En stribe organisationer i det globale kvinde-og sundhedsnetværk, blandt dem Kvindernes U-landsudvalg, KULU, i Danmark, har skrevet til FNs generalsekretær, Kofi Annan.
I henvendelsen opfordrer de til, at målene fra Kairo-konferencen om Befolkning og Udvikling i 1994 om adgang for alle til seksuel og reproduktiv sundhedsservice i 2015 skal med i 2015 Måls opfølgningen.
To: Mr Kofi Annan 11 May 2005
Secretary-General,
United Nations Headquarters
New York, NY 10017, USA
H.E Mr Jean Ping
President, 59th Session,
General Assembly
United Nations Headquarters
Conference Building
New York, NY 10017, USA
Heads of Governments
Re: Millennium Development Goals targets and indicators
Sexual and reproductive health and rights
Political Declaration of the Millennium Summit, September 2005
As members of civil society and non-governmental organizations working for sexual and reproductive health and rights from all regions of the world, we wish to express our appreciation of the recommendation in the report In Larger Freedom: Towards Security, Development and Human Rights for All that ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health services is essential for gender equality (Para. 40).
We are writing now to urge you to:
– endorse the recommendations on sexual and reproductive health and rights made by the UN Millennium Project and its Task Forces, particularly the Task Forces on Maternal and Child Health and Gender Equality;
– support the seven strategic priorities recommended by the Task Force on Gender Equality that include sexual and reproductive health and rights; and
– ensure that the goal of universal access to sexual and reproductive health services by 2015 is included as a target with indicators among the agreed targets for maternal health or gender equality in the final list of targets.
All the evidence indicates that strengthening health systems and expanding access to sexual and reproductive health services are essential for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, including for reducing the HIV epidemic.
We would urge that the Political Declaration of the Millennium Summit reflects recognition that strong health systems are required to ensure universal access to basic health services, including services to support reproductive health (Para. 44).
Recognising the emphasis that you yourselves have given to sexual and reproductive health in recent months, we are sure you share our concern that unless one of the Millennium Development Goals specifically includes a target on universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, with measurable indicators, work will not be prioritised and funded on it, no matter how many fine words are spoken in support of it.
We are continuing to work to ensure that these goals are achieved in our own countries.
We call on you and on the many Heads of Government around the world who have endorsed and re-endorsed the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development since 1994 to speak out in support of universal access to sexual and reproductive health services in the Millennium Summit in September 2005.
Signed:
– Marge Berer, Editor, Reproductive Health Matters, London UK
– Rosalind Petchesky, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA
– Wanda Nowicka, President, Federation for Women and Family Planning, Warsaw, Poland
– Asha George, Research Consultant, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India
– Jocelyn DeJong, Lecturer, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
– Nandini Oomman, Independent Researcher/Consultant, Bethesda, MD, USA
Kilde:
KVINDERNES U-LANDSUDVALG, Rosenørns Allé 12 st., 1634 København V, Tlf. 33157870, Fax. 33325330, E-mail: [email protected], Website. www.kulu.dk
