Making the connection: ICPD beyond 2014 and the post MDGS

Reducing inequalities in the post 2015 development agenda

Prepared for the Consultative Meeting with African Parliamentarians on ICPD and MDGs: Beyond 2014 and Post 2015,

Kigali Serena. 26 – 28 September 2012Diana L. Ofwona, UN Women Regional Director for Central Africa& Agnes Ntibanyurwa, Assistant Resident Representative, UNFPA

Outline

• Background ICPD and MDG: Looking back• ICPD and MDG: how are they linked?• The centrality of MDG 3• Family Planning and its contribution to

reducing equalities and achieving the MDGs• Beyond 2014 and post 2015 development

agenda: where to put focus• Conclusion

I. Background ICPD and MDG: Looking back

• ICPD is the International Conference on Population and Development. It was held in Cairo in 1994, where a Programme of Action (PoA) was adopted, by consensus, by 179 countries to improve the quality of life for all people across the world.

• ICPD - a milestone in the history of population and development, as well as in the history of women's rights.

• The world agreed that population is not just about counting people, but about making sure that every person counts.

ICPD con’t• Consensus was reached that the equality and

empowerment of women is a global priority. It approached this not only from the perspective of universal human rights, but also as an essential step towards eradicating poverty and stabilizing population growth.

• A woman’s ability to access reproductive health and rights is cornerstone of her empowerment.

• It is also the key to sustainable development.

ICPD Programme of Action

1. Provide universal access to family planning and sexual and reproductive health services and reproductive rights;2. Deliver gender equality, empowerment of women and equal access to education for girls;3. Address the individual, social and economic impact of urbanization and migration;4. Support sustainable development and address environmental issues associated with population changes

The Millennium Development GoalsAt the Millennium Summit in 2000, the world community was

beckoned to commit itself to meeting eight development goals:

Making the connection: ICPD beyond 2014 and the post MDGS

Reducing inequalities in the post 2015 development agenda

Prepared for the Consultative Meeting with African Parliamentarians on ICPD and MDGs: Beyond 2014 and Post 2015,

Kigali Serena. 26 – 28 September 2012Diana L. Ofwona, UN Women Regional Director for Central Africa

II. ICPD and MDG: how are they linked?Five out of 8 MDGs demonstrate a clear overlap with the ICPD PoA :

(a) goal 2: achieve universal primary education; (b) goal 3: promote gender equality and empower women; (c) goal 4: reduce child mortality; (d) goal 5: improve maternal health; and (e) goal6: combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Although not similar in scope and function, two other MDGs are also closely linked to the ICPD since they, too, are concerned with population and development issues: (a) goal 1: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; and (b) goal 7: ensure environmental sustainability, The eighth MDG: global partnership for development) is also reflected in the ICPD PoA. Both declarations recognize the importance of partnerships in achieving development goals.

III. The centrality of MDG 3

In recent reports, OECD, UNESCO, UNDP, the World Bank and ODI all stress the importance of achieving the third MDG (Gender Equality) as a prerequisite to progress on the other MDGs.

An OECD research paper (2011) demonstrated that women’s access to resources is strongly co-related with child health outcomes; countries where women lack any right to own land have on average 60% more malnourished children.

A similar co-relation was found between levels of discrimination against women and maternal mortality.

IV. Family Planning and its contribution to reducing equalities and achieving the MDGs

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Family planning contributes to alleviating poverty and accelerating socio-

economic development.

With fewer, healthier children to provide for, families are less likely to become destitute (as they would only have as many children as they could realistically cater for).

They are also better able to feed and provide health care for their children, which creates a healthier and more productive workforce that can contribute to overall economic growth of the nation.

On the national level, rapid population growth resulting from high levels of unmet needs in FP often outstrips economic growth and undermines a country’s ability to offer adequate educational, health, and other social services to its people.

MDG 2 : Achieve universal primary education

Family planning can help ensure that all children go to school.

Families are more likely to be able to educate their children if they have smaller families; for example, some girls are forced to drop out of school early to care for younger siblings.

Girls and young women may also be forced to leave school early if they get pregnant.

Education

Women who have completed at least primary education are said to be more likely to be able to negotiate safe sex

Family planning promotes gender equality.

Women have greater opportunities for education, training, and employment when they can control their fertility. This in turn can increase their

financial security, decision-making power in the household and status in the community.

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

MDG 4: Reduce child mortality

Family planning can reduce infant mortality by one-fifth to one-third or even more in some settings.

Spacing births 36 to 60 months apart reduces malnutrition as well as neonatal and infant mortality.• Infant and child mortality are highest for the

youngest mothers and after closely spaced births• Frequent births reduces the provision of quality care

to children

MDG 5 : Improve maternal health

Family planning reduces maternal mortality in three ways:

1. It decreases the total number of pregnancies, each of which places a woman at risk.

2. It prevents pregnancies that are unwanted and hence more likely to end in unsafe abortions, which contribute to one in eight maternal deaths.

3. It reduces the proportion of births that are at greater risk of complications because of the mother’s age, parity, or birth spacing.

MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Family planning can slow the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Condom use simultaneously provides higher chances of preventing HIV

transmission and unwanted pregnancy.

Contraceptives also enable HIV-positive

women to prevent unwanted

pregnancies.

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Family planning can indeed help protect the environment by reducing population growth and thus reducing the pressures it places on natural resources, including arable land, fresh water, fuel, etc.

The world’s population reached 7 billion on 31 October 2011, with the ensuing consequences on the environment and other resources. Environment

MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development

• Sustainable access to effective essential drugs and medicines is a problem for women and men in many parts of the world.

• Global partnerships can help to secure adequate supplies of essential reproductive health drugs and commodities for poor countries (including contraceptives, testing kits and treatments for HIV and other STIs).

V. ICPD Beyond 2014 and Post 2015• Member states have already called for a special event to be

held in 2013 to take decisions on a post 2015 (during the 68th session of the General Assembly to follow up the 2010 MDG summit).

• (In Claire Melamed, ODI. 2012) – The key question beyond ICPD 2014 and post 2015 is whether the new agreement to be reached, will again be about tackling extreme poverty or whether it will be about defining , measuring and giving incentives for progress on development in a broader sense which encompasses all countries and people.

ICPD Beyond 2014 and Post 2015 contd…• One way forward is to refocus on inequalities as a new development

framework that closely reflect the realities of poverty and the factors that drive it.

• Addressing particular inequalities directly would be more likely to lead to a greater focus on the dynamics of power and exclusion, which underlie poverty. It also makes sense in that it is the one stumbling block to sustainable development.

• In instances where the universal targets of the MDGs and the objectives of the ICPD have been met, an agreement could extend to addressing broader inequalities and relative poverty. (Focusing on, for example, narrowing gaps in educational attainment and health outcomes between groups.

CONCLUSION

• Progress has been achieved both with respect to the ICPD and the MDGs.

• Beyond 2014 and post 2015, discussion should focus on reviewing what worked and what did not work in ICPD and MDGs

• Carrying forward new and lingering issues that need further reflection e.g. inequality, climate change, food and energy security, environmental degradation, demographic trends, youth, peace and security and good governance.

• The Millennium Declaration remains relevant beyond 2014 and post 2015.

THANK YOU