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UNFPA Press Conference: World Population Report 2024 - 15 April 2024
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UNFPA Press Conference: World Population Report 2024 - 15 April 2024
STORY: UNFPA Annual Report launch
TRT: 3:27”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 15 April 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Med shot: UN flag alley
2. Wide shot: speakers at the podium
3.SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director: “The world made zero progress in saving women from preventable deaths in pregnancy and childbirth. One woman in four cannot make her own health care decisions. One woman in four cannot say no to sex. And nearly 1 in 10 are unable to make their own choices about whether or not to use contraception.”
4. Med shot: Technical staff in control room with cameraman and photographer in front
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director: “We have, for the first time, data on whether women's bodily autonomy is strengthening over time and in 40% of countries with data it is actually diminishing. Why? One important reason our report shows is that we have not prioritized reaching those furthest behind.”
6. Close up: Photographer next to screen with speaker
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director: “When we look at ethnic disparities, we see that the groups that have benefited the most are those that had the fewest barriers to begin with. Access to modern contraceptives varies by race, refugee and migration status, education, and location. And while gender-based violence, sadly, is pervasive everywhere, risk increases based on age and sexual orientation.”
8. Med shot: Journalists in press room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) - Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director: “Indigenous women are routinely denied culturally appropriate maternal health care. As a result, these groups are much more likely, and in some places it's six times more likely, to die during pregnancy or childbirth. Women and young people with disabilities, migrants, people living with HIV and gender diverse people continue to experience discrimination and exclusion when they seek sexual and reproductive health care.”
10. Close up: Journalist listening
11. SOUNDBITE (English) - Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director: “For the 1 billion people estimated to experience disability in their lifetime, for the 700 million people living in extreme poverty, for the 160 million women with an unmet need for contraception and so many more. These inequalities should not be politicized. They should not be used as an accusation of bias, nor should they be points of division.”
12. Wide shot, speakers at podium with photographer
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director: “It is indeed the responsibility of men to be champions of women's reproductive rights, of everyone's reproductive rights. And while we have seen progress in terms of, for example, women legislators and parliamentarians increasing in governments overall, it's nowhere near the parity and women are half of the world's population.”
14. Wide shot: press room with journalists and speakers at the podium
15. Close up: Journalist typing
16. Close up: Journalist listening
STORYLINE
Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination continue to block gains in sexual and reproductive health for women and girls - UNFPA
Despite significant progress in sexual and reproductive health rights worldwide over the past three decades, countless women and girls remain marginalized due to their identities and geographical circumstances.
“The world made zero progress in saving women from preventable deaths in pregnancy and childbirth,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, at the launch of the 2024 State of World Population report at the United Nations in Geneva.
The report, "Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope: Ending Inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights,” is being released today.
“One woman in four cannot make her own health care decisions. One woman in four cannot say no to sex. And nearly 1 in 10 are unable to make their own choices about whether or not to use contraception,” Ms. Kanem said at an embargoed briefing on Monday. The statistics paint a stark picture. Women and girls living in poverty, belonging to ethnic, racial, or indigenous minority groups, or residing in conflict-ridden areas, are disproportionately affected by the lack of access to essential healthcare services.
“We have, for the first time, data on whether women's bodily autonomy is strengthening over time and in 40 percent of countries with data it is actually diminishing. Why? One important reason our report shows is that we have not prioritized reaching those furthest behind,” said the UNFPA Executive Director.
The report underscores the persistent barriers faced by women and girls, exacerbated by racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination.
“When we look at ethnic disparities, we see that the groups that have benefited the most are those that had the fewest barriers to begin with. Access to modern contraceptives varies by race, refugee and migration status, education, and location,” Ms. Kanem reported. “While gender-based violence, sadly, is pervasive everywhere, risk increases based on age and sexual orientation.”
Ms. Kanem added that “indigenous women are routinely denied culturally appropriate maternal health care. As a result, these groups are much more likely, and in some places it's six times more likely, to die during pregnancy or childbirth. Women and young people with disabilities, migrants, people living with HIV and gender diverse people continue to experience discrimination and exclusion when they seek sexual and reproductive health care.”
The report found that women of African descent across the Americas are more likely to die when giving birth than white women.
Improvements in health care access have primarily benefit wealthier women, and those who belong to ethnic groups that already had better access to health care. Women and girls with disabilities, migrants and refugees, ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+ people, people living with HIV all face greater sexual and reproductive health risks.
“For the one billion people estimated to experience disability in their lifetime, for the 700 million people living in extreme poverty, for the 160 million women with an unmet need for contraception and so many more,” said Ms. Kanem, “these inequalities should not be politicized. They should not be used as an accusation of bias, nor should they be points of division.”
Millions of women and girls remain far behind, and progress is slowing on key measures, according to UNFPA. More than half of all preventable maternal deaths – nearly 500 deaths per day – are estimated to occur in countries with humanitarian crises and conflict.
“It is indeed the responsibility of men to be champions of women's reproductive rights, of everyone's reproductive rights. And while we have seen progress in terms of, for example, women legislators and parliamentarians increasing in governments overall, it's nowhere near the parity and women are half of the world's population,” Ms. Kanem told reporters.
