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EU Presidency Statement - 10th Anniversary of International Conference on Population and Development

Thank you Mr. President,

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland and Liechtenstein, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

We are now halfway the journey that started ten years ago in Cairo. The International Conference on Population and Development was a landmark event in the history of people-centered development, human freedom and the emancipation of the individual. The ICPD Programme of Action features a rights-based approach in which the well-being and free choice of individuals are key, rather than the population targets set by policy planners. In 1994, the individual freed himself or herself from the population planners and took center-stage, saying:

• I am not a number.
• I have rights.
• My choice is my own.

Mr. President,

The Programme of Action is firmly rooted in the principles of human development, women's empowerment, gender equality and the needs and rights of individuals, including young people. As is often the case, liberty breeds prosperity. As it turns out, when couples and individuals are enabled to make a free and informed choice about the number, timing and spacing of their children, families are smaller and population growth is slower, contributing to economic growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction. Nowhere has this been more dramatically shown than in South East Asia, where the "Asian Miracle" and demographic transition have gone hand in hand. Other regions have the same opportunity.

In a series of regional conferences and during the 37th session of the UN Commission on Population and Development, marking ten years since the ICPD, governments around the world have reaffirmed their commitment to the Programme of Action. The worldwide consensus continues to be both universal and strong. Countries are committed to the ICPD Programme of Action. They own it, and it has served as a remarkable basis for progress and change in many ways.

But we have not done enough. We are gathered here today to commemorate the emergence of this consensus ten years ago. This is not just about a dry and business-like analysis of what went well and what went wrong. At all times, we should remember the human beings that died the past ten years on our watch, and whose lives we could have saved by fully living up to the commitments we made. They have done nothing to deserve it, but we have not done enough to prevent it. Because let's be clear about it: up to now, we have collectively failed to deliver, donors and programme countries alike, and that is why we have failed these people. Especially women bear the burden. Is it because they are women, whose deaths and ill-health happen in silence and out of sight? Would it be different if they were men? Still today, in our age of unprecedented prosperity, every minute one woman dies during pregnancy and childbirth, a double tragedy considering the millions of children left without mothers each year.

Today is the day we must reinvigorate our commitment. ICPD gave us a Programme of Action, not a Programme of Intention. Likewise, we will be judged by our actions, not by our intentions. If we are to translate our commitment to the achievement of the MDGs into concrete results by 2015, we must dedicate ourselves to the complete and improved implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action. The way to 2015 leads through Cairo. We cannot talk about attainment of the Millennium Development Goals without also the attainment of the ICPD goals.

Before moving ahead, we look back on the first part of our journey to see where we stand. Although our actions have fallen behind our intentions, according to UNFPA's global survey, in which 169 countries participated, progress has been made:

For instance:

• Important progress has been made towards the ICPD goal of universal access to reproductive health services by 2015. Many countries have reoriented and stepped up training to improve quality, expand family planning choices, and better meet clients' needs and desires. Use of modern contraception has risen from 55 per cent of couples in 1994 to 61 per cent today. The increased use of family planning has contributed to the reduction in global fertility with a consequent decline in the annual population growth rate to 1.3%. This is a real success, reaping positive benefits for sustainable development and poverty reduction.
• Governments embrace the ICPD Programme of action as an essential blueprint for realizing development goals. This sense of ownership has translated into policy. 90% of countries reporting took legislative, policy, or programme measures to promote reproductive health and rights, to protect the rights of women and girls, to address gender-based violence, to reduce the gender gap in education, and to increase women's participation.
• Nearly all of the developing countries reporting have integrated population concerns into development policies and strategies, mostly to address population-poverty interactions.
• Three fourths of countries reported having a national strategy on HIV/AIDS; a third said they had specific strategies aimed at high-risk groups.
• New partnerships, public-private partnerships, have been formed and the commitment of civil society (NGO's and trade unions) has been recognized.
• New evidence has been collected on the burden of reproductive ill-health.

However, we cannot afford to be complacent. We have a long road ahead of us. Now, ten years later, the Programme is more relevant than ever.

More in particular, we face the following challenges:

• First, as I stressed earlier on, maternal mortality remains stubbornly high. There is no more telling manifestation of gender inequity than the death of a woman from the complications of pregnancy or childbirth. These are still the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age in developing countries, and this constitutes one of the world's most urgent and intractable health problems. Complications from unsafe abortions are a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, especially among young, poor and rural women. Millions of women survive childbirth but suffer illness and disability. Empowerment of women, families and communities, and encouraging a shared sense of responsibility for pregnancy is central to addressing the political, socio-economic and cultural factors that so often prevent women from reaching good quality care. Furthermore, adequately functioning health systems, from the community to the referral hospital level, are essential to reducing maternal mortality.
• Second, we face the scourge of HIV/AIDS. At the time of the Cairo conference, 20 million people were infected with HIV. Today, that number has more than doubled. Some 14 thousand people a day become infected with HIV, and the vast majority of these infections are sexual. Yet sexual transmission can be avoided: condoms constitute a simple and affordable, yet life-saving technology. Nevertheless, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is spreading like a wildfire and threatens to wipe out the development progress of the past decades, especially affecting women. The fight against HIV/AIDS cannot succeed without universal provision of comprehensive reproductive health services. Persons at the highest risk of and most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection, such as youth, men who have sex with men, injecting drug users and sex workers, deserve our attention. Just like anyone else, they should be provided with adequate sexual and reproductive health services, offered without stigma or blame, based on a full recognition of their rights and tailored to the realities of their lives. Furthermore, a lot remains to be done for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission as well as for the prevention and care of all sexually transmitted diseases.
• Third, the largest generation of young people in history, 1 billion strong, is now between 15 and 25 years, just entering reproductive life. In a world battered by HIV/AIDS, they must have access to reliable information services and supplies if they are to make responsible, potentially life-saving choices. Almost half of all new HIV infections occur among people younger than 25. It is a fact of life that some young people will have sexual relations. We must have the courage to speak of the everyday reality of sexuality and provide young people with the information they need. It is not just adolescents' right to be informed. Information is essential to survive. Silence nowadays means death.
• Fourth, the alarming shortfall in the supply of reproductive health commodities. Over the past ten years, donor support for reproductive health supplies, including contraceptives for family planning and condoms for HIV prevention, has declined. In Sub-Saharan Africa, donors provide an average of 4.6 condoms per man per year. Based on an analysis of 49 countries, UNFPA estimates that the shortfall in 2004 amounts to 75 million US dollars. The real shortfall is likely to be triple that amount. UNFPA suggests that over 200 million women who want to use contraception and family planning have no access to effective services and contraceptive choices. How can they