| National
South-South Support Structure Workshop
23
April 2009, Bangkok, Thailand
Statement
by
Mr. Harry S. Jooseery
Executive Director, PPD
Mr.
Narongsakdi Aungkasuvapala, the Director
General, Department of Health, Ministry
of Public Health of the Royal Thai
Government, Member PPD Board
Mr, Najib Assifi, Deputy Regional
Director, Asia and Pacific Regional
Office of UNFPA & Representative,
UNFPA Thailand
Dr.
Kittipong Saejeng, PCC & Director,
Reproductive Health Division, Department
of Health
Honorable Director General,
Distinguished Participants, Ladies
and Gentlemen: First of all,
I wish to express my appreciation
and thanks to the Director General,
Department of Health, and to the Ministry
of Public Health of the Royal Thai
Government for hosting this event
and inviting me to be part of it.
I also wish to thank them for the
warm hospitality accorded to me and
my colleague. I would also like to
thank Mr. Najib Assifi, Deputy Regional
Director, Asia and Pacific Regional
Office of UNFPA & Representative,
UNFPA Thailand for sparing his precious
time to be with us despite his very
busy schedule. I also like to thank
him and UNFPA for the technical and
financial support provided to PPD
for organizing different events. PPD
and UNFPA are like sister organizations
and we enjoy very privileged relationship.
The UNFPA office in Thailand has always
been supportive to PPD and has sponsored
our Board Member and Senior officials
from the Government to our governance
meetings and related events for years.
This year our Board Meeting will be
held on 19th of October in Beijing,
China and will also coincide with
the 5th Asia Pacific Conference on
Sexual and Reproductive Health and
Rights, for which we will once again
seek assistance from UNFPA country
office. Mr. Assifi, thank you once
again for your support.
I am pleased to welcome you all at
the opening of this National South-South
Workshop jointly organized by the
Ministry of Public Health of the Royal
Thai Government and PPD. It is also
a great pleasure to be in the vibrant
city of Bangkok. We are about to start
a discussion that is of the utmost
importance to Asia, but also to Africa
and the world.
Your
presence in this very important workshop
comes at a propitious time, representing
as we do blocks of nations from the
South. Today, the South holds a vast
store of knowledge and experience
that has been accumulated through
years of experimentation and investment
in governance and economic reform,
education and healthcare, experiences
which have yielded rich dividends
in countries across the developing
world. Let me use this occasion to
salute the efforts of the Government
of Thailand in its support and promotion
of this cooperation particularly between
Africa and Asia.
Honorable Director General, Distinguished
participants, Ladies and Gentlemen:
As we meet, the world is seized with
crisis. Countries worldwide are gripped
with recession, marked by falling
trade, reduced income, and rising
unemployment. There is growing concern
that the financial crisis will fuel
political instability that will also
spill across borders.
Even
before the financial crisis the world
was plagued with widespread poverty,
inequality, conflict and changing
climate. During the first eight years
of the decade we have seen growing
investment for development which increased
school enrollment rates, narrowed
gender gap, brought life saving drugs
to people with AIDS, expended HIV
prevention, delivered bed nets to
prevent malaria and improved child
health through immunization.
The financial crisis is now threatening
to wipe off this hard won progress
in improving health and reducing poverty.
Relatively small reduction in funding
could lead to loss of momentum that
could take decades to repair. The
time is more than opportune, south
has a rich source of resources, technology,
innovative programs, knowledge and
technology. Let us share these within
us, let us help ourselves so that
we can glide through this bad time
and lay the foundations for partnership
and economic, social and environmental
recovery.
Honorable Director General, ladies
and gentlemen: Of all existing
international agreements for development
the Program of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development
is the most comprehensive in recognizing
and addressing the complex connections
between problems that we are witnessing
worldwide. It clearly articulates
the connections among many interrelated
factors: human development, empowerment
of women, health, population, and
economic growth. PPD, the intergovernmental
organization was established within
the framework of ICPD in 1994 with
a vision to galvanizing the efforts
to address with greater vigor and
efficiency the ICPD program of action.
We are an alliance of 24 developing
countries believing in South-South
cooperation to bring about sustainable
changes in the lives of our people.
But
we are going through a tough time.