-ends-
Teleprompter
Good afternoon. Good afternoon.
Good morning.
Good evening to those who have joined us online from other parts of the world.
Um, thanks so much for, uh, joining us for this press briefing.
I'm so happy you could join us. My name is Celinda
Delk.
I'm the head of media and communications at UN FP A.
That's the UN Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency.
Uh, and I am generally based out of New York. But happy to be here in Geneva today
and to welcome you to this global media briefing to introduce you to
the 2024 edition of UN FPAS State of World Population Report
entitled Interwoven Lives. Threads of Hope,
Ending Inequalities and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
This year, the reports The report calls attention
to the impressive progress the world has made in sexual
and reproductive health and rights over the last 30 years.
Um and it also highlights where and how that progress has stalled
and in some cases even reversed
a little bit of housekeeping here.
A quick reminder that this report is under embargo until the 17th of April.
That's Wednesday
at 6:01 a.m. in Geneva,
12:01 a.m. in New York.
Um, so today we are honoured to hear from our distinguished speakers.
First Doctor Natalia
Kem,
UN FP executive director, will present the report's main findings.
Then we will hear from the UN special rapporteur on the Right to Health Dr Klag Moko
Fang,
one of the report's authors, who is kindly connecting in today from Johannesburg.
After that,
we'll open the floor to questions for which I'm
pleased to also welcome two additional UN FP colleagues
to the podium here.
Ian Macfarlane, director of communications and strategic partnerships,
and Rebecca Zerzan,
senior editor of this report.
So without further ado, allow me to introduce Doctor Natalia
Kanem,
a trained paediatrician and a PMO
doctor.
Kanem
is UN FPAS executive director and an outspoken champion
of women and girls, Uh,
who has devoted her career to advancing human
rights and sexual and reproductive health worldwide.
Doctor
Kem, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Celinda.
Distinguished members of the press Dear colleagues, Dear friends,
I greet you in peace
the noble purpose of the United Nations and the fervent wish
of people everywhere. Especially the women and girls. UN FP a serves
they want peace in their homes,
peace in their communities and peace in our world.
Woman
is the thread
woman is the needle.
She is the weaver of family and society.
This ancient proverb
reminds us that our world is intertwined from each woman's family
to the human family.
Yet
when we read the headlines, what
do we note?
War,
polarisation division
Fear
These relentless messages
are eroding faith
in our one proven solution to the world's greatest challenges.
CO-OPERATION.
This year,
as half the world goes to the polls,
the secretary general of the United Nations warns that
too many people are quote
peddling
the perverse math that says you multiply support by dividing people.
We know
that the opposite is true.
The fabric of humanity is strong
because our fates are woven together.
Today
we launch our flagship state of world population report
titled
Interwoven Threat, Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope,
ending Inequalities in sexual and Reproductive Health
and Rights.
In the report,
we show that yes, inequalities are widening.
Human reproduction is being politicised.
The rights of women,
girls and gender diverse people are the subject of increasing push back.
Yet we can and we must push forward together because that is what works.
Global solidarity is how we reduce the unintended pregnancy rate by nearly 20%
since the year 1990.
It is how we reduce the maternal death rate by 34% since the year 2000.
It is how we reduce new HIV infections by one third in the last 15 years.
In the last three decades,
the proportion of women serving in parliaments has more than doubled.
We have secured laws against domestic violence in more than 100 and 60 countries.
Not so long ago,
most countries in the world had legislation against LGBT QI a plus sexuality.
Today,
two thirds do not,
and punitive laws are falling more quickly than ever.
These are gains
we achieved together
following the world's agreement 30 years ago at
the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo
to secure
the reproductive health and rights of all people.
These are gains from investments in sexual and reproductive health and rights,
which increased five fold
after countries agreed at the turn of the millennium
to build a world with no one left behind.
And our capacity for global collaboration has only grown.
New technologies have advanced the frontiers of medicine
allowed for real time information sharing
and amplified our ability to collect and process data.
Indeed,
we know much more about the world and its needs
and the solutions than ever before in human history.
And yet today
that progress is slowing. By many measures, it has stalled completely.
Annual reductions in maternal deaths have flatlined.
Since 2016.
The world made zero progress in saving women
from preventable deaths in pregnancy and childbirth.
One woman in four cannot make her own health care decisions.
One woman in four cannot say no
to sex,
and nearly one in 10 are unable to make their
own choices about whether or not to use contraception.
We have, for the first time
data
on whether women's bodily autonomy is strengthening over time
and
in 40% of countries with data,
it is actually diminishing.
Why?
One important reason, our report shows,
is that we have not prioritised reaching those furthest behind.
We see, for example,
that barriers to health care fell fastest
for women
who are more affluent, educated and privileged.
When we look at ethnic disparities,
we see that the groups that have benefited the most benefited the most
are those that had the fewest barriers to begin with.
Access to modern contraceptives varies by race,
refugee and migration, status, education
and location.
And while gender based violence, sadly is pervasive everywhere risk
increases based on age and sexual orientation.
Many of these findings are the are the result of having better data than ever before.
