EU Presidency Statement - Commission on Population and Development

Mr Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union at this, the 37th session of the Commission on Population and Development. The Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia align themselves with this statement.

Let me congratulate you, and the other members of the Bureau on your election. We look forward to cooperating with you in a common effort to ensure that our meeting is a success.

I should also like to thank the Secretary General and the Secretariat for the preparatory work for this session of the CPD. We look forward to discussing the Secretary General's report for item three on our agenda on the basis of the two cross-cutting themes "population imperatives for sustainable development" and "building partnerships and capacity, and mobilising human and financial resources for the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action."

Our discussions should also take into account General Assembly resolution 57/270 which, inter alia, requested each functional commission to examine its methods of work in order to better pursue the implementation of the outcomes of the major UN conferences and summits. We should also bear in mind the proposed Major Event in 2005 to follow up the Millennium Summit of September 2000.

The proceedings of the European Population Forum 2004, hosted by the Swiss Government, which examined the implementation of the ICPD in the UNECE region, are also an important contribution to our meeting, as indeed are the outcomes of the recent ESCAP and ECLAC meetings to review progress and which overwhelmingly reaffirmed the relevance of and commitment to ICPD. The ECE, ESCAP and ECLAC meetings recognised that ICPD has been a positive force for policy and reform, and illustrated the continuing ownership by countries of the ICPD agenda.

At the outset, I should like to reaffirm the EU's commitment to the Cairo Programme of Action and the Key Actions for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action of the ICPD. We are committed to upholding the principles agreed at ICPD and the ICPD + 5. We also fully acknowledge our responsibility to bear an appropriate share of the financial burden identified in the ICPD Programme of Action.

In this regard, the EU would like to underline its strong support for the activities of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). We underline the importance we attach to the activities of UNFPA which, we believe, are in strict conformity with Cairo Programme of Action. We emphasise the need for predictable resources for UNFPA and encourage all donors to contribute to its funding.

Our commitment to the implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action was further reflected in a Regulation adopted by the EU Council in July 2003 on aid for policies and actions on reproductive health and sexual health and rights in developing countries. The Regulation underpins the continuing commitment of the Community and its member states to the specific reproductive health goal that was agreed at ICPD, to make accessible, through the primary health-care system, reproductive health care and services to all individuals of appropriate ages as soon as possible and no later than 2015.

The international community is focussed on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The MDGs will not be achieved unless the goals of ICPD and ICPD + 5 are also achieved. Population and sexual and reproductive health and rights are critical determinants of the MDGs. Population trends have impact on social and economic development and it has been well documented that a rapid population increase constitutes a significant obstacle to the goal of poverty reduction hindering the empowerment of women, children and men alike. Quite simply, poverty cannot and will not be eradicated without achieving the ICPD goals. The commitments of the ICPD and the MDGs are mutually reinforcing. This means that population and sexual and reproductive health and rights must be fully integrated into macro-economic policies, sustainable development policies, poverty-reduction strategies and sectoral plans.

The implementation of the agreed goals of the ICPD Programme of Action requires action not only in the reproductive and sexual health sector, but in the entire social sector, in education, in issues related to gender equality and the protection of minorities and vulnerable groups, and on the whole spectrum of democracy and good governance. Only through progress in these key areas can we build the enabling environment necessary for the full realisation of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

In many countries, maternal mortality ratios are unacceptably high and not improving which raises questions as to the feasibility of reducing the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters by 2015. The key constraints to the efforts of many developing countries to strengthening the capacity of their health care systems to reduce maternal mortality include the availability of skilled human resources and an adequate supply of commodities and equipments, as well as accessibility and affordability of services, particularly for women and youth.

Unsafe abortion continues to take a heavy toll on women's lives. Meeting the unmet need for contraception would help reduce abortion. Many thousands of women die following recourse to illicit and unsafe abortion, a result of lack of choice of other means to avoid unwanted pregnancy. In this context, the EU reaffirms its strong commitment to the provisions of ICPD and ICPD +5 relating to this issue.

