-1997 academic year, an appointment as Visiting Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York enabled a study year devoted to understanding the actions of androgens. He has served as a Consultant to the Center for Alternative Medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, NY, since 1997. He has also served as a Consultant to the Center for Alternative Medicine at Yale-Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut since 1998, and since 2000 has been Attending Consultant in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Yale-Griffin Hospital. At Yale, Dr. Sarrel has been Co-Director of the Sex Counseling Service since 1969 and Director of the Mid-life Study Program since 1984. Dr. Sarrel is the author or co-author of over 200 medical articles and chapters for medical texts and is also the co-author of six textbooks related to menopause and to understanding sexual behavior and response. He has been the recipient of four research grants from the National Institutes of Health as well as many other research grants from foundations and the pharmaceutical industry. His research during the past 17 years has focused on studies of arterial effects of hormones and issues related to sex and aging. He is currently involved in studies of dietary interventions, and SERMs and phytoestrogens and their effects on endothelial cell function. He was one of the co-investigators of the Women’s Estrogen for Stroke Prevention Trial funded by the National Institutes of Neurological Disease and Stroke. Dr. Sarrel is currently the editor of MATURITAS, the journal of the International Menopause Society; Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society; the Journal of Sex Research; the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy; and the Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine. He is also a manuscript reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Endocrine Reviews, Cardiovascular Research, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and the American Journal of Cardiology.Read More

Office at the United Nations, New York 2 UN Plaza, DC2-2060 New York, New York 100 17 Tel: 212-963-6387, Fax: 212-371-9454 http://www.ony.unu.edu 7 December 2005 Dear Ms. Luthra, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your letter regarding your e-learning publication dated September 12th 2005 and apologize for not having written you earlier. I read the articles that you sent me with great interest. I will pass them on to my colleague Birgit Poniatowski in Tokyo who responsible for Gender issues with UNU and to Mr. Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis, Programme Director, UNU- WIDER in I-Ielsinki, who is currently developing a projecton ‘Food Security and Gender’ with much attention dedicated to health. I hope this is useful. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further question that you might have. As you say, let us stay in touch. With kind regards Jean – Marc CoicaudRead More

MARIO PRETI born in Arona (Italy) June 5th 1960. Specialization in Gynecology and Obstetrics in 1990 at the University of Turin, Italy. Specialization in Medical Oncology in 1994 at the University of Turin. From 1992 Assistant then, up to now, Deputy Director at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, University of Turin-St. Anna Hospital (the second greatest Gynecological Hospital in Europe). Head of Urodynamic Unit of the Department of Gynecology. Regional Referent for diagnosis and treatment of lower genital tract neoplasia In the Colposcopy Unit at the same Department. Doctor Mario Preti belongs to the Faculty of the Specialization School in Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Turin since 1992 and of the School of Midwifery since 1986. At present he is holding a course on “Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Female Genital Tract Neoplasms” and a course on “Surgical operation in Obstetrics”. Fellow of the ISSVD (International Society for the Study of Vulvo-vaginal disease) from 1990. He is Chair of the Oncological Committee on Superficially invasive carcinoma. Founding Member of the Italian Interdisciplinary Society of Vulvology (SIIV), Assistant Secretary from the foundation in 1996 up to 2004, and then Treasurer. Fellow of the Italian Society of Colposcopy and Cervico-Vaginal Pathology (SICPCV) since 1985. He is member of the Scientific Committee since 1998 and he is National Referent for Vulvar Pathology. Member of Scientific Committee of IFCP (International Federation of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology) since 2005. Doctor Mario Preti has participated as invited speaker to 25 International Congresses on vulvar and cervico-vaginal diseases. He published more than 200 scientific papers. Some of them have been published on International Journals: British Journal of Dermatology, British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cancer, Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Journal Lower Genital Tract Disease, Journal of Surgical Oncology, The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology (in press). As attested by his scientific publications doctor Mario Preti collaborates with: European Institute of Oncology (Milan Italy), National Cancer Institute (Milan, Italy), Regional Cancer Center (Aviano, Italy), National Cancer Institute Regina Elena (Rome, Italy), Department of Gynecology University of Bologna (Bologna Italy), Department of Pathology University of Gainesville (Florida, USA), Department of Gynecology, Academic Medical Center/NKI-AvL, Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Erasmus University M.C., Rotterdam, (The Netherlands), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Centre Hospitalier de Creteil, (France).Read More