30 years ago, for example, maternal mortality rates were just rough estimates
today.
Data do allow us to see clearly the unacceptable
rates at which women are dying while giving life
data also show the inequalities that are quite literally, killing them.
A woman in a country with a fragile health system
is 100 and 30 times more likely
to die from pregnancy and childbirth complications
than a woman in a country with easy access to emergency obs
obstetric care.
And
while there are vast inequalities between countries,
our report finds that in many cases disparities
in health access are even greater within countries.
Health systems today are weak.
They're tainted by gender inequality, by racial discrimination
and by misinformation.
For instance, midwives midwives have long been undervalued,
underpaid and unders supported
in male dominated health systems,
even though increasing midwifery
coverage
could avert more than 40% of maternal deaths.
We also see
that women of African descent experience higher rates
of mistreatment and neglect by health providers.
Indigenous women are routinely denied
culturally appropriate maternal health care.
As a result, these groups are much more likely,
and in some places it's six times more likely
to die
during pregnancy or childbirth.
Women
and young people with disabilities, migrants,
people living with HIV
and gender diverse people continue to experience discrimination and
exclusion
when they seek sexual and reproductive health care.
These inequalities are plain facts of life for millions of people,
for
the 1 billion people
estimated to experience disability in their lifetime.
For the 700 million people living in extreme poverty
for the 160 million women with an unmet need for contraception and so many more,
these inequalities should not be politicised.
They should not be used as an accusation
of bias,
nor should they be points of division.
They're entry points for accelerating progress
because everywhere we look, we see gaps
and those gaps are widening.
Stalling progress will turn
to
will turn into a reversal of progress.
Anxiety over high fertility rates,
low fertility rates and global migration
is leading to xenophobia,
it's turning women's bodies into battlegrounds.
Yet these trends population growth in some places population ageing
in others,
accelerating migration,
these factors are unlikely to change.
What must change then, is our outlook,
starting with the silences and taboos being used to
divide us such a stigma about sex and sexuality
that is driving the unwelcome return of congenital syphilis, for example,
by keeping vulnerable populations from the vital
health services and information they need.
We need to redouble our efforts to achieve comprehensive,
universal and inclusive health care grounded in human rights and modern science.
A medical revolution is underway
with telemedicine
and self care poised to remake health systems.
This future requires that we equip people
from adolescents to doctors to policy makers
with accurate
modern sexual and reproductive health information.
We need to collect more data and better data.
It should be disaggregated by factors like ethnicity, disability and more
to understand
who is being left behind and how to reach them.
And let's bring women outside the circle
into decision making roles and positions of leadership.
Empower local actors to identify local needs
with health systems and programmes guided from the ground up, not the top down.
These measures are not simply about reaching people at the margins.
They're about strengthening all of us.
The whole human tapestry
a fabric is only as strong
as its weakest thread.
Our report shows how investing in sexual and reproductive health
benefits all of us.
Comprehensive sexuality, education,
ending gender based violence,
promoting gender equality
and ending unmet need for contraception.
These steps
would contribute
trillions of dollars
to the global economy and unleash gains
in terms of education, productivity, workforce participation
and human happiness.
We have every reason to act for human rights,
for gender equality,
for justice
and for the world's bottom line.
We know what can be accomplished when we work together.
We have done it before, and now we must do it again.
The fabric of humanity
is rich and beautiful, composed of over 8 billion threads and counting.
Each one of us unique
our strength.
Our resilience
comes not from any individual strand,
but from the collective interwoven whole.
The way forward,
how we proceed and succeed
is indeed by working together.
Thank you.
Thank you so much. Doctor
Kem, for this great introduction to the report and
highlighting why it's so important that we redouble our efforts.
Uh uh, to achieve sexual and reproductive rights for all.
Um, I'm very pleased to move to our, uh uh, second speaker.
Um, our second. Our next speaker is Doctor
Cleeng Moko Feng.
Um who should be joining us online? Yes. There she is.
Um uh, the UN special rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health. Uh,
just a quick introduction for those who do not know her doctor Mokoena
was appointed, uh, by the,
uh, UN Human Rights Council in July 2020.
She's a lecturer, broadcaster, author,
and a medical doctor from South Africa
with expertise advocating for universal health access,
HIV care, youth friendly services and family planning.
Um, we're so pleased that she agreed to write the second chapter of the report,
which explores how health systems have been shaped by the forces of inequality.
Uh, thank you so much. And I, uh, pass the floor to you for a few words. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this opportunity.
And congratulations to you, my dear sister Natalia and your entire team
at UN FP A for this incredible
report. Um state of world population report. And I think your words
I, for one, have hung on every word you have said this afternoon because I
resonate with so much of what you say because
my own experience of having been a young black woman in South Africa
at the time when we were grappling with the HIV pandemic.
I know firsthand the difficulties and the obstacles that it takes
to go through for young women
to succeed in life. And it's my wish.
And I know through the work and your dedication as you an FP
a and through the amount of work that you do on the ground
that for a future of young girls and women everywhere around the world,
they cannot depend on a series of miracles,
but that every day we are all commuted to make sure
that the fabric of humanity is as strong as ever.
