WUNRN
ARROW’S ORAL
STATEMENT AT 48TH SESSION FOR COMMISSION ON POPULATION &
DEVELOPMENT (CPD)
The
Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women and our partners from Asia
Pacific and the global south welcome the theme “Realizing the future we want:
integrating population issues into sustainable development” for this year’s
CPD. This could not be more appropriate, as this year’s CPD session is
happening right before the week of Intergovernmental Negotiations for
Post-2015’s Means of Implementation and Global Partnerships.
We
would like to start by stating that it is highly imperative for sexual and
reproductive health and rights to be recognized and fully included into next
week’s agenda of negotiations. It is without a doubt that a world where people,
especially women and girls, are empowered to have autonomy of their choices and
their bodies is a just, equitable one and most definitely, a world where
sustainable development can be fully realized. Sexual and reproductive health
and rights issues are critically inter-linked with most, if not all, of the
proposed Sustainable Development Goals and the post 2015 development agenda in
its spirit and entirety. Further we stress that the unfinished agenda of the
ICPD PoA after 20 years, which puts women’s equality, sexual and reproductive
health and rights at the center of development, should be incorporated into the
post-2015 agenda.
Sexual and
reproductive health and rights do not exist in isolation. They are further
exacerbated at the intersectionalities of poverty, and lack of food
sovereignty, including food (in) security and nutrition (in) security. Sexual
and reproductive health and rights for all remains unattainable when people are
deprived of their most basic rights, including the right to food and nutrition
for all. The Asia-Pacific region has the world’s biggest share of the most
hungry people with poor people having to spend as much as 60-70% of their
income on food, a problem growing with rising food prices. Women and girls are
over-represented in this context, constituting almost 60% of the
under-nourished population.
Asia-Pacific
has one of the largest population of young people – a vulnerable set of
population with unique needs and challenges. Being a young person is hard
enough trying to navigate circumstances due to their age and economic positions
that they do not need additional negative and judgmental experiences while
accessing services. What they need is to be consulted upon and included into
the planning of youth-friendly services as well as be provided with
comprehensive sexuality education that would enable them to make informed
choices. The term “youth-friendly” would have to be exactly that – welcoming
and open to this set of population. We use the term “set of population” because
the youth community is not a homogenous one, even though they are categorized
as a singular group. Youth come in all shapes and sizes as well as social and
economic backgrounds – youths living in rural areas, urban poor, refugee
youths, youths living with disabilities and many more. When it comes to engaging
stakeholders of any category, a “one size fits all” approach cannot be applied.
Increased
migration is also a dire issue for sexual and reproductive health and rights,
as amplified migration due to employment needs, conflicts, natural disasters or
famine can reinforce traditional gender roles, perpetuate inequalities and
expose women and girls to risks of violence and exploitation. Therefore we call
for ensuring the protection of migrant rights, inclusive of their sexual and
reproductive health and rights and the key role of migration issues in
post-2015 agenda must not be left behind.
Correspondingly
vital is that climate change impacts women and girls detrimentally,
constraining access to services, and increasing maternal health risks and exposure
to unhygienic conditions. Climate change continues to erode gender equality and
achievement of SRHR. Hence, we demand for policy coherence of commitments to
gender equality, SRHR, and addressing climate change, as well as increasing
women’s access to decision-making structures and climate change resources. We
also recommend that Post-2015 agenda endeavours to eliminate social, political,
and economic barriers to women’s enjoyment of human rights as this increases
women’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
Religious
extremisms and fundamentalisms in the region has created a harmful ripple
effect towards limitation and regression on sexual and reproductive health and
rights, such as access to contraceptives, safe abortion services, child marriages,
female genital cutting, bodily integrity, and violence as well as the ability
to access other rights such as education. There must be a recognition of the
implications of extremism and fundamentalism on rights and the political will
to address it. We demand for protection from all forms of violence, including
domestic violence and rape, and for the protection against gender based
violence to remain an integral component of the post-2015 agenda, and within a
human rights framework.
We
ask for a greater resource allocation within the health sector to improve
health facilities and systems to enhance sexual and reproductive health
services. Access to a rights-based continuum of quality healthcare across home,
community and health facilities, including access to contraception, emergency
obstetric care, and skilled attendants at birth should be prioritized to
minimize maternal deaths, morbidities and adolescent birth rates. Unsafe
abortions remain a large contributor to maternal deaths as very few countries
have made provisions for legal and safe abortion services.
In
realizing the future we want, we call for the post 2015 agenda to address
universal sexual and reproductive health and rights in a truly comprehensive
way and beyond the scope of family planning. Any approach must recognise that
full access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is inextricably linked
with gender equality and its connecting elements.
For
the Sustainable Development Goals to be truly transformative, development needs
to be contemplated and tacked holistically. The overarching aim of the post
2015 agenda to eradicate poverty can only truly be made a reality if the lives
and sexual and reproductive health and rights of peoples, especially women and
girls, are put at the forefront and made to matter significantly.
Thank you.