| Second
Regular Session of the Executive Board
of the UNDP and the UNFPA
08-11
September 2009, UN Headquarters, New
York, USA
Statement
by
Mr. Jyoti Shankar Singh
Permanent Observer to the
United Nations
Mr
President,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Thank
you for giving me this opportunity
to say a few words on behalf of the
Partners in Population and Development
(PPD).
The
Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA meets
this week on the occasion of the 15th
anniversary of the International Conference
on Population and Development (ICPD).
As you may recall, the ICPD meeting
in Cairo, Egypt from 5 to 13 September
1994, adopted by consensus a Programme
of Action with a set of clearly defined
goals and objectives in reproductive
health, reproductive rights and women’s
empowerment that have guided and helped
reshape the major policies and programmes
in the field of population and development
undertaken by national governments,
civil society organizations and the
international community. The strategic
plans and programme priorities of
UNFPA, which serves as the focal point
within the UN system for implementation
of the ICPD Programme of Action, have
been fully based on these goals and
objectives.
The
Partners in Population and Development
(PPD) also celebrates its 15th anniversary
this year. It was on 9 September 1994,
during the ICPD, that Minister Haryono
Suyono of Indonesia announced at a
press conference the launching of
PPD as an intergovernmental initiative
aimed at promoting and supporting
South-South cooperation in population
and development. Initially, PPD had
10 member countries; now there are
24. With limited resources, PPD has
undertaken a variety of programmes
and activities aimed at capacity-building
and interchange of information, experiences
and expertise among developing countries
on population and development. At
its forthcoming annual Board meeting
in Beijing, China, PPD will celebrate
its own 15th anniversary.
There
is much to celebrate on this occasion.
The conceptual framework of reproductive
health, including family planning,
has been accepted by developing countries
around the world. Globally, infant
and child mortality has declined,
primary education, particularly for
girls, covers a vast majority of children
(though it is not yet universal),
and the use of contraceptives has
risen significantly, opening up more
choices and opportunities for women.
On
the other hand, we need to note the
sad reality that maternal mortality
has shown no decline; family planning
information and services are still
not available or accessible to large
numbers of couples and individuals,
particularly in the least developed
countries and Sub-Saharan Africa;
and the scourge of HIV/AIDS has devoured
millions of lives, seriously affecting
the prospects for economic and social
development in many countries. New
Challenges and crises (violence against
women, migration, refugees, and aging)
require new thinking and determined
action.
Though
an increasing number of developing
countries have increased their support
for reproductive health and population
activities, international assistance
lags far behind in meeting ‘the
unmet need’. Recent estimates
for population assistance, produced
by UNFPA, which for the first time
include maternal health, have more
than doubled the estimates accepted
by the ICPD; and it is not at all
clear how the revised estimates are
to be met.
We
applaud the tremendous work done by
UNFPA towards implementing the ICPD
Programme of Action, which, since
the year 2000, has been placed within
the broader framework of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).We applaud
its vision and its leadership. And
we share the hope that the 15th anniversary
of ICPD will give us all the opportunity
to reflect on what remains to be accomplished
in the next 5 years, and
how resources- human, technical and
financial- can be marshalled to meet
the goals and objectives accepted
by governments, NGOs and the international
community. We, in PPD, are committed
to contributing our share to this
great endeavour.
Thank
you
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