As the Rio+20 Earth Summit is held this month we can read and hear lots about
‘sustainable development’ from different perspectives. But how many of us can actually relate to
this terminology and know about the importance of discussions held in Rio to human
existence on our planet? SIE
Programme Director Ulrike Neubert shares her views in this week’s SoroptiVoice
blog.
The Rio Declaration
(Principle 1, UN 1992) states “Human beings are at the centre of concerns for
sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in
harmony with nature”. ‘Sustainable development’ has been
defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our
Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report (which is a very
enriching document to read):
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:
1.
the concept of needs, in
particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding
priority should be given; and
2.
the idea of limitations
imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the
environment’s ability to meet present and future needs."
The 2012 Earth summit addresses 7 critical
issues of our environment today: Disasters, Oceans, Water, Food, Cities, Energy
and Jobs. In a world which has just
crossed the 7 Billion margin and has an anticipated population growth of 8-11
billion by 2050 these issues cannot be tackled without addressing population
dynamics.
Population growth will not occur evenly but is highest where poverty
is highest, and education level is lowest. A major challenge especially in
developing countries is the rapidly increasing tide of young people, who have
high expectations and limited opportunities. Globally there are 1.2 Billion
young people aged 15-24 years, who want to start families and enter into the
labor market. If not given the chance
for a decent life, these masses of young people without much hope for the
future can pose a serious threat to social and political stability.
A global expert panel advises to ‘Invest in
human capital—people’s education and health, including reproductive health—to
slow population growth, accelerate the transition to green technologies, and
improve people’s adaptive capacity to environmental change’. Hence, ensuring
appropriate investment in young people—which must begin in early childhood when
the seeds of future development are planted—must be an essential component to
promote global sustainable development’ (Laxenburg declaration on population
and sustainable development, 2011).
UNFPA among other population agencies is
therefore stressing the importance for women to have
the freedom to make informed choices about when to have children, how many to
have and to have the means to do so. However, to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals’ target of ensuring universal access to reproductive health,
at least 215 million women still have an unmet need for family planning.
Governments are therefore urged to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals on health, education and the empowerment of women. ‘Ensuring
universal access to health care services, including sexual and reproductive
health and family planning, and expanding education beyond the primary level
contribute not only to reducing infant, child and maternal mortality and to
controlling the spread of communicable diseases, but also empower women, lead
to lower fertility and promote human development and wellbeing.’ (Joint Submission by the United
Nations Population Fund and the Population Division of the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs Oct 2011).
As my
daily work is in the field of empowerment of young people and especially young
women, I am confronted with many different scenarios where women and girls
don’t have sexual reproductive health choices. Just one example: The young
rural girl in Ethiopia, who is married at the age of 13,
has her first child at 14, develops fistula and is thrown out of her marital
home. After a fistula operation and basic vocational training in tailoring she
becomes a peer educator and change agent in her community helping other girls not
to fall into the same trap.
As Soroptimists we have many opportunities to address ‘sustainable
development’ through advocacy and action. Our long term theme ‘educate to lead’
as well as the 3 E’s – ‘educate, empower, enable’ can easily be linked to ‘population
matters’. Just to mention a few:
We can lobby with our Governments to invest
adequately in family planning, health care services and the inclusion of
reproductive health education into the school curricula.
We can empower women and girls with life skills
training to develop their self esteem and self assertiveness, which enables
them to know and defend their rights.
We can enable women and girls to look after
themselves and their health needs by giving them the opportunity to earn their
own income.
And we can ensure that education of girls
is prolonged to secondary and tertiary level when they can make informed
choices on their priorities in life.
Resources:
http://www.un.org/en/sustainablefuture/index.shtml
Brundlandt report: http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm
Laxenburg declaration: http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/POP/Laxenburg%20Declaration%20on%20Population%20%20Development_final_logos%20.pdf
Joint submission http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/Rio_20/Joint_submission_UNFPA_Pop_Division_DESA_to_compilationdoc_Rio%2020.pdf