Reproductive health eludes many of the world's people because of factors such as: inadequate levels of knowledge about human sexuality; the prevalence of high risk sexual behaviour; discriminatory social practices; negative attitudes towards women and girls; violence against women; harmful traditional practices; and the limited power many women and girls have over their sexual and reproductive lives. Many of the poorest women are not able to access sexual and reproductive health information and services and commodities, due both to lack of quality services and social, cultural, geographic and economic barriers.

Within sexual and reproductive health services, there has been good progress in family planning with improved access to, and increased coverage for, the provision of contraceptives. As UNFPA's recent "Adding It Up" report demonstrates, reproductive health services are some of the most cost effective health interventions countries can implement. However, we are gravely concerned at the continuing failure to meet the increasing demand for family planning due to lack of access to good quality services, including choice of commodities and male and female condoms to prevent HIV. Microbicides also are much needed to help the effort to prevent HIV. In order to address this issue, we must continue to focus on the provision of coordinated, human rights based reproductive and sexual health services, including through the primary health care system.

The increased use of family planning has contributed to the reduction in global fertility with a consequent decline in annual population growth rate to 1.3%. This is a real success, reaping positive benefits for sustainable development and poverty reduction. The downward revision of long-term global population estimates is encouraging. However we note that the progress of individual countries is based on aggregated data and may not reflect the experience of the whole population in those countries. Also, the lower income countries have been less successful and account for 95% of the global population growth between 1994 and 2004 (784 million). These demographic trends make all development efforts in those countries more difficult.

Gender inequality is a continuing impediment to the implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action and an important contributing factor to high maternal mortality ratios. We have to invest more in women's empowerment, recognising their rights and enabling them to make choices that will influence their health and quality of life. In this context, greater attention should be given to the promotion of mutual, respectful and equitable gender relations and to meeting the educational needs of adolescents and youths, especially girls and young women, to enable them to deal in a positive and responsible way with their sexuality. An integrated approach including the promotion of human rights, protection from abuses such as violence against women, trafficking of women, and universal legislation to ban traditional practices that are harmful to the health of women, such as enforced and early marriage and female genital mutilation, supports the empowerment of women and contributes to improving the quality of life.

The feminisation of the infectious disease pandemics, in particular HIV/AIDS, is a cause for serious concern. A stronger commitment to the ICPD Programme of Action in women's equality, empowerment and reproductive rights is necessary if we are to achieve the MDG related to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Similarly, ensuring reproductive choice must be essential element wthin HIV prevention programmes.

There is a need to improve access to information and services for young people, especially adolescent girls who are particularly vulnerable, more susceptible to HIV and STIs and carry greater risks in pregnancy. Education of girls should continue to be given high priority to achieve the goals of the Programme of Action of ICPD. The EU encourages that information, education and communication should be made available at all levels, local, national and international, in order to raise awareness on such priority issues as safe motherhood, reproductive health and rights, maternal and child health, male responsibility, gender equality, and sexually transmitted infections, in particular HIV/AIDS.

At the same time, more attention should be paid to the role of boys and men. A greater focus on the role of men and boys in improving sexual and reproductive health and rights, in combating HIV/AIDS, and in the promotion of gender equality, will benefit all individuals and society as a whole. Engaging men and boys as partners will encourage them to take responsibility for their sexual behaviour and to respect the rights of women and girls.

Both young men and women need to be equipped with the necessary knowledge and services to be able to protect themselves and their partners, and empowered to develop the necessary life-skills to make informed and responsible decisions regarding their sexuality.

Progress is mixed with the MDG child mortality goal of reducing the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds by 2015. An indicator of poor progress is the disappointingly high number of countries (62) that will not meet the ICPD goal of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of less than 50 in 1,000 by 2005, representing 35% of the world's population. The causes of childhood disease, injury and death (lack of basic sanitation, lack of safe water, poor nutrition) highlight the importance of an intersectoral approach, and not only the provision of health services. The number of infant deaths can also be reduced through stronger efforts to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child.

The fight against HIV/AIDS, which threatens to wipe out the development gains of the past 30 years in a wide swathe of countries, is directly related to the goals of ICPD. The rapid growth of HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia underlines the fact that the spread of the disease is a global threat affecting all regions. The recent Dublin Conference on "Breaking the barriers; the fight against HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia" was important in raising awareness and building political leadership and commitment to address the issue in these countries.

