This factsheet was developed for the 2023 Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD), by the Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism Asia Pacific (RCEM) Thematic Working Group on Gender, Sexuality and SRHR, which APA co-leads.
Thematic Working Group on Gender, Sexuality and SRHR
Regional Civil Society Mechanism (RCEM) 2023 Factsheet
Global Commitments around gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are captured across Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and ensure policy coherence with the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (ICPD PoA), Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) and the international human rights system. The Goals, Targets and Indicators, especially of goals 3, 4, 5, and 10, capture many aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) such as comprehensive sexuality education and a range of SRH services. The years 2023-2024- 2025, also mark key milestones to assess progress gaps and challenges around SRHR as we step into the 30 years of the ICPD PoA and theBPfA, and the Summit of the Future.
The theme of the 2023 APFSD focuses on a) Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and b) the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels in Asia and the Pacific. The acceleration of SDG implementation can only be achieved with concrete actions on SRHR in the region.[1] Inequality in access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services, education and information frequently translates in inequalities of income, education, employment opportunities and overall health and well-being[2]. The SDGs under review this year are aligned with the focus of the 2023 HLPF : Goal 6 (Clean water and sanitation); Goal 7 (Affordable and clean energy); Goal 9 (Industry. innovation, and infrastructure); Goal 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) and Goal 17 (Partnership for the Goals). These goals have strong interlinkages with SRHR. [3]
SDG6 on water and sanitation is important in the delivery of SRH care for women and girls seeking maternal health services including obstetric emergency services, safe abortion , and other SRH services, which require clean hygienic facilities to prevent infection and provide quality services. In major urban cities in Asia, lack of access to water and sanitation is also a major source of communal conflict, sexual harassment and gender-based violence. SRH risks for the urban poor include high rates of unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and poor maternal and child health outcome[4]s.
Safely managed sanitation services and hand washing facilities are important in ensuring menstrual health and hygiene. Menstrual health and hygiene, and SRHR of women and girls is intricately linked affecting health and well being as well as mobility and attendance in school. Further to this gender non-conforming individuals' access to public toilets due to lack of gender segregated toilets makes access to water and sanitation, and realisation of SRHR a challenge among the community especially during emergencies.[5] It is also important to ensure the full participation of women in the community management of water and sanitation.[6]
SDG 7 on Access to clean and affordable energy can relieve women and girls who bear the burden of unpaid care work, both direct and indirect. Women and girls in the region, especially in rural and far to reach areas bear the brunt of collecting unclean, non-renewable fuel, which is time consuming and takes away the time from pursuing education and engaging in the labour force and economic activities. Women and girls are also at risk of sexual and gender-based violence while gathering fuel.
Structural barriers to women’s access to energy which include a lack of access to formal financial institutions; a lack of credit history or collateral; limited engagement and consideration of their needs in the development phase of energy access projects; low engagement as entrepreneurs in the energy value chain; and limited education and discriminatory social norms and laws[7]
. It is important to ensure access to sustainable energy among geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas to facilitate access to comprehensive SRH information and services.
SDG 9 on Industry , Innovation and Infrastructure aims to build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. Industry, innovation and infrastructure development should be inclusive of women, girls and gender-non conforming persons. The labour force participation in the region, although making progress, leaves out women significantly. The division of labour between men and women viewing women as caregivers have feminised certain jobs in the global market increasing the migration of women in caregiving roles. Meanwhile, the low rate of female labour force participation in Asia and the Pacific correlates with the distribution of care responsibilities between men and women as well as the society and the State.[8] Women’s rights in the labour market as foreign domestic workers should be safeguarded while their participation in other industries should be increased by ensuring a good working environment that includes countering workplace SGBV, providing maternity leave, health insurance, and child care facilities. Industry innovation, emerging technologies and infrastructure can contribute to achieve the sustainable development agenda and improve access to SRHR information including comprehensive sexuality education and SRH services for women and girls.
SDG11 on sustainable cities and communities is yet another crucial link to SRHR. Urbanisation continues as a key trend, with more than 2.1 billion urban residents[1], or 60 per cent of the world’s urban population currently residing in the Asia Pacific region. This urban growth is primarily attributed to migration from rural to urban areas. While this rapid urbanization has transformed the Asia-Pacific region, such urbanization has largely been not well planned and significant gaps exist in terms of growing inequalities, lack of basic health and education services, environmental degradation and unsustainable use of resources.
