| Commemoration
event during the 64th session of the
United Nations General Assembly
12
October 2009, New York, USA
Statement
by
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid
Executive Director United
Nations Population Fund
Mr.
President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I
would like to thank the President
of the General Assembly, Dr. Ali Abdussalam
Treki, for his opening remarks and
for giving me the opportunity to address
you at this special commemoration.
I would also like to thank the Secretary-General
for his unwavering support to the
ICPD Programme of Action.
Fifteen
years ago, at the International Conference
on Population and Development (ICPD),
179 governments ignited a spark of
change that continues to improve the
lives of people.
The
Programme of Action puts people at
the centre of development. It calls
for the collection and analysis of
population data to guide equitable
policy decisions. It positions reproductive
health, including family planning,
and the healthy relationships and
well-being of individuals, as a right.
It makes clear that when women are
empowered and supported to determine
the number and spacing of their children—a
decision that is seemingly simple
yet so complex – they improve
their own lives and the well-being
of their families, communities and
countries.
The
right to sexual and reproductive health
and women’s empowerment are
core to the linkages of population
and development. Reproductive choices
are central to gender equality and
can influence population dynamics.
The Cairo agenda addresses the needs
and rights of all people, irrespective
of their situations, including migrants,
refugees and displaced persons, and
it makes the connections between population,
the environment and peace, security
and development.
The
holistic Cairo consensus remains practical
and pertinent as we confront today’s
daunting challenges.
Today,
I pay tribute to governments and civil
society for their accomplishments
since the 1994 International Conference
on Population and Development and
I call on a more responsive private
sector. I pay tribute to Dr. Nafis
Sadik, former head of UNFPA, who was
the Secretary General of the Cairo
Conference. She has devoted her professional
life to promoting the rights of women
to make decisions about their own
lives. And I salute the dedicated
staff of UNFPA for their commitment
to work with governments, civil society,
and communities to implement the Programme
of Action, many times under challenging
circumstances.
During
the past 15 years, we have learned
a great deal in carrying the Cairo
consensus forward. And I would like
to share with you five lessons we
have learned that point the way ahead.
First,
we know that the aspirations in the
Cairo consensus are taking root at
the local level. Although the debate
on sexual and reproductive health
is not always easy, dialogue is expanding
and concrete progress is being made.
Today, there is growing recognition
that cultural values and interpretations
of sacred texts can either punish
or harm women or liberate and support
them. Countries and communities are
engaged in conversations and programmes
that address culturally loaded issues
such as child marriage, girls’
education, HIV prevention, female
genital mutilation/cutting and violence
against women. All over the world,
communities are progressively invoking
the values and beliefs that protect
the rights of women and young people
and bringing about change from within.
We witness a growing number of men
of all walks of life standing side
by side with women to end traditional
practices that harm women as well
as to end violence against women.
And here I would like to thank the
Secretary-General’s leadership
for his campaign “UNiTE to end
violence against women”.
Second,
we know that investment is critical.
While we keep repeating that no woman
should die giving life, women continue
to die needlessly during pregnancy
and childbirth from preventable causes,
one woman during every minute of my
statement. The good news is that momentum
for maternal health is building, there
is growing commitment at the highest
levels and now we need to match this
commitment with increased funding
for a comprehensive package of maternal
and reproductive health services to
achieve MDG5.
In
war or peace, in natural or man-made
disasters, in a prosperous economy
or during a financial crisis, women
continue to get pregnant and what
happens after that depends on whether
they are rich or poor: they give birth,
or they sometimes seek abortion, safely
and legally or unsafely outside national
laws; they sometimes miscarry and,
too often, they die while giving birth
from preventable causes. We cannot
change or postpone these facts of
life until the war ends, or until
communities have recovered from the
disaster or until the economy is strong
again.
During
this decade, funding for population
and reproductive health has remained
at the same level while funding for
other areas of health has increased
substantially. Today, I call on all
governments to make the health and
reproductive rights of women a financial
priority. By ensuring universal access
to reproductive health, including
family planning, to all, rich or poor,
women can manage the number and spacing
of their pregnancies. This will accelerate
progress to achieve all of the Millennium
Development Goals, particularly MDG
1 to end extreme poverty.
