SI UN Representative Lois Beilin reports back from the Commission on Population and Development, taking place in New York this week.
The Commission on Population and
Development meeting at the United Nations in New York, April 23
– 27 has refocused attention on the International Conference for Population and
Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994. The Plan for Action
adopted by acclamation in Cairo emphasised the numerous connections between population and
development and focused on empowering women, providing them with more
choice through expanded access to education, health services and skill
development and employment.
What does the Cairo Plan for Action say?
The Empowerment of Women (chapter IV A):
The empowerment of women
and
improvement of their status are important ends in themselves and
are essential for the achievement of sustainable development. The
objectives are: to achieve equality and equity between men and
women and enable women to realize their full potential; to
involve women fully in policy and decision-making processes and
in all aspects of economic, political and cultural life as active
decision-makers, participants and beneficiaries; and to ensure
that all women, as well as men, receive the education required to
meet their basic human needs and to exercise their human rights.
The Empowerment of the Girl Child (chapter IV B):
The objectives are to eliminate all forms
of
discrimination against the girl child, to eliminate the root
causes of son preference, to increase public awareness of the
value of the girl child and to strengthen her self-esteem. To
these ends, leaders at all levels of society should speak out and
act forcefully against gender discrimination within the family
based on preference for sons.
Reproductive rights and reproductive health (chapter VII A):
Reproductive
health is a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system and
to its functions and processes. It implies that people have the
capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and
how often to do so. Implicit in this is the right of men and
women to be informed and to have access to safe, effective,
affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their
choice, as well as other methods of their choice for regulation
of fertility, which are not against the law, and the right of
access to health-care services that will enable women to go
safely through pregnancy and childbirth. Reproductive health care
also includes sexual health, the purpose of which is the
enhancement of life and personal relations.
Reproductive rights embrace certain human rights that are already
recognized in national laws, international human rights documents
and other relevant UN consensus documents. These rights rest on
the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals
to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing
of their children and to have the information and means to do so,
and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and
reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make
decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination,
coercion and violence.
Family Planning (chaper VII B):
Actions are recommended to help couples
and
individuals meet their reproductive goals; to prevent unwanted
pregnancies and reduce the incidence of high-risk pregnancies and
morbidity and mortality; to make quality services affordable,
acceptable and accessible to all who need and want them; to
improve the quality of advice, information, education,
communication, counselling and services; to increase the
participation and sharing of responsibility of men in the actual
practice of family planning; and to promote breast-feeding to
enhance birth spacing. The text emphasizes that Governments and
the international community should use the full means at their
disposal to support the principle of voluntary choice in family
planning.
The Cairo ICPD plan for action was invoked
repeatedly at the UN Commission on Population and Development meetings this week as unprecedented and forward looking – and as a
plan which is more relevant and critical than ever before. The most current population trends cited are
startling and call for strong action by the United Nations, civil society and
parliamentarians.
The number of adolescents and young persons
aged 12 – 24 years is at an all time high, comprising nearly 25% of the global population. In most areas of the world this phenomenal growth will decline naturally. However,
in Sub Saharan Africa this age group of youth is expected to reach 41% by 2100. This
would have enormous implications for Africa and the world for sustainable development and the future lives of youth
and adolescents.
For most areas of the world, fertility and
mortality continue to decline. With
appropriate planning and policy for population and development, the youth of
the world, including African youth, can look forward to healthy and productive
lives in which they can fulfill their aspirations and dreams. How is this achieved and what are the
parameters of such policies?
- Education without reproductive health services and health
services without education will not succeed. We need both. - Reproductive and family planning must be rights based, gender focused, comprehensive and integrated into other services.
What are the results of such policies and programmes?
- Policies lead to a reduction in the average number of sexual partners and fewer abortions.
- Prevents early pregnancies which lowers infant and maternal mortality rates.
- Leads to a reduction in the rates of sexually transmitted diseases.
- Family planning lowers fertility rates bring greater economic, social and
physical security for all youth, particularly young women and girls.
It is vital that Soroptimists continue to campaign and support a rights based approach to sexual and reproductive health. Click here to read the Where We Stand statement on Safe Motherhood which covers reproductive healthcare and family planning.