It is heartening to know that proportion
of people living in extreme poverty
has come down to 9.9 percent and 6.8
percent in Eastern Asia and South-Eastern
Asia respectively by the year 2004.
This is certainly an uneven trajectory
that is the hallmark of Asia in terms
of meeting the MDGs. There are bigger
challenges to be met in other areas
- such as health, environmental sustainability
and gender equality.
Honorable
Director General, ladies and gentlemen:
Fifteen years ago, delegations
in Cairo envisioned a world where
all persons enjoyed equal rights and
opportunities, where discrimination
and violence against women are no
longer tolerated, where the great
divide between rich and poor are narrowed
and women are protected. They agreed
that every person has right to sexual
and reproductive health.
The
situation in the reproductive health
sector is dire. South Asian women
face hundred times greater risk of
dying during childbirth than women
in the industrialized countries that
is average a risk of one death in
every 1,000 childbirths. Use of contraceptives
can reduce maternal mortality and
HIV/AIDS. Therefore the funding gap
for reproductive health, especially
family planning needs to be urgently
addressed to ensure progress. Donor
assistance for family planning as
a percentage of all population assistance
has decreased from 55 percent in 1995,
to a merely 5 percent in 2007.
HIV/AIDS is wiping out a generation
in Africa and a similar tragedy is
beginning to unfold in Asia. Asia
may not be Africa, but the early warning
signals are scary and clear. Africa’s
experience shows HIV/AIDS can destroy
development gains of several decades
and social composition of peoples
in a single stroke.
Thailand
has shown Asia hope! Thailand has
had one of the most effective national
responses to the HIV epidemic in the
world. The 100% condom usage in sex
workers campaign is a great example.
In the area of reproductive health,
Thai women have experienced considerable
improvement. Maternal mortality ratios
declined sharply from 45 to 22 per
100,000 live births in the mid-1990s
and 2004 respectively. Many more women
now have access to reproductive health
services, which were unavailable 15-20
years ago.
Clearly
Thailand has made progress in implementing
the international declarations in
the area of reproductive health. Thailand’s
success in achieving MDGs and their
more ambitious MDG Plus targets are
now well known and your success stories
should be followed and shared with
rest of the developing world.
Honorable
Director General, ladies and gentlemen:
There is a lot of knowledge
and learning that Thailand can share
with its neighbors and it is my earnest
wish that Thailand becomes a forerunner
in South-South Cooperation in the
region. The South-South cooperation
entails that we have among us the
skills, capabilities and expertise,
and if we can galvanize our efforts
together, we can improve the destiny
of our children. Remarkable Thai efforts
like One-Tambon, One-Product (OTOP)
project, improving access to rural
credit, providing health insurance
through the 30-baht scheme and making
reproductive health care more gender
sensitive should be shared and replicated
throughout the developing world.
PPD wishes to create an effective
national support structure in Thailand
to galvanize efforts to promote South-South
Cooperation, with the involvement
of all stakeholders. PPD will ensure
that developing countries, despite
their low resource base, are able
to fully utilize their comparative
advantage and become leaders in their
respective fields. PPD will continue
to build institutional and individual
capacities, continue advocacy for
better access to Family Planning Services
and integration of Reproductive Health
with HIV/AIDS for a quality Reproductive
Health products and services in our
member countries. PPD hopes Thailand
takes initiative to share its expertise
and help PPD run its mandate to bring
changes in the developing countries
through South-South Cooperation.
Honorable Director General, ladies
and gentlemen: PPD has developed a
new Strategic Business Plan with activities
that were approved by the Board at
its last meeting in November of last
year in Rabat. As stated in the plan,
in the next four years PPD will focus
on:
1. Advocacy
2. Capacity Building
3. The exchange of experience and
good practice
4. Training and Research
PPD
is hoping that Thailand will be a
great influential partner in fulfilling
PPD’s agenda. With only 5 years
left in the countdown to 2015 for
the achievement of both ICPD goals
and MDG we must act with urgency to
put people first even when the financial
crises is looming on us. There is
no smarter investment, with such high
economic and social returns, than
investing in the health and rights
of women. Let us all join hands together
to improve the lives of our brothers
and sisters in the developing world.
I have the firm conviction that tomorrow
is always a better day and that the
next generation will indeed have a
better living than us.
I
thank you for your attention.
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