APA and Members APCOM and Equal AF represented regional civil society at the 6th Commission on Social Development (CSD) at UN ESCAP.
The CSD met on 20-21 October to discuss and endorse the Asia-Pacific Indicator Framework for Voluntary Monitoring of Progress towards the Implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and of the Commitments Contained in the Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development.
It is the first ICPD indicator framework for the region, and consists of 85 indicators drawing from the SDGs and other internationally agreed frameworks.
APA and APCOM/Equal AF made statements in support of the framework, and CSO partner ARROW also joined making a virtual statement. APA emphasized the need for more civil society generated evidence to uncover inequalities faced by marginalized communities, and expose the intersections of different forms of discrimination that compound violations of sexual and reproductive rights; and to offer our partnership in its implementation as one step down the path towards building a resilient Asia Pacific community. Read it here.
In their joint statement, APCOM and Equal AF further called on governments and other stakeholders to ensure meaningful participation of civil organizations including LGBTQI organizations in moving forward with the draft Asia-Pacific indicator framework and other vulnerable populations in various phases including planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
Next steps will be focused on working with UNFPA APRO to enhance capacity of civil society to generate evidence for the indicator framework and work with governments in advance of the 7th Asia Pacific Population Conference (to take place in 2022 or 2023).
