Udviklingsminister Ulla Tørnæs (V) lancerede onsdag den nye strategi på befolkningsområdet for dansk udviklingsbistand, ”The Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights – Strategy for Denmarks Support”.
Udviklingsministeren præsenterede strategiens centrale prioriteter og budskaber, og derudover talte den anerkendte fortaler for kvinders rettigheder, Graca Machel fra Mozambique.
Udviklingsministerens tal kan læses nedenfor.
Fra dansk side har befolkningspolitik i mange år været et højt prioriteret område i udviklingsarbejdet. Indsatsen har siden FNs Befolkningskonference i Kairo i 1994 (International Conference on Population and Development, ICPD) været fokuseret på seksuel og reproduktiv sundhed og rettigheder (SRSR) og gennemførelse af det 20-årige handlingsprogram.
I prioriteterne for dansk udviklingsbistand 2005 – 2009, Sikkerhed, vækst – udvikling, annoncerede VK-regeringen, at man som led i opfølgningen på Kairo-konferencen ville udarbejde en ny strategi for den danske indsats på befolkningsområdet, og at den bl.a. vil sætte fokus på kvinder og sammenhængen mellem forebyggelse af hiv/aids og befolkningspolitik.
Som startskud til strategiudarbejdelsen blev konferencen ”Status, Challenges and Recommendations for the Strengthening of the ICPD Goals” arrangeret i marts 2005 i samarbejde med foreningen Sex og Samfund.
I august 2005 blev der holdt 4 temamøder med danske NGOer, hvor de fremsatte deres forslag til prioriteter for den fremtidige danske indsats. I november 2005 forelå første udkast til strategi. Det blev sendt i høring i det danske bistandsmiljø i december og januar.
Endelig kunne strategien præsenteres for omverdenen den 24. maj 2006.
Udviklingsministerens TALE ved lanceringen af “The promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights – Strategy for Denmark’s support”, onsdag den 24. maj i Eigtveds Pakhus i København
Af Ulla Tørnæs (V)
In 2004, we marked the 10th anniversary of the Cairo UN Conference on Population and Development. At the same time, The Danish Government announced, that a new strategy for the Danish population and health efforts would be developed with a particular focus on women and preventing HIV/AIDS.
By doing so, Denmark joined others in expressing our strong commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights is a subject very close to my heart. My first public appearance as Minister for Development Cooperation was the Danish Cairo Plus Ten Conference last year. When preparing for my speech, two thoughts struck me:
Firstly, the language and vocabulary of sexual and reproductive health and rights is complex and almost incomprehensible to outsiders – not very sexy at all.
Secondly, how important it is for womens and girls empowerment and for the development process that we promote sexual and reproductive health and rights. What we take for granted here in Denmark, can be such a struggle for millions of people especially in developing countries.
Being a woman my self – and a mother blessed with 3 daughters – it is easy to imagine the huge costs and consequences of not being able to decide freely on matters related to ones own sexual and reproductive health.
Let me recall a few basic facts:
– In Africa, 1 woman out of 16 risks dying due to complications related to pregnancy or childbirth – in Denmark, it is 1 woman out of more than seven thousand.
– Sexual and reproductive ill-health, including HIV/AIDS, accounts for over 60 per cent of the total burden of female disease in Africa.
– Every year, approximately 18 million women and girls are undergoing unsafe abortion.
– Less than 20 per cent of the sexually active young people in Africa use contraception.
These are some of the difficult challenges we face. And this is why Denmark is convinced of the importance – and of the necessity – of actively promoting, defending and protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights!
The Cairo Plus Ten status reports underscored the need to reform laws, policies and institutions to promote gender equality and equity and to integrate reproductive health and family planning into national strategies.
The reports also emphasised the need to link HIV/AIDS interventions to reproductive health care and to ensure the reproductive health and rights of the worlds 1,3 billion adolescents (voksne).
We have reflected these priorities in our new strategy, where the thematic priorities are:
1. Promoting gender equality and empowering women;
2. Improving sexual and reproductive health;
3. Young peoples access to information and services; and
4. Linking the response to HIV/AIDS with sexual and reproductive health – and vice versa.
We have structured our future efforts within the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) framework. Our focus will be on contributing towards achieving gender equality, reducing maternal mortality and combating HIV/AIDS.
The UN Summit in September 2005 in New York created an important new momentum for the Cairo Agenda. The Heads of Government committed themselves to mainstream the Cairo goal into the global consensus on how to reach the MDGs.
This commitment paves the way for including the key Cairo goal of universal access to reproductive health information and services (such as contraception) in the MDG targets and indicators.
Denmark, together with the Nordic countries, other likeminded countries as well as the EU, have been strongly involved in ensuring this result of the Summit. We have also effectively and efficiently ensured follow-up.
Now, we are looking forward to having a new MDG target on reproductive health services introduced by the UN Secretary General in his report to the UN General Assembly and, subsequently, the establishment of new indicators.
