WUNRN
RECLAIMING & REDEFINING RIGHTS: THE STATUS OF SEXUAL & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH & RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA - REPORT
Issued on the Occasion of the 20-year ICPD (International
Conference on Population and Development) Review
by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
On Sunday February 23, 2014, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
held an event to launch its new report, entitled “Reclaiming and Redefining
Rights: ICPD+20 Status of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Middle
East and North Africa”. The launch was attended by a number of UN bodies’
representatives in Cairo and civil society practitioners. Dr. Nahla Abd
El-Tawab, the Population Council Country officer and Dr. Hala El-Damanhoury, a
reproductive health consultant, were keynote speakers.
The report evaluates the progress made by a select number of countries in
the region (six) towards fulfilling their commitments under the International
Conference for Population and Development (1994)Programme of Action. The
six countries are: Egypt, Kuwait, Yemen, Palestine, Turkey and Tunisia. The
report relies on data from different United Nations bodies and the Demographic
and Health Surveys (DHS) for the countries researched. The report also relies
on a wide range of qualitative studies and human rights reports to support the
quantitative statistics and data, as well as several interviews with activists
and NGOs in the six countries mentioned.
Using several indicators to measure this progress, the report is divided
into three main sections: the first covers the status of women’s rights in the
examined countries as well as the health expenditure. The second part uses
reproductive health indicators to measure the status of maternal care,
abortion, fertility and family planning and reproductive cancers. The third
part examines the states’ protection of sexual rights by monitoring sexuality
education, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, early marriage, human
trafficking and gender based violence in the six countries.
Launched on the occasion of the 20 year review of the Programme of Action,
the reports concludes with policy recommendations for countries in the region
on reproductive and sexual rights. The report highlights the importance of the
commitment of the countries to ensuring and guaranteeing for its citizens and
residents access to affordable and of good quality comprehensive sexual and
reproductive health services. It also recommends to the countries that they
review laws that limit the access to the above services for groups who need
them, including women and youth.
The report is in English and excerpts of it are available in Arabic.
For English: Click
here
For Arabic: Click
here