ECOSOC Ministerial Declaration on Global Health, including SRHR

A Ministerial Declaration was adopted as part of ECOSOC's Annual Ministerial Review in early July 2009. ECOSOC is the Economic and Social Council; the United Nations' central forum for discussing international economic and social issues.

The theme of the review was 'Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health'. The declaration included the following paragraph on sexual and reproductive health and rights:

"16) We call for the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and their review conferences including the commitments relating to sexual and reproductive health and the promotion and protection of all human rights in this context. We emphasize the need for the provision of universal access to reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health and the integration of reproductive health in national strategies and programmes."

Several other references to SRHR were included in the text. To read the full declaration, visit: http://www.un.org/ecosoc/