IPPF: Speech at ECOSOC Ministerial Review

UN Economic and Social Council - Annual Ministerial Review
8 July 2009
Speech by Dr Gill Greer, Director-General

Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you today on behalf of the 148 community-based Member Associations affiliated to the International Planned Parenthood Federation working in 170 countries.

Health is a human right and cornerstone of social and economic development. No one should die or suffer from preventable causes because they lack basic health services. Women are drivers of development - yet as the Secretary General's reports show, the poorest women pay the highest price with their health, well-being and ultimately their lives, particularly in a time of financial crisis. In 2009, it is likely that yet again, over half a million women and girls will die as a result of pregnancy, childbirth or as a consequence of unsafe abortion. 20-30 times that number will be seriously and needlessly injured through complications such as obstetric fistula. Almost all these deaths and disabilities can be prevented and at low cost-if society and decision makers choose to do so. The World Bank tells us that increased investment in family planning alone, one of the most cost effective health interventions, will reduce maternal mortality by up to 40 per cent. Yet, support for population and reproductive health programmes has significantly declined as a percentage of overall health aid, from about 30 per cent in 1994, to just 12 per cent in 2008.

In the crises of climate change and the global downturn that threaten human security, even this level of funding by donors and national governments could be further jeopardised.

And the risks from poor sexual and reproductive health and sexual violence are even worse for young people. Today we have the largest generation of young people the world has ever known. They make up half of those living in poverty.

    * Every day, 500,000 young people are newly infected with a preventable STI[1].
    * Every 14 seconds one young person is infected with HIV.
    * Over 10 per cent of births worldwide each year are to adolescent girls
    * Complications related to pregnancy and childbearing and unsafe abortion are the number one killer of adolescent girls in developing countries

Once again, this is preventable, but too often young people are invisible in our discussions and strategies to reach internationally-agreed development goals and deliver global public health.

The 1994 International Conference for Population and Development was a watershed event that saw the convergence of different streams of development thinking, involving actors from different sectors who collectively urged the importance of human rights, social justice and gender equality. The ICPD Programme of Action presented us with a new paradigm to make real and meaningful changes in the lives of millions of people, to achieve health and wellbeing and 179 countries agreed. 15 years later there is now increasingly clear evidence that the ICPD Programme of Action is crucial to the achievement of the MDGs, in particular the health MDGs and MDG 3 which are at the heart of individual and collective well-being and sustainable development.

The ICPD highlights the unmet needs of young people, in particular, the need for comprehensive sexuality education, for youth-friendly services, for the opportunity to participate in decisions that affect their lives, development and well-being. The ICPD goal of universal access to reproductive health - now MDG target 5b, with its indicators of adolescent fertility and access to family planning, requires a comprehensive, life-cycle approach that addresses the social, economic, political, environmental and physiological determinants of sexual and reproductive health. But we are still far from achieving universal access to reproductive health, let alone realising a vision of a health and development framework that incorporates sexual rights for all.

Of all the MDGs, MDG 5 remains the furthest from realization. Its importance was recognised at the MDG 2005 Review, the 2008 MDG Review, the Maputo Plan of Action and firmly and clearly reiterated by member states of the Commission on Population and Development three months ago at the UN in New York. Last month it was further recognized by the Resolution at the UN Human Rights Council here in Geneva, and was central to the G8 Parliamentarians Call to Action in Rome just two weeks ago.

We ask you, individually and collectively, to take the steps that can turn these repeated and recent commitments into concrete actions that will help to ensure the health of the world's women and 1.75 billion young people. IPPF also calls on Member States to work in meaningful partnership with civil society as advocates for public health and service providers, and with parliamentarians and their communities and the private sector to deliver the reproductive and maternal health targets of MDG5.

And on behalf of women, men and young people everywhere, we urge you to ensure the provision of universal access to sexual and reproductive health, information and services so that everyone, everywhere, can enjoy the ability to have a safe and satisfying sex life, and the freedom to choose whether, when and how many children they wish to have.

In the last year there have been many calls to deliver on MDG5 and the promise of ICPD. The evidence is clear. It will reduce the deaths of those whose lives and well-being are threatened by HIV and AIDS or by pregnancy, childbirth and unsafe abortion and improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities.

Some may argue that issues related to sexual and reproductive health are contentious. But what is contentious is the fact that women and girls, men and boys are dying needlessly. This is a public health issue.

You have the power to now make these repeated promises a reality. You cannot and must not fail.

[1] Not including HIV.