Dr. Sibai is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. His academic leadership and contributions to research, in the dissection of the hypertensive diseases of pregnancy and other basic problems associated with obstetrics and gynecology, has awarded him national and international recognition in the field of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, particularly in the area of hypertension in pregnancy. His contributions have organized the treatment plans of many physicians. Dr. Sibai’s international notoriety in preeclampsia and eclampsia evolved as a result of his authorship or co-authorship of over 350 peer-reviewed publications in national and internationally circulated publications. Dr. Baha M. Sibai Professor and Chairman Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology University of Cincinnati 231 Albert Sabin Way Cincinnati, OH 45267 E-mail: baha.sibai@uc.eduRead More

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION NGO Resource Centre, Room L 1B31, United Nations, New York, NY 10017 January 9, 2004 Rita Luthra, MD Women’s Health and Education Center 300 Stafford St. Suite 265 Springfield,MA 01104 Dear Dr. Luthra, We received your check for $1,000 and cannot thank you enough for your extremely generous contribution. On behalf of the NGO/DPI Executive Committee, I want to say that the mission of your Organization is devoted to something so important and vital that we are truly proud to represent you as an affiliate of the NGO community. I would like to visit you sometime and see your Center. Perhaps we can arrange something in the future. In the meantime, I thank you again for your wonderful contribution. It will go a long way towards funding our outreach projects. If you are planning on attending the next Annual DPI/NGO Conference in September 2004, I look forward to talking with you. With Warm Regards, Joan Levy, Chair NGO/DPI Executive CommitteeRead More

As principal of International Solutions for the past six years, Irving Stolberg has served as a democracy advisor to numerous governments around the world, principally in Central and Eastern Europe. He has done work in more than 90 countries throughout the world. His work has encompassed parliamentary structure and process, rules and multi-party staffing, governmental decentralization, ethics, environment, conflict resolution, Constitution revision, and election monitoring. In 1995. he was appointed by President Clinton to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of American Heritage Abroad. On the Commission, he has had the lead responsibility for relations with Slovakia, Moldova, and Ukraine. He was re-appointed to the Commission in 1998 and in 2002 by President Bush. He has consulted in Bulgaria on numerous occasions. Under the auspices of Bulgarian Television and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences he has participated in sessions on political and economic reform. He has served as an election monitor there with the National Democratic Institute. He has also monitored elections in East Germany, Slovakia and Nicaragua. In the early 1990’s he consulted with Polish leaders on political transition and human rights. In the Czech Republic he has participated in sessions on participitory democracy and was invited by the Czech government as a special guest for the 50th Anniversary celebrations of VE Day. For AID he has done training sessions for Mayors and other local government leaders in Slovakia. Since 1999 he has worked extensively in China, developing training programs for public officials and leading delegations to China on behalf of the United Nations Association. He is the president of the Connecticut Division of the United Nations Association. In early 1998, there were four chapters within the Connecticut Division. Energizing the division’s outreach, Stolberg has generated four active new chapters, to make Connecticut a dynamic Division of the UNA-USA. In 1999 he was elected to the UNA national Board of Directors. Stolberg served for 22 years in the Connecticut House of Representatives, including two terms as Speaker of the House and one as House Minority Leader. He served on all major committees of the General Assembly, and chaired several of them, including Human Services, Intern, Legislative Management and Finance. He also served on the State Bond Commission. As president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, he held the highest state legislative office in the land. Mr. Stolberg has a B.A. in International Relations from UCLA; an M.A. and completed course work and exams for a Ph.D. in Geography and African Studies from Boston University; and a Juris. Dr. Hon. from the University of Hartford. He has written articles for the Encyclopaedia Britannica and other publications. He has received scores of awards and honors and is cited in Who’s Who in America and other publications. Stolberg has been a delegate to six democratic National Conventions and for several years was a member of the Democratic National Committee.Read More