Poverty Eradication and Sexual and Reproductive Health

On 14 - 15 October 2009, the joint end programme workshop took place in Brussels. The workshop was well attended by various high level representation from key decision makers such as donors and government ministers, the ACP Secretariat, ACP Ambassadors and the African Union. In addition to that, European Civil Society representatives participated, including The European Public Health Alliance - a member of Action for Global Health. The main objective of the workshop was to show the achievements and to highlight the ongoing need to prioritise SRH and rights provision in national health policies, as well as the profound role of the EU and its Member States in doing so.

Representatives of the 22 ACP national authorities concerned by the programme as well as beneficiaries’ representatives shared their experiences and views. They presented their visions and strategies in terms of what had to be done in order to improve access and quality of reproductive health services. At the end of the workshop recommendations were drawn for future interventions in the field of SRH and rights.

The workshop conclusions

 Sexual and reproductive health and rights are cornerstones of the success of national poverty reduction strategies and critical to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the overall goal of poverty eradication.

 Notwithstanding positive examples like the ones highlighted during the Workshop, the Cairo Agenda have not always been adequately translated into action, particularly with regard to access to quality sexual and reproductive health information and services for poor, vulnerable and marginalised populations and special groups.

 Although some progress has been made towards attaining MDG 5 on improving maternal health, the target to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters between 1990 and 2015 will not be reached at the current rate of decline of less than 1 percent per year: of all the “health MDGs”, MDG 5 is the one towards which progress is lagging behind furthest.

 Promoting country commitments and ownership, and facilitating policy dialogue and partnership between the public sector, civil society and multilateral and bilateral organisations are effective approaches to implementing the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and achieving the MDGs.

 National and international civil society organisations can play an important role in accelerating access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and in piloting new strategies to reach vulnerable, marginalised and special groups.

The workshop recommendations

 ACP States, in cooperation with development partners and in the context of health systems strengthening focusing on primary health care, reinforce their efforts to ensure the provision of a comprehensive package of SRH information, services and commodities, and strengthen integration with services for prevention, treatment and care of HIV/AIDS, in order to achieve important reductions in maternal mortality and universal access to reproductive health by 2015.

 The EU Member States, the EC and other development partners highlight the importance of gender and SRH and rights (and related monitoring mechanisms) for poverty reduction and achieving the MDGs in their policy dialogue with partner countries.

 The EU Member States, the EC and other development partners support efforts of ACP States to further build, train and retain human resources for SRH and rights.

 ACP States, the EU Member States, the EC, other development partners and relevant United Nations agencies give special attention to the SRH needs of young people, by involving them in the design, formulation and implementation of relevant health policies and programmes and by ensuring access to youth-friendly health services as well as comprehensive information and education. Special consideration should be given to the needs of vulnerable or marginalized young people.

 ACP States, the EU Member States, the EC, other development partners and relevant United Nations agencies further develop mechanisms to promote meaningful civil society participation in SRH and rights policy design, programme planning, and monitoring and evaluation, including through funding mechanisms for civil society organization participation.

 Political and long-term, predictable financial commitments to achieving the ICPD Programme of Action and the MDGs remain a global priority, also during the current economic crisis, and that special attention be given to achieving MDG5 on maternal health and the related targets of significantly reducing maternal mortality and achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015.

Although the first day of the workshop ended with an inofficial statement of further financial committements for SRH and rights in the ACP Region, the second day did not bring any official agreements to do so. Furthermore, if the EU was to support SRH and rights initiatives, it was to do so through its regional programmes and by fiancial means coming mainly from the intra-ACP funds. Whether and how it would continue is unclear, though.

More information about the workshop and related reports can be found on the IPPF website by clicking here and here.

United Nations Population Fund

EPHA related articles

 Health Aspects of EU Development Policy