But indeed, we start with those who we continue to leave behind
in various ways.
And, of course,
for me the the solution I think that I want to propose to us is that indeed,
human rights are the only way that we can transform society,
and we know when things go wrong in terms of sexual and reproductive health,
we know that they impact women's autonomy,
their right to self determine their right to make informed decisions,
their right to just be confident in themselves
and to actually see through some of the decisions
that they need to make and whether these obstacles are at the
level of health systems or clinical care or underlying determinants of health.
We know that the right to health, but more specifically,
sexual and reproductive health rights holds the key to unlocking social,
economic, political, civil participation.
And this is really crucial for girls and for women as well,
and especially for adolescents,
who I have a special passion for and and an incredible, um, amount of adoration for,
because I know how much they face in terms of discrimination,
in terms of barriers in accessing information,
but as well as services and goods
and a lot of the times when they do get services.
When they do get goods, they are not always of quality.
They are not always having the best of the modern choices in family planning,
for example,
and we know that adolescence is a really important
period of time where young people are developing,
they are maturing.
They are inquisitive.
But we also all of us have to make sure
that we are gender.
We are also inclusive.
We are non-discriminatory but ensure that all of
these promises are supported by global health leadership.
They are supported by national health policies that are also sound in terms
of resourcing and sustainable funding and
budgeting that support resources for adolescents,
but also for young people and more
women, so that we can integrate in a more meaningful way,
national strategies and programmes.
And it's an absolute honour for me to have been able
to participate as one of the authors for this incredible report.
And I want to say that human rights are solution orientated.
The right to health in particular,
is
really, really visionary in that when we get it right on the right to health,
we really enable people
people to live dignified lives.
We respect, we fulfil,
we promote their right to make some of the very important decisions of their
life that can set the tone for the rest of your of their lives.
And with that,
I would just like to say that
my own chapter specifically spoke about the interwovenness
of the problems that we face in the world that often the structural barriers are,
you know, analysed and people young women.
When we see the mortality rates, when we see the high pregnancy rates,
the teen pregnancy rate, the high ST i rates,
we tend to think those are individual people not making good choices.
And we are not analysing enough the structural or underlying factors.
And my chapter hopes to shed a light
on some of the ways that structural discrimination
holds people back but also promises a future promises
some solutions that can bring all of us weave
us back together as a global community to once and for all truly leave no one behind.
And with that,
I would like to say thank you very much for including me in today's programme and
will be one of the authors of this
incredible report and congratulations to all of you,
my colleagues.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for those, Uh uh for those inspired,
uh, inspired, uh, words. We really appreciate your, uh,
participation in this in this endeavour.
So let me, uh I'm going to open the floor to questions.
Just a quick, uh, note to say if you could focus your questions on the report.
If you have questions outside of the report, we'll be happy to take them.
But perhaps at the end, or afterwards.
Um, and if you could share, I will go to the room first.
If you could share which media you're from,
that would be great if I could hand to you.
Yes. Hi, everybody. And yes,
pedo from a FP here in Geneva.
Uh, so it's questions to Doctor Natalia
Kem.
I wanted to ask you what do you think are the main threats?
Uh, today to sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls today.
And why, after so many years and even decades of of progress,
those rights are under attack today.
Thank you.
Well, thank you so much for the question. And, uh,
put very simply,
the report shows that inequalities persist because we don't prioritise and value
women's rights and in particular, women's reproductive rights.
What you treasure you measure. So we make a big case that
if you're concerned about something, it is wise to look for evidence for data
and the fact is that, uh,
health systems being weak
health systems having had this historical,
uh, taint of gender inequality,
uh, that paves the way for misinformation
for types of discrimination that can be subtle or they can be overt.
And I think some of the case studies in the report amply show
the risk you're under. For example, uh,
in, uh, doctor
tiling's, um
chapter.
If you're an Afro descendant girl
in Latin America, I hail from Panama. Colombia is right next door,
and I think it's important to factor in
these subtleties of treatment.
Are you being welcomed when you come through the door?
So I think the human rights is one aspect.
But I will venture further
and say that
part of the issue right now is the willingness
to politicise women's bodies
as a quote unquote battleground.
There is plenty of, uh,
there are plenty of instances
where issues that relate directly to women's rights and choices
being used as wedge issues
that would divide.
And one case in point
is the issue of, uh, being honest about sex and sexuality with young people.
Again, I think Doctor Muff
Ken,
um, alluded to this in her remarks
the controversy over comprehensive sexuality. Education
is one over privileging
ignorance and calling it innocence and then abandoning a girl who becomes pregnant
in many countries. You can still be thrown out of school, et cetera, et cetera.
So I believe that a focus and an attention
on what it is that women and adolescent girls want
is appropriate.
And we use this metaphor of the thread in the fabric. E. Exactly.
Because the abundance of evidence shows that when you lift up a woman in the family,
educate the girl through secondary education,
there are just so many enormous benefits that follow.
So we know this cognitively, and we should act
as if it is true, because it is indeed true.
Thanks.
Thank you. Could I ask if
Doctor Mng
would like to add anything?
