This week’s SoroptiVoice blog comes from SI Assistant Programme Director Anusha Santhirasthipam. She has just returned from the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development Conference, which concluded on June 22nd. Whilst the events of last week are still fresh in her mind, she reflects on why sexual and reproductive health care is considered to be an essential part of sustainable development, as well as covering some of the other major developments.
In answer to the title, the answer women’s groups at the Rio+20 conference was "Everything", because we know
how closely linked reproductive health is to issues ranging from maternal health, poverty and
food security to climate change and beyond. This message was precisely what
women’s organisations brought to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.
Currently, there are more
than 7 billion people on the planet, and the United Nations predicts that
number will reach 9.3 billion by midcentury. Much of the population growth will
be in developing countries where reproductive rights are sorely lacking, which
also happen to be areas that are highly vulnerable to climate change. An unstable climate
coupled with a lack of reproductive rights threatens future generations and
puts countless lives at stake.
According to the U.N.
Population Fund, around 215 million women, or one in six women of reproductive
age, want to delay or cease having children yet do not have access to safe, effective and affordable
contraception. Subsequently, about 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned. The UN suggest that if
all women had access to effective contraception, one in three deaths related to
pregnancy and childbirth could be prevented.
“The only way to respond to increasing
human numbers and dwindling resources is through the empowerment of women,”
said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway and
former director-general of the World Health Organisation. “It is through giving
women access to education, knowledge, to paid income, independence and of
course access to reproductive health services, reproductive rights, access to
family planning…”.
Women leaders have been sending a powerful
message to the world at large that sustainable development is not just about deforestation,
climate change and carbon emissions. Equally as important to sustainable
development are gender equality and human rights, which include reproductive
rights and healthcare.
But the reality is that globally, 215
million women who want to avoid pregnancy are not using effective methods of contraception.
More than two out of five pregnancies are unplanned. Many countries in
the world still do not ensure that women have access to full reproductive
rights and health.
SISWP Federation Project “Birthing in the
Pacific” which has since been embraced by SI as the SI President’s December 10th
Appeal was rolled out in response to the dire need for safe birthing and
maternal health in Papua New Guinea. There are several other countries in Asia and Africa with high statistics for
mortality of mothers and babies due to lack of reproductive healthcare.
Twenty years ago, the Rio earth summit saw unanimous
agreement that sustainable development cannot be realised without gender
equality. Yet, the Rio+20 outcome document agreed upon by all Governments saw severe
compromises, with references to women’s reproductive rights and gender equality being scrapped.
The Rio+20 outcome document did affirm women’s
rights and gender equality in several key sections. For example, green economy,
food security and sustainable production, just to name a few. However, in
several other areas, we saw backsliding. The declaration has many weaknesses,
but there are key passages on women as central partners in decision-making.
This is better than what was attained in Rio twenty years ago.
It’s clear that
reproductive rights are essential to improve health outcomes and to allow for
the full participation of women in our economies. Furthermore, women’s vital
role in sustainable development has long been recognized. The 1992 Rio Declaration, coming out of the U.N. Conference on Environment and
Development, acknowledged the need for the inclusion of women to meet the
sustainable development goals. Principle 20 of the declaration states:
"Women have a vital role in
environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore
essential to achieve sustainable development."
Likewise, in 1995 the Beijing Declaration from the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference
on Women underscored that economic development and social development that
empowers women and environmental protection are “interdependent and mutually
reinforcing components of sustainable development.”
Another area of major
discontent was regarding women’s rights to ownership of land, property and
inheritance. Instead of the earlier language that would ensure “rights to own
property, inheritance, credit, and to financial and extension services,” which
came from the Beijing forum, the Rio+20 outcome text only calls for legislation
to include “access to ownership and
control over land and other forms of property, credit, inheritance, natural
resources, and appropriate new technology.” Legally speaking, there is a
significant difference between rights to own property,
inheritance, and credit and the granting of rights to have access to
these resources.
Land rights for women are
of critical significance for sustainable development. If women had the same
access to resources, farm yields could increase from 20 percent to 30
percent, which would feed 100 million to 150 million people. At the moment, only 10 – 20 percent of women in developing countries have land rights. In
addition, women hold fewer assets and face more barriers attaining
credit. Women’s empowerment is critical in transitioning to sustainable agricultural practices that can
manage the sector’s large greenhouse gas contributions and ensure food
security.
Women’s equality is integral to success. Policymakers at Rio had an
opportunity to steer the future toward a more inclusive and prosperous economy
for all but left Rio with the glass “half full”.
Although it is too late for any Government
or stakeholder group to ask for the text to be reopened or revised or tweaked,
women’s organisations, like Soroptimist International can do much in the aftermath of Rio+20 to
educate, empower and enable women and girls to pursue their rights for
sustainable living.
Women heads of state and government
gathered at the Rio+20 women leader’s summit remained undaunted, and placated
women’s organisations in attendance by pledging that the document they signed
would not be lost in the “forest of declarations on gender issues”. They urged
governments, civil society and the private sector to prioritise gender equality
and women’s empowerment in their sustainable development efforts.
“We know from research that advancing
gender equality is not just good for women, it is good for all of us. When
women enjoy equal rights and opportunities, poverty, hunger and poor health
decline and economic growth rises,” said Michelle Bachelet, executive director
of U.N. Women.
You can read more about Soroptimist International at Rio+20 here:
Rio+20 News: Will Actions Speak Louder than Words?