Approximately 560 million people in the region still live in slums with poor-quality housing, insecure residential status, and inadequate access to safe water and sanitation. Over 62.1 million international migrants were residing in the Asia-Pacific region in 2017 and most of them are South-South migrants, many of them are moving within the same sub-region and specifically to neighbouring countries. Gender and health issues permeate all aspects of migration, be it internal or international migration. SRHR of migrant workers are subject to discriminatory and restrictive regulations by both countries of origin and destination. Women and young people particularly face significant violations of their human rights throughout the migration process, from recruitment to return, through abusive practices by recruitment agents, employers and others. Women migrant workers face particular risks in this regard, especially those working in domestic work. They routinely lack access to labour and social protection, healthcare and education, and social safety nets. They are vulnerable to discrimination, violence and exploitation, including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Destination countries within the region in some instances require pregnancy and HIV testing, either on a yearly basis or upon renewal of contracts. Those who get pregnant or acquire a sexually transmitted infection, such as HIV, could be imprisoned, detained or deported in certain destination countries. Restrictions also exist when it comes to women migrant workers accessing abortion or contraceptives. Additionally, women and young migrants face multiple barriers in accessing SRH services, including: language barriers and the lack of translation services in health facilities; lack of familiarity with the health system; high cost of services, especially if these are not covered by insurance, particularly as health insurance packages, even if they are provided, offer basic coverage and they do not cover SRH services; bias or discrimination against non-nationals by health care providers. There exist no strict sanctions against employers who subject migrant workers to sexual and gender-based violence.[9] These aspects are crucial to look at as we work towards sustainable and inclusive cities and communities.
As we strive to build back better in the light of the COVID19 pandemic, governments need to make significant investments in disaster preparedness, resilient health and social security systems to avoid future disruptions to basic services attributed to disasters. Policies and programs need to protect people in vulnerable situations and mitigate direct economic loss.
SDG 17 on Partnership for the Goals is foundation to SRHR. There are significant gaps in reliable data on key SDG indicators that would improve governments’ ability to identify areas of gender and health and to assess the effectiveness of existing strategies and policies. Statistical data on the SDG indicators remain limited: nearly 40 per cent of the SDG targets cannot be measured for the Asia Pacific region due to the lack of data. Furthermore, there is little data available about marginalized populations such as migrants, people with disability, LGBTIQ+ and other vulnerable communities. Challenges remain in producing disaggregated data so that the SRHR needs of these communities are met. The data on gender equality and SRHR in the region are insufficient to provide an accurate picture of progress. [10]
There is an urgent need for substantial increases by donors due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on SRHR as well as expected consequences of current food and energy crises. Yet few countries currently reach the commitment of 0.7% of GNI to ODA, and none from this region.[11] Furthermore, SRHR does not receive adequate percentage of overall ODA disbursements, for example, only 2.04% of the total combined ODA spending of EU Institutions and EU Member States (jointly the largest ODA donor) was earmarked for SRHR in 2020. And for Australia, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand, less than 3% of their ODA disbursement went to SRHR in 2020 [12].
The region has a significant digital gender gap due to structural and systemic challenges including lack of access, affordability, education and skills, and entrenched discriminatory social norms. During the covid-19 pandemic, there was a temporary shift in the education system moving from the traditional mode of learning to digital education. However, students who are geographically and socio-economically marginalised were left behind, widening the learning inequality. A 15 year old girl from Kerala ended her life because she did not have access to her school’s online classes[13]. Many young girls dropped out of school during the pandemic and some were even married off as child brides[14]. These adolescent girls and young women become vulnerable to gender based violence, early pregnancies, STDs, poor SRHR when they do not have access to comprehensive sexuality education. Improving their access to the internet and technology can therefore eventually contribute to keeping these young girls in schools and increase their probability of having access to SRHR information.
Countries have been taking nationalistic approaches to vaccination and leverage their privilege and economic domination. This has a disproportionate impact on women and girls, LGBTIQ and marginalized groups in developing countries, as gender discrimination manifests on every level as a barrier to accessing vaccinations.
Recommendations
Revitalize partnership for gender equality in the region and facilitate country to country and regional cooperation to achieve gender equality. Ensure allocation of adequate budget to gender equality and SRHR laws, policies and programme design within the nation SDG implementation plans. At the same time developed countries should fulfil their commitment to 0.7% GNI for ODA with focus on gender equality and SRHR . States should finance the health and education sectors, wth adequate budget allocation.
● Governments and other stakeholders should build accountability mechanisms into strategies and monitor the effectiveness of these mechanisms, including taking action to ensure that such mechanisms promote and fulfil human rights without discrimination based on sex, gender, ethnicity, caste, migration, indigenous identities and religion. The principle being to leave no one behind and reaching furthest behind.
● Governments should strengthen national statistical systems to collect and produce comprehensive, high-quality, accessible, multilingual, reliable, timely and disaggregated data to monitor SDG indicators and support evidence-based policy formulation and recognize the contributions of civil society and citizen generated evidence.
● Countries with strong feminist leadership and women represented in positions of leadership have seen a more gender equitable recovery. Invest in capacity strengthening opportunities for women, girls and marginalized communities to uphold their agency and contribute to sustainable development. Engage with men and boys to change behavior and ensure gender equality
● Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development through north south, south south and triangular multi stakeholder partnerships with gender equality and human rights at the center.
● Take action to end the disadvantage, exclusion, violence that arise as a result of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.
Ensure access to WASH in healthcare facilities , homes, communities , public spaces and schools to ensure safe pregnancy, antenatal care, childbirth, postnatal care , contraception and abortion care services, quality treatment of STIs, RTIs , HIV/AIDS and reproductive cancers.