I know that you can only say or also invite questions specifically
for her because I know she can only stay until 3.
10 just so that you are aware of that.
Anything you'd like to add at this point?
Yes, absolutely. Um thank you,
Um, and of course, in full agreement with, um Natalia.
And I think what's important is that, um,
we also recognise that with the growing antihuman rights,
um, discourse, it has really gone beyond just discourse.
Um, it's a really well funded, um, very deliberate, intentional,
uh, machinery to get rid of the rights,
but also to limit the civil society participation
with an important multilateral systems and processes.
And often, um, you know, we take it for granted.
Um, that, uh um young people are kept out of these spaces as if
they have to be spoken on their behalf.
And I think a lot of what this report is is going to do is show that
when you listen to people, you are able to elevate and bring
urgency to the needs that they have determined for themselves.
A lot of global health programming has been very top down,
and I think we have a moment now,
um, to really move in a direction where we can listen to people we can monitor,
evaluate and learn.
And, like Natalia is saying, if you don't measure it,
it becomes and remains invisible.
And so part of the report's work is to make the invisible more visible.
And I think that's part of the, uh,
the push back and to push forward is to keep making the invisible more visible.
Um, and not spending too much time worrying about,
um you know what other people are doing to take away rights.
We need to be more committed to protecting
rights and actually gaining more ground forward.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Let me just see if there are additional questions in the room.
Not yet. All right, give me a second. Let me just look online.
I see we'll go to a, uh there's a question in the chat, and then I see a hand raised.
Um uh, shall I,
uh I don't know if Amina carry from the Independent Arabia would
like to ask a question or should I read the chat question?
I can just read it. It says, uh,
uh, women and girls.
And the search, uh, and the search for peace,
let alone reproductive health and rights,
looks like a far fetched search with all that is going on in the Middle East,
Uh, specifically Gaza and other parts. Um,
um, such as Sudan, Yemen and the refugee camps.
What is UN FP a doing in these conflict situations?
And did the authors manage to document these situations in the report.
Uh, would you like to take that? Yeah. Thank you.
Well, thanks very much. And, uh, Rebecca is also here.
Conflict is, uh,
the antithesis of what women need in order for development to take place.
It's conflict and crisis
that cuts women and girls off from official care official medical care
when they need it most.
But
it also feeds into the inequality. That's the focus of the report.
And yes, we do look at humanitarian circumstances.
Earlier, I referenced, uh, refugees, people who are internally displaced,
ev every time, whether it's hurricane
or flood, much less conflict and crisis and war.
Women
and Children are the most disadvantaged.
And, uh, Gaza is no exception
for what UN FP a does.
We are called on to serve
in two important areas in humanitarian crises. One is to assure
the sanctity of life that pregnant women can deliver safely
that the newborn and the mother have a chance.
Secondly, we take responsibility for
the area of gender based violence more and more, trying to be proactively,
uh, out front and preventing.
But it is one of the calamities of war that women's bodies are victimised,
rape occurs and just, uh,
generic assault. Gender based violence also
increases when conflict occurs,
As I've, uh,
spearheaded the effort to call attention
to sexual and gender based violence and conflict.
It's important to note that
while
international humanitarian law is there, there are rules of warfare.
In practise, the vulnerability of women
is enormous,
and the frequency and the ferocity of attacks
on women in many, many conflict laden countries appears to be increasing.
You've referenced Gaza, but I would add so many others, such as Sudan,
Haiti and on and on.
One very worrisome regard for myself and my staff who
are serving in harm's way in all of these locations,
even as we speak,
is that
the here to for exception
of taking care
not to attack health care facilities and health care workers,
seems to be under challenge.
And this is part of,
uh,
a deterioration
in the order
of conflict that is quite disturbing. Health care should never be a target.
Hospitals should never be a target.
Maternity
centres
should never be a target.
And so, um,
as part of the larger
humanitarian sector,
which includes the United Nations, obviously,
I have joined my voice to our secretary generals
in repeatedly calling for peace to prevail for cease
fires specifically in Gaza so that people can,
for God's sake, uh,
be allowed the humanitarian corridors that are missing at this moment.
And with the latest, uh, salvos in the conflict, Secretary General has again
called for cooler heads to prevail and for
people to step back from the brink.
So I,
uh, believe that the fate of women and girls under these circumstances
is more than lamentable.
It's something that we are all called to act and to do something about and to protect
the rights and the safety of women and girls in conflict.
Thank you.
Oh, I wanted to add also that, um, we did
ask the, uh,
office of the coordinator of humanitarian affairs, O
A
for the first time to contribute to our report.
So, um, we can provide more information on that, Uh,
on that, uh, insert Rebecca.
Hi. Thank you.
Yes,
OCHA provided, um, an analysis for our report showing that,
uh, humanitarian crises greatly exacerbate,
uh, existing inequalities.
And so if you are a vulnerable person in a community, when you are displaced,
you become that much more vulnerable.