It is encouraging that nearly all countries now have national HIV/AIDS policies, mostly addressing HIV/AIDS as a development issue requiring a broad multi-sectoral response. This calls for partnerships between government and all key actors including private sector, civil society and faith-based organisations, communities and people living with AIDS. The guiding principles promoted by UNAIDS, one agreed national HIV/AIDS Action that drives alignment of all partners, one national AIDS authority with a broad- based multisectoral mandate, and one agreed country-level monitoring and evaluation system remain crucial for an effective underpinning of our common effort to fight the epidemic.

There is considerable overlap in the strategies and programmes required to fight HIV/AIDS with the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Furthermore, the fight against HIV/AIDS cannot succeed unless there is universal provision of comprehensive reproductive health services. These agendas should be integrated. The prevention of HIV infection, through the promotion of safer and responsible sexual behaviour and practices, including through condom use, must be the mainstay of the sub-national, national, regional and international response to the epidemic. Prevention, care, support and treatment for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS are mutually reinforcing elements of an effective response and must be integrated in a comprehensive approach to combat the epidemic.

New aid modalities of budget support and SWAps can contribute positively to the ICPD agenda as they both encourage country ownership and improve harmonisation and aid effectiveness. Donor agencies should increasingly highlight sexual and reproductive health and rights in their dialogue with national authorities. UN agencies and international NGOs should work in support of those seeking to promote a high priority for gender and sexual and reproductive health within national Poverty Reduction Strategies and health and education sector plans. In particular, UNFPA has a key role to play to promote reproductive health and rights within country led sector policy, planning and financing processes, as indeed reflected within the Fund's new multi-year funding framework.

The Cairo Programme of Action continues to be under-funded and substantial increases in ODA must be secured if the goals of ICPD, ICPD+5 and MDGs are to be met. The EU is making steady progress in fulfilling its commitment on ODA announced at the International Conference on Financing for Development namely that those member States that have not yet reached the UN goal of 0.7% ODA/GNI commit themselves to increasing their ODA volume in the next four years, so that collectively an EU average of 0.39% is reached by 2006. All EU member States will, in any case, strive to reach within their respective budget allocation processes, at least 0.33% ODA/GNI by 2006.

Within the UNECE region, the Berlin Ministerial Conference on Ageing, in September 2002, adopted a Regional Implementation Strategy for the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002. The European Population Forum in January 2004 focussed on key challenges such as enabling choices for low fertility contexts, addressing health inequalities and dealing with migration issues. The critical linkage between ageing and migration was highlighted by the UN Secretary General in his important address to the European Parliament in January 2004. The Secretary General reminded the EU that at current birth and death rates, the population of the soon-to-be 25 member States of the EU will drop from 452 million in 2000 to under 400 million by 2050. The proportion of people over 65 will double to around one third of the population. This trend in the European Region is due to fertility rates well below replacement level is also seen in other developed countries.

The complex challenges of ageing populations, the long term sustainability of pension systems and issues of international and internal migration and integration of diverse populations are fully recognised by the European Union. The Annual Operational Programme of the Council for 2004, submitted by the Irish and future Dutch Presidencies, sets out a work programme related to these issues for the current year. The Multi Annual Strategic Programme of the Council 2004-2006 also takes these challenges fully into account.

Mr. Chairman,

The EU continues to be a strong and consistent supporter of the Cairo Programme of Action. We have sought to reflect this commitment in our policies and funding. We recognise the inter-relationship between the ICPD Goals and our common effort to meet the MDGs. In 2005, we will reach the first important milestone on our way to 2015. We must continue to press forward vigorously and with renewed commitment to implement the Cairo agenda. We should, in this context, ensure that this and other ECOSOC commissions take an integrated approach and strengthen our collective efforts to follow-up the outcomes of the major UN summits and conferences in a manner which facilitates effective implementation and progress towards the MDGs.

Thank you, Mr Chairman.

| Arriba |

• EU Presidency Statement - 10th Anniversary of International Conference on Population and Development  (14/10/2004)
• EP - Population control and development: 10 years after the UN Conference in Cairo (8/3/2004)
• Commissioner Nielson's Speech at the Population Forum UNECE UNFPA (12/1/2004)
• EU Presidency Statement - Population and Development (31/3/2003)