APA Joint Statement CPD57

This CSO statement was delivered by APA Member Caecilia Roth  (Family Planning Australia ) at the 57th session of the Commission on Population and Development, at UN HQ from 29 April - 3 May  2024.  

Excellencies, honourable delegates, fellow advocates and activists,

 I am pleased to make this statement on behalf of Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights, a Member of the Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, a regional network that mobilizes civil society advocacy for the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights across Asia and the Pacific.

We congratulate the Commission on a successful outcome for this 30th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, one which consolidates its critical role in fulfilling the 2030 Agenda, to achieving just and sustainable development, and to upholding human rights.

The Cairo Agenda was unequivocal in affirming the integral role that civil society plays in achieving the objectives of the ICPD Programme of Action. We stand today, renewed and catayzed to work in partnership in support of this transformative agenda.  We reiterate the important role that diverse civil society, including youth led organizations,  will play in addressing the ‘unfinished business’, and achieving access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) that is truly universal.

At the same time, we urge for the protection and expansion of space that is meaningful and participatory for civil society at the national, regional and international level in order to advance the Programme of Action, and for a commitment to increase resources for civil society to enable this.

While there has been progress towards sustainable development, too many groups continue to face systemic barriers, such as women and girls, adolescents and young people, migrants and refugees, people living with HIV, sex workers, indigenous people, people living with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer and other gender diverse persons, and their intersectionalities.

Thus, we join our voices with the 120 diverse civil society representatives that attended the 7th Asian and Pacific Population Conference (7APPC) last year to call for the fulfillment of sexual and reproductive rights, including access to safe abortion, and to ensure the right to bodily autonomy for all persons, free from discrimination, coercion and violence. This entails acknowledging and addressing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, and eliminating all forms of violence, including gender-based violence, and harmful practices including female genital mutilation, and early and child forced marriage.

We urge for the Member States in our region, Asia and the Pacific, to catalyze implementation of the priority action areas contained in the 2013 Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development, in order to address the current trends of our region including shifting demographic contexts, increased gender-based violence, and the climate crisis, which particularly affect marginalized communities.

Honorable Delegates we wish to commend the forward-looking and progressive discussions that have taken place during this Commission, and urge that they be used to substantively contribute to the Pact of the Future and to ensure the inclusion of ICPD. In this spirit, we further urge for participatory dialogues and for policy coherence with the upcoming Beijing+30 review process and other relevant multilateral processes.

Thank you.