We also have features in the report
that show how overlapping forms of marginalisation
can additionally be exacerbated. So, for example,
in Turkey, where there were a large number of refugees from the war in Syria,
the earthquake further displaced people further disrupting their access to care.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I'm just checking to see if
anyone wants to add anything to that. Yes. Please. Please go ahead. Doctor. Wok,
please.
We can't hear you. Um, have you been
have you unmuted yourself and have they unmuted you in the back?
Uh,
there we go. Thank you.
I just wanted to say, of course, today being a year after the latest escalation,
Of course, um, of the crisis in Sudan.
But also my own mandate has been,
you know, communicating with various member states,
especially who are experiencing protracted conflict and
and states of of of crisis.
And the way in which climate also impacts
sexual and productive health rights is also critical.
And that by the time we talk about, you know, war in terms of military weapons,
that happens in the context of already existing crisis
that are not quantified as such because they affect women and girls,
people with disabilities.
And so we need to realise as well that it's not just that, you know,
women are experiencing war now.
It's that when that war breaks out,
they already find them already in a fragile state already, um,
in fragile health systems.
And so it becomes even more important
to ensure that we all abide by the
international human rights laws and standard and consensus
that has been set for all of us and how to approach and to respond.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. Um, I'm taking the next question.
I see Lisa Schlein from Voice of America.
Would you like to ask you a question, please?
Yes. Hello. Thank you very much for this. And, uh, whoever on the panel was just to
respond and be grateful.
Uh, I, I noticed that the word abortion is not used anywhere in the report.
Press release, et cetera.
Is that because the word is politically toxic, the concept politically toxic.
And do you not believe that abortion is an I, uh, is important in the panoply of
reproductive health measures. How can it be ignored?
And I'm wondering whether uh, you, um, Doctor Kane
mentioned the politicisation of reproductive health.
That's all involved, especially in my country. Unfortunately,
uh,
do you think this has a lot to do
with men wanting to control women's reproductive rights?
How that concept operates in terms of what you see as a stalling
and perhaps a backsliding of, uh, reproductive health progress that has been made.
And just one more thing.
Please, If you could talk about why it is that you think that, uh, uh, women in Africa
and women and of African descent
are apparently most at risk
of, um, not getting the reproductive health that they need.
Thank you.
Well, I'm happy to start, And I'm sure doctor tiling who, um,
has that responsibility will also
chime in before she has to leave. So I'll abbreviate my response.
Um, on the issue of abortion in particular,
UN FP a, uh, under the guidance of our executive board
has determined that, of course, we comply with whatever national
governments determine about that procedure.
We're legal in, uh, countries.
It should be safe and accessible,
and we're not legal. It should be clear that, uh,
post
abortion services typically presenting as haemorrhage and bleeding,
uh, must be available. No matter what the legal status is,
we do have to acknowledge the facts and you've alluded to some of them.
Uh,
in my mind, it's clear that unsafe abortion,
right? The result of not having contraception, in other words, typically
is a leading cause of this stubborn, if you will, maternal death globally.
But often the physician is not going to
put unsafe abortion on the death certificate.
You will see haemorrhage or some other concomitant cause
with that understanding.
UN FP a uh, of course, as, uh,
as a UN entity doesn't take a position on member state policies.
But we do collect the evidence and we do have data.
And we also, of course, follow the, uh,
World Health Organisation, Uh,
research determinations regarding how and when
women can control their fertility.
On the issue of people of African descent,
I think, uh, telling will, uh,
talk about the structural
issues there. But I would like to volunteer
that it is indeed the responsibility of men
to be champions of women's reproductive rights
of everyone's reproductive rights.
And while we have seen progress in terms of, for example, women legislator,
legislators and parliamentarians increasing,
uh, in in in governments.
Overall, it's nowhere near the parody,
and women are half of the world's population.
Therefore, I think we have a long way to go
to see male power dynamics shift
and that men should be willing to step up and
object to gender based violence and do something about it.
Men should be up, up to and including femicide, which the report, uh,
discusses.
This is the worst form of inequality where you can be killed
because of your gender or your gender diverse status. Thank you.
Um, and can we invite doctor toiling?
Yes.
Uh, Doctor muffle.
Would you like to close with something? Thank you,
of course.
And without even wasting my time.
But to add on that it's on that basis, um,
that I did a report during covid on
sexual and productive health rights and its impact
and focused on the basis of the concept of stratified reproduction
where you find that certain people are encouraged or even coerced to reproduce,
while others are systematically discouraged.
And some states encouragement of high fertility rate
among
so-called desired populations emerge through these very pro
natal policies that we see
to ensure either national strength, economic growth
and protection from outside aggression.
And you'll often hear the very military approaches and speak right
and and a whole preservation of this so called national identity.
And often as feminists,
we'll talk about the instrumental organisation of women's bodies and
the fact that our bodies should not be controlled right
in terms of being used, um, as as to to To for other means.
And so the stratified reproduction as an idea in the way that
I've just spoken about extends beyond
just reproduction to include contraception,
conception, prenatal medical care, but also child care, the
role of mothers in their child's lives.
And so even if you look at how, um, you know women experience these parameters
depends on which inter
intersections of privilege therefore all oppression that they have.
