IPPF delegates from various regions attended the fifty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 2 to 13 March. The theme of this year’s CSW was to review global progress of women’s rights in the 15 years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action.
The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, adopted by 189 governments and informed by thousands of women’s organisations from all over the world, represented a global shift in policy approaches to gender inequality and women’s human rights.
Over 8000 women from women’s organisations from all parts of the world including IPPF travelled to the UN to bring attention to the persistent violations of women’s rights in every country and called upon governments to work in consultation with women to meaningfully address these challenges as a matter of urgency.
IPPF held a side luncheon event on 4 March to mark the launch of IPPF’s new initiative called Girls Decide: Stand up for choice on sex and pregnancy which will tackle the issue of teen pregnancy and provision of youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services in developing countries.
The keynote speech was delivered by Dr Jacqueline Sharpe, President of IPPF (Barbados); followed by a panel that included Arushi Singh, Youth Officer, IPPF SARO (India); Ghita Antra, Advocacy Officer, IPPF Arab World (Morocco); Funmi Balogun, Gender, Sexuality and Rights Advisor, IPPF ARO, (Nigeria); and Maria Antonieta Alcalde, Deputy Director of Public Affairs, IPPF WHR (Mexico). Katie Chau, Youth Consultant, IPPF chaired and moderated the session.
The luncheon also marked the end of the IPPF
15andCounting
campaign and petition, calling all governments around the world to prioritise young people's sexual and reproductive health and rights. The petition was signed by approximately 179,000 people from 190 countries and was presented to the Deputy President of the General Assembly during the CSW.
Meghan Doherty, Policy & Advocacy Officer of IPPF Member Association in Ireland, IFPA worked closely with the IPPF team to ensure women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights were prioritised at the highest levels and reflected in the outcome resolutions of the CSW on maternal mortality, women’s economic empowerment, HIV and AIDS, the new UN gender entity and female genital mutilation.
The European Women’s Lobby also organised a side event entitled The Beijing Platform for Action & the European Union: An Example of Regional Implementation where Åsa Regner, Executive Director of RFSU (IPPF Member Association from Sweden) was invited to explain how the EU plays a vital role in promoting SRHR at European level and international level.
For the resolutions adopted by the CSW, see: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/wom1792.doc.htm