Third,
we know that today’s demographic
challenges are unprecedented and demand
coherent policy responses. Population
data, if properly analyzed and utilized,
provide a solid foundation for developing
responsive policies and programmes,
and for monitoring and ensuring accountability.
The 2010 round of censuses provides
much needed data, and surveys and
rapid assessments guide us to target
responses to the most vulnerable.
While
we welcome the world’s largest
youth population, we experience at
the same time an increase in the number
of older persons worldwide. Governments
are responsible to provide support
simultaneously to both old and young
in a challenging development context.
I call upon you to take this opportunity
to foster intergenerational solidarity.
While
we witness rapid population growth
in the world’s poorest nations,
some of the world’s richest
countries face population decline.
To address both scenarios, women and
couples need expanded choices when
it comes to childbearing and childrearing.
In
the poorest countries with high rates
of fertility and mortality, intensified
efforts are needed to provide reproductive
health services, including family
planning, to meet the unmet need of
the 200 million women who want to
plan their families but do not have
the means to do so. In countries with
low fertility, specific policies and
programmes are needed so women and
couples can balance work and family
life and there is social protection
for the ageing. There is preliminary
evidence in several Nordic countries
that after a certain point of development,
especially development that benefits
women and supports them with family
friendly policies and services, fertility
rises again. This shows once again
the direct link between economic and
social development, poverty reduction,
women’s empowerment, gender
equality and population dynamics.
Fourth,
we know that working in silos does
not produce maximum benefits because
people’s lives, needs and rights
are intertwined. To generate greater
progress, development partners are
increasingly working together across
sectors to build national capacity,
engage communities and strengthen
national systems. The United Nations
is harmonizing its support to countries
to increase national ownership and
scale up national programmes. United
Nations reform for development effectiveness
is critical to achieve better results
on the ground.
And
my fifth and last point is that we
know that hard-won development gains
can easily be reversed and very difficult
to regain and we must take urgent
and concerted action to protect the
most vulnerable. Today, women and
their children constitute almost 80
per cent of the world’s poor.
As world leaders take decisions about
the financial, energy, food, and climate
change crises, they must focus on
their impact on the poor and especially
women and children. If not, women
and children will bear the brunt of
these multiple crises and society
as a whole will be diminished. This
is an important message to carry forward
to the Climate Change Conference in
Copenhagen.
Our
challenge is to summon the courage
and wisdom to respond to these crises
and to foster development that is
both socially equitable and environmentally
sound. For this, the ICPD Programme
of Action remains a valid blueprint.
As
we look forward to 2015, we need to
accelerate implementation of the ICPD
Programme of Action. As we commemorate
the 15th anniversary and look forward
to the next five years, development
partners at the global, regional and
country levels are reaffirming their
commitment.
In
September, almost 400 representatives
of non-governmental organizations
(NGOs0 , a third of them young people,
came from 130 countries to the NGO
Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Health
and Development. In the Berlin Call
to Action, they called on governments
to accelerate the implementation of
the promises made in Cairo, including
the provision of youth friendly services
and comprehensive sexuality and life
skills education. This would allow
young people to to make informed decisions
and take responsible action because
ignorance is death. They urged governments
to strengthen their commitment to
sexual and reproductive health and
rights for all. As NGOs, they pledged
to work in partnership with governments,
United Nations agencies and other
development partners to ensure the
full and timely implementation of
the ICPD Programme of Action.
Now
we are looking forward this month
to many events: a conference on sexual
and reproductive health for Asia and
the Pacific in Beijing, followed by
the Board meeting of Partners for
Population and Development, and a
ministerial meeting on maternal health
and an international parliamentary
conference, both in Addis Ababa, to
galvanize greater commitment and action.
Excellencies,
As
we move forward, my colleagues and
I at UNFPA will continue to listen
to you. We will continue to work with
your national institutions and with
civil society. And we will continue
to support you to implement your national
progammes, as envisioned in the ICPD
Programme of Action.
In
this, we are guided by passion for
the agenda, compassion for the people
we serve and commitment to national
ownership by governments and communities.
I
thank you all for putting people first.
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