Ensure accessible, inclusive, clean water and sanitation facilities to prevent, and manage sexual and gender based violence and coercion, at all places including rural, hard to reach, urban slum communities.
Ensure renewable energy which is affordable and clean , which prevents women and girls from the brunt of collecting fuel , and prevents sexual assaults while collecting fuel.
It is crucial to promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies, including access to gender equitable digital technologies to ensure active participation of women and girls in all their diversity in education, and employment opportunities .
The achievement of many 2030 targets on good health and well-being, gender equality remains out of reach in the region, and it is crucial to ensure data is available in all its disaggregation. Ensure universal access to SRHR information and services, comprehensive sexuality education, climate and sustainable development education, legal support for marginalised groups , counselling especially for marginalised groups.
Enhance women labour force participation rate , through provision of gender just skills education and advance skill building for marginalised women with dignity.
TWG Gender, Sexuality and SRHR
2023 APFSD Factsheet
ONE PAGE SUMMARY
Global Commitments around gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are captured across Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and ensure policy coherence with the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (ICPD PoA), Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) and the international human rights system. The Goals, Targets and Indicators, especially of goals 3, 4, 5, and 10, capture many aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) such as comprehensive sexuality education and a range of SRH services. The acceleration of SDG implementation can only be achieved with concrete actions on SRHR in the region.[15] Inequality in access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services, education and information frequently translates in inequalities of income, education, employment opportunities and overall health and well-being[16]. The SDGs under review this year are aligned with the focus of the 2023 HLPF : Goal 6 (Clean water and sanitation); Goal 7 (Affordable and clean energy); Goal 9 (Industry. innovation, and infrastructure); Goal 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) and Goal 17 (Partnership for the Goals). These goals have strong interlinkages with SRHR. [17]
Our call:
The principle of leaving no one behind and reaching furthest behind should guide the planning, implementation, follow up and review of SDGs. Governments and other stakeholders should build accountability mechanisms into strategies and monitor the effectiveness of non-discrimination principles, including taking action to ensure that such mechanisms promote and fulfil human rights without discrimination based on sex, gender, ethnicity, caste, migration, indigenous identities and religion. The achievement of many 2030 targets on good health and well-being, gender equality remains out of reach in the region, and it is crucial to ensure data is available in all its disaggregation to address inequalities and discrimination in access.
Ensure access to WASH in healthcare facilities , homes, communities , public spaces and schools to ensure safe and universal access to quality SRHR services, including in pregnancy, antenatal care, childbirth, postnatal care , contraception and abortion care services, quality treatment of STIs, RTIs , HIV/AIDS and reproductive cancers.Ensure accessible, inclusive, clean water and sanitation facilities to prevent, and eliminate sexual and gender based violence and coercion, at all places including rural, hard to reach, urban slum communities.
Ensure renewable energy which is affordable and clean , which prevents women and girls from the brunt of collecting fuel , and prevents sexual assaults while collecting fuel. Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies, including access to gender equitable digital technologies to ensure active participation of women and girls in all their diversity in education, and employment opportunities .
Ensure universal access to SRHR information and services, comprehensive sexuality education, climate and sustainable development education, legal support and counselling especially for marginalised groups.
[1] Retrieved from https://arrow.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SDG5_2020_FINALversion.pdf
[2] Retrieved from https://www.asiapacificalliance.org/our-publications/human-well-being-and-capabilities-and-linkages-gender-and-srhr
[3] Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/events/apfsd10.
[4] Retreived from https://www.asiapacificalliance.org/our-publications/urban-and-peri-urban-development-and-linkages-gender-and-srhr
[5] Retrieved from https://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/the-role-of-water-sanitation-and-hygiene-in-sexual-and-reproductive-health-rights
[6] Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/news/features/women-and-water-project-management-asia-and-pacific
[7] Retreived from https://www.asiapacificalliance.org/our-publications/urban-and-peri-urban-development-and-linkages-gender-and-srhr
[8] ESCAP. 2022. Female Labour Force Participation and the Care Economy in Asia and the Pacific
[9] ARROW. 2018. CPD Statement
[10] Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/knowledge-products/ESCAP-2022-FG_SDG-Progress-Report.pdf#page=19
[11] Retrieved from : https://donorsdelivering.report/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DD_Report2022_webversion.pdf
[12] Retrieved from : https://donorsdelivering.report/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DD_Report2022_webversion.pdf
[13]https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kerala-class-x-girl-ends-life-allegedly-over-lack-of-access-to-online-classes/article31728470.ece
[14] https://arrow.org.my/publication/scoping-study-on-young-peoples-srhr-in-the-asia-pacific-region/
[15] Retrieved from https://arrow.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SDG5_2020_FINALversion.pdf
[16] Retrieved from https://www.asiapacificalliance.org/our-publications/human-well-being-and-capabilities-and-linkages-gender-and-srhr
[17] Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/events/apfsd10.