On the one hand, you've got black women, black women of colour,
black people of an African descendant, indigenous women who,
because of the way of power and how society is structured,
they are positioned in a way where they are also disadvantaged in
whether they get access to services to resources and facilities and goods.
And on the one hand, you have others who are privileged
in that no matter the legal situation or framework, no matter the cost,
the high cost of medical insurance, they will always be able
to access facilities. Hence public health and the global health community.
Responsibility is so important because it is those
very people who are living at the margins,
who can by no means of their own, even if they tried,
be able to protect their own rights.
And so black women, women of colour indigenous people globally
have been historically framed primarily, um,
as victims of sexual violence or victims of illness or sexual illness,
rather than potentially empowered claimants right of
their own sexual rights and sexual health.
And so these conversations have to be also centred around. How do we
give people their dignity back by listening to
them by coming up with policy and programming
and and and support in the terms of Natalia speaking
about humanitarian support that understands their lived experience as people
who are already disempowered and I will stop here and
say that we have to think about how we move forward
in protecting autonomy as the ultimate source of
freedom for everyone to truly be equal.
And that autonomy,
by virtue of what it means for women and girls in terms of freedom is
often contested by the state because the state
sees itself as the primary custodian of reproductive
and fertility for political reasons, after all, thank you.
I'd also like to add that this is why the last chapter in the report is my favourite
because it's looking ahead to how are we going to change the situation
that prevails? It's titled Weaving a Collective Future,
and a lot of my hearty
optimism
is based on the next generation that is coming up.
And in 30 years since Cairo, which I attended as a young person
and sparked my lifelong interest in reproductive health and gender equality,
there's a new generation that were not born yet in Cairo.
I met many of them in Benin
just a couple of weeks ago,
where there was a youth dialogue on I CPD 30 the 30th anniversary of that
Cairo conference.
Attitudes do change, and young people are very passionate and very,
uh, idealistic on the question of reproductive justice.
Their attitudes as a nurse are going to be different
than the antiquated attitude that prejudges
someone with a mental disability who comes in and they're pregnant, for example.
So care with compassion is part of the, uh,
underlying theme in this inequalities discussion.
And I feel that, uh,
with a new generation and also new types of training with elucidating some of these
facts or figures that are facts and figures that are proposed in the report.
The whole idea is the journey forward.
You know, the journey ahead.
And under these, uh, headers,
we have tried to pose
the types of changes that we think are
going to signal huge differences and systemic differences.
It's not a favour that we can choose who to bestow human rights upon.
We all have equal rights.
Um, and that should be expressed in practise.
And I really look forward to,
uh,
the
embracing
of the proposition
that
every person, every young person
who's trying to navigate their adolescence and there are some rocky shows out there
will be provided with the right kind of information,
the right kind of friendly services where they can ask without being stigmatised
and a delivery
that is tailored.
This is another, uh,
phrase that the report stresses things need to be tailored from the ground up.
Local people will advise as to what's going to work because, yes, they do know best.
And I've, uh, already declared my trust in
the younger generation.
This is part of my fervour to make sure that
technology doesn't aid and a bet disinformation, but quite the opposite
that they can find.
Uh,
and many young people use the Internet
social media in terms of answering questions.
They may be embarrassed to ask of adults in their communities,
um, or peer educators if they're not online.
These are lifelines
for young people, and I think it's
part of making a stronger fabric of humanity.
Thank you so much.
There's another question in the chat, if you'll allow me.
This is from Ellen Coyne from the Irish Independent.
This is about
refugees
and refugee movements,
so I'll just read this, If that's OK,
there are many European countries like Ireland,
where women displaced by conflict are now travelling to as refugees.
But anti refugee movements in countries like
Ireland are blocking access to accommodation centres,
often by trying to frame the arrival of refugees
as a threat of sexual violence to Irish women
is there a concern about sexual violence being weaponized by
anti
refugee agitators,
While the needs and vulnerabilities of women refugees
who have experienced sexual violence are being ignored,
well,
uh,
you're really raising a very important,
fundamental principle in terms of how scapegoating and xenophobia only aggravate
the inequalities that
we elucidate in the report.
And it's clear that
humanitarian emergencies the, uh, movement of people
which again and I have to keep
hammering disproportionately affect women and girls.
The person
fleeing for her life with her Children is female. These Children are in her care.
So
to exacerbate the pre existing inequalities that were there
the pre existing discrimination.
Now you are
out of your normal,
uh, societal environment.
This is why, uh, we see that in countries that are affected by humanitarian crises,
things that are not immediately obviously related
maternal deaths increased
well. Violence is obviously related, and that type of crime does increase.
But in fact, uh, child marriage also rises as people scramble for
solutions.
we've also documented the rise of
female genital mutilation under these circumstances,
which is another harmful practise
that is based on
theoretically, um, making girls marriageable.
So for all these reasons, the
uh attitude of governments that are receiving
refugees and and and people who are migrating makes a world of difference.
For all these reasons,
the
ability of local communities to show solidarity
makes a world of difference.
And I have to, uh,
admit that it's disturbing that the blame game,
which it's very easy to point the finger at migrant communities,
um, has become part of a kind of vernacular of politics in recent times.