Denmark is eager to draw upon this momentum – and we urge all our partners – including the European Community, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO, UNAIDS and the World Bank – to do the same.
We have noted with great satisfaction that the African Union is currently actively seeking to strengthen sexual and reproductive health and rights. We hope the African Ministers of Health at their meeting this autumn in Maputo will fully embrace the Cairo Agenda and commit themselves to develop ambitious national plans to this end.
It has been demonstrated at countless occasions that societies at large suffer when women are not given equal rights. Empowerment – and not least economic empowerment – of women is a condition for enabling women to demand and make use of equal rights, resources and influence.
By empowering a woman we give her the possibility to think and to act freely, to take decisions and to fulfil her own potential.
Denmark has been at the forefront of promoting gender equality and womens rights for a long time. But still great challenges remain. Therefore, I have decided to increase our support by another 140 million kr. in 2007 to promote womens involvement in Africas development.
The reasoning is clear: Without special efforts to promote the rights and status of women and girls, we will not reach the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.
We also know that sexual and reproductive health and gender equality are crucial in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS is mainly a sexually transmitted disease. Despite obvious links to sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS is often addressed in isolation. Policies and programs tend to be competitive rather than complementing each other. Because of this competition precious time and resources have not been fully utilized.
This we cannot afford.
All too seldom, are services already used by women in relation to pregnancy and childbirth also used to prevent women from becoming HIV-infected. Maternal health clinics, for instance, also offer an excellent opportunity to help women that are HIV-infected to avoid passing on the infection to their unborn child.
Similarly, HIV/AIDS services can be used effectively as entry points for promoting increased access to sexual and reproductive health services. One of the key messages is to move beyond the usual “boxes” we put things in and take a more comprehensive view on womens health.
Peoples sexual and reproductive rights are fundamental for promoting development, fighting poverty and, ultimately, for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
For Denmark, the rights-based approach is key. This is emphasized in the new strategy. Control of ones own body and fertility is a basic human right. Reproductive and sexual rights stem from rights recognised in international human rights treaties, declarations and similar instruments.
People should be able to take decisions about their own sexual and reproductive lives. They should also have the means to do so.
This includes access to reproductive health services and information as well as access to safe and legal abortion. In our view, participation, inclusion and accountability are central principles in a rights-based approach.
Sexuality has more to it than reproduction. Human sexuality and sexual health care are indeed contributing to the quality of life and well-being – both mentally and physically – and are enhancing personal relations.
Therefore, we have underlined the term “sexual” in our new strategy.
Denmark has spent much energy during the past many years defending the international commitments from being weakened. Energy – we would rather have used to advance implementation efforts.
We have witness growing international pressure, which has weakened political and financial support for sexual and reproductive health efforts.
It is mainly about opposition to young peoples access to sexual and reproductive health information and services and to abortion. To Denmark, these are important rights.
Abortion was – and still is – one of the most controversial issues vis-à-vis the Cairo Agenda. In 2006 alone, it is estimated that globally 19 million women and girls, faced with unintended or unwanted pregnancies, will go through unsafe abortion.
96 per cent of these women will come from the worlds poorest countries. Hundreds of thousands will die or be left with debilitating, often lifelong, injuries. Unsafe abortion is one of the largest contributors to maternal mortality. It is the leading cause of death for young women aged 15 to 19.
Let me make it clear, abortion should not be promoted as a method of family planning. I believe that the best way to avoid abortions is through improved access to reproductive health services – information and contraception. In addition, we need to empower women so that they are able to fully control their own bodies.
A balanced discussion on abortion is difficult. But it is needed, because of the high costs women and society pay. To this end, we must continue to underline that restricting access to abortion does not make it go away – it only makes it unsafe and clandestine. Extensive independent research provides evidence for this.
Liberalising abortion law does not happen by its self. Fortunately, there are political leaders and health workers willing to advocate for a re-examination of abortion policies and legislation. But they need help from the rest of us – if we want to change the depressing unsafe abortion statistics.
Civil society organisations and NGOs play an important role in sensitising decision makers to the abortion issue. For some organisations, it has been both difficult and costly to deliberately take a leadership position on abortion rights. I find their decision courageous – and have decided to support their efforts further.
Therefore, I am pleased to announce that I have decided to give 9 million kr. to the newly established Global Safe Abortion Fund, administered by the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
The aim is two-fold: Firstly, to help improve access to safe abortion services in poor countries. Secondly, to compensate for the losses suffered by those organisations that had to cut back on reproductive health services because of the Global Gag-rule.
I hope that other donors will follow the example of Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom in supporting the Global Safe Abortion Fund, and look forward to seeing the first round of projects start in August this year, the minister concluded.
Spørgsmål om strategien rettes til fuldmægtig Anne Marie Tyndeskov Voetmann på e-mail [email protected]
Kilde: www.um.dk
