Countries commit to end maternal death, stop gender based violence

World leaders and high level representatives of communities andorganisations, from 164 countries have gathered in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi to recommit to end preventable maternal death, meet women’s demand for family planning and stop violence against women and girls by 2030.

The leaders are attending a three-day “Nairobi Summit on ICPD25” taking place 25 years after the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) where 179 governments adopted an action plan for women’s empowerment and sexual and reproductive health for all.

Hosted by the governments of Denmark and Kenya and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the summit is mobilising the political will and securing the financial commitment needed to make sexual and reproductive health a reality for everyone.

Delegates

The summit, which has the theme “Accelerating the Promise” is being attended by 12,000 delegates.

Ghana is represented at the summit by a 40-member delegation made up of technical experts, parliamentarians, religious and traditional leaders, youth groups and civil societyrepresentatives, led by the Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr. Kodjo Mensah Abrampah.

Opening ceremony

In her remarks at the opening plenary, Dr. Natalia Kanem, the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) pointed out that the ICPD vision was still far from reality, and the journey that began 25 years ago was far from over. It’s time now to finish that unfinished business. 

“We gather to celebrate and draw strength from what we’ve achieved together, as the world recommits to the extraordinary vision of the Programme of Action set forth at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994: A vision of full equality for women and girls, and of reproductive rights for all, she added. 

Dr. Kanem said the ICPD began the push to put women and girls at the center of global development strategies and “this has paid off time and again.”

“Since Cairo, maternal mortality is down 44 percent worldwide—meaning four million women are alive today who otherwise would have died in pregnancy or childbirth,” she observed.

Progress not good enough

She stressed that the progress was not good enough as countless people are still sexually abused and women and girls’ lives are cut short from complications of pregnancy “arising out our collective failure to provide the health care they need and deserve, as is the right of every human being.”

Dr. Kanem indicated that to attain the Sustainable Development Goals depend on the reproductive rights of women and girls as“we cannot hope to end poverty and hunger, to improve health and human well-being, to guarantee quality education, or achieve peace and prosperity until every woman and girl can live in full equality, with dignity and respect.’” 

She urged countries to commit the political will and make the smart investment towards the goal of zero unmet need for contraception, so every woman and adolescent girl can decide for herself whether or when to get pregnant, and how many children to have, zero preventable maternal deaths, so no woman in the world will have to die for want of reproductive health care, zero gender-based violence, zero cases of female genital mutilation and zero child and forced marriage.

SDGs

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, a global champion of youth and the girl child said the outcomes of the ICPD are critical accelerators for the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Minister of International Development Co-operation of Denmark, Rasmus Prehn said the ICPD Programme of Action was a high priority for Denmark, adding that the country will continue to fight for women and girls to take decisions regarding their own bodies and rights.

‘We will continue to be among the major donors in the world in support of the ICPD agenda; in particular, of women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights,” he stated

In his statement, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said the country was committed to take actions to accelerate equality, equitable access and availability of reproductive health service for women and girls.