Former President of Tanzania Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and the former Governor General of Canada, and former Secretary General of the International Organization of the Francophonie, H.E. Michaëlle Jean (right) hand over the ICPD25 report to the UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem, during the second anniversary of the conference held on Monday in New York.
By a Correspondent
The first report of the High-Level Commission on the Nairobi Summit of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) Follow-up has been submitted to the UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem, during the second anniversary of the conference held on Monday in New York.
The report was presented by co-chairs of the Commission, former President of Tanzania Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and the former Governor General of Canada, and former Secretary General of the International Organization of the Francophonie, H.E. Michaëlle Jean.
The report consists of twelve core, overarching commitments, that encapsulate the over 1,300 voluntary commitments made by Governments and other stakeholders at the landmark Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 that took place in November 2019.
It finds progress on some of the Nairobi commitments, but overall notes a harrowing setback in sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world, and calls for ambitious, deliberate and comprehensive action to achieve sexual and reproductive justice for all, in particular women and girls.
It highlights sexual and reproductive rights as a basic prerequisite for achieving the commitments, while also pointing to the fragility of rights, which remain far out of reach for many people, and argues for a comprehensive agenda for sexual and reproductive justice.
The report notes that the global COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the glaring inequities of people who face different, intersecting forms of discrimination based on their gender, race, age, disability, poverty, and status as a migrant or refugee.
The first report has found out that while there has been progress on some commitments, this progress has been insufficient, and that to urgently change course, the Commission has called for sexual and reproductive justice.
“It’s an agenda that goes beyond promising sexual and reproductive health and rights. It delivers these in people’s lives”, the report outlines.
The hybrid format event, that included both on-site and online speakers and panelists, consisted of eminent leaders from diverse sectors, from around the world and was formed to track progress on the commitments in the Nairobi Statement.
The report notes that the global COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the glaring inequities of people who face different, intersecting forms of discrimination based on their gender, race, age, disability, poverty, and status as a migrant or refugee.
It also considers constraints on quality, accessible sexual and reproductive health care due to the pandemic that have undermined or delayed progress on the 12 commitments. At the same time, the report highlights innovations born out of necessity that have kept services going and even offered new models that can be more widely replicated.
The report also takes up the financing of the ICPD agenda and the financial commitments, both domestic and international, reflected in the Nairobi Statement, calling attention concerning developments to defund sexual and reproductive health and rights.
In the last chapter of the report the Commission looks into forces propelling and pushing back against advances on the Nairobi commitments, and the levels of accountability that will keep progress on track towards sexual and reproductive justice.
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