So, uh,
with the, uh, IOM
with the, uh, UN, uh, refugees group
UN FP A has made
extra efforts
for welcoming, for example, uh, Roma, who were crossing the borders during,
uh, the Ukraine, uh, crisis.
And you know, by analogy, uh, we've also had to
insist that
where, uh
African or Syrian or you name it.
The list is long because the world is in a sorry state of protracted crisis
where people are moving.
It's important to sensitise receiving personnel have people that
speak their language and understand their customs and vernacular.
It's an advantage for UN FP a that very often in crisis. We were there long before
the immediate crisis occurred,
and hopefully we will be there,
Um, afterwards. But that has been an advantage in trying to provide
appropriate quality care
in dire circumstances.
Yet, and still,
I think the import of your question is that it is important
for people to speak out against this type of scapegoating and discrimination.
And I believe that the United Nations has been in the forefront of calling attention
to these types of xenophobic attacks.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for that.
Um, we have one last question in the chat, and then we're gonna move to your closing,
uh, closing words, Um, as we are just about out of time.
But I'll just address this last question, which is slightly more, uh, technical,
I guess.
From Yukiko Amano
from the Japanese uh, Nikkei.
Um the report says that out of 32 countries with trend data, 19,
um, have seen improvements in women's ability to exercise bodily autonomy,
while 13 have seen rollbacks.
What countries are included in the 13 countries that have fallen behind?
Uh, with the question, does the United States of America, uh,
whose Supreme Court overturned Roe V wade
count among the 13 countries?
Um, so I think Rebecca, you might just, uh give that.
Thanks for that question. Um,
so that analysis of the 32 countries is extremely fresh data, Um, that we were
just able to crunch based on the new data submitted to,
uh, for the sustainable development goals.
Uh, so only 69 countries report on the status of women's bodily autonomy.
Um, and only 32 countries
have reported such that. We now have two data points.
Um, so they are all low and middle income countries.
and a forthcoming analysis is going to do more of a deep dive into what are the factors
um relating to who's being left behind and why?
So the, um, report only shows the the broadest aspects of that,
and we plan to have more details later.
I'd also just like to quickly add that, uh, the state of world
population report covers
the entire world
in terms of practise UN FP a focuses on developing countries
or in some middle income countries.
Like I said, you know, there are, uh, uh, disparities within,
and we work with, uh, those communities within.
So therefore, um,
we don't take responsibility for and that for analysing
the politics of the developed world per SE.
There are some important politics that do affect
the populations we serve.
For example, um, while we don't comment on the domestic
policies and politics of our member states,
it is clear that,
uh, positions, for example,
that are taken by the United States of America government,
which affect funding and also activities within clinics in, uh,
developing country locations are of import.
And here I just want to stress that
the efforts to protect
the lives and well being of women and girls should not really be subject to, uh,
political pressures.
Or, uh uh, uh,
you know, be repealed based on
which government of the day is functioning.
Um, apart from
the USA overseas policies, which,
um
can affect other countries,
I'm also highly concerned about places where there is a rollback or attempt
attempts to roll back women's rights and ga.
Gambia has been in the news in this
regard recently
because of legislation being introduced
to
repeal
the ban on female genital mutilation at a
time when
there are over 230 million survivors of FGM.
And that's
been,
uh, a 15% increase in that number since the year 2016.
So again, I think the, uh,
factors of human rights are not divisible, you know,
they're all human rights are all connected.
They're in unity.
And under international human rights law,
female genital mutilation is a violation
and culture and religion. And,
you know, societal pressure should not be used to justify this.
And I believe that our work on inequalities
is also underscoring that
when it comes to human rights,
we must all stand up in defence of those who are most vulnerable.
And with that, um, would you like me just to say a few closing words? Sure.
Just a few closing words.
We close this out in a couple of minutes. Thank you.
Well, my closing words are Thank you.
Uh, we're gratified by the interest in today's briefing,
and I hope that,
uh, for journalists who do have that sacred duty of,
uh, reporting
II.
I hope that this leaves you with a renewed sense that
we can achieve a better future for humanity.
That there are steps that we could take
to improve a situation
when we hear you know, such heartbreaking news moment to moment.
having been there in Cairo as I said myself 30 years ago.
I have been a witness to great progress.
But I also know that we can't take for granted
that that wheel of progress is going to turn evenly for everyone.
Uh,
to, you know, uh uh, for for years to come.
So
there was a moment in Cairo when humanity came together in agreement
that women should not die while giving life.
And this is a worthy pursuit.
We've agreed that people's bodies belong to them. Our bodies are our own.
And that also implies that we should try to reach
those who are furthest behind
more avidly that we should get to them first.
And that will keep the fabric of humanity stronger,
stronger because we work together.
Thank you,
Linda.
Thank you, Doctor Kleman,
thanks to everyone in the room and online. Really appreciate your joining.
If you had any questions that you thought of, think of later.
Uh, you can reach out to Eddie Wright. You should all have his email in your inbox.
Um, thanks a lot.
And we would look forward to reading your reports,
reading and hearing and seeing your reports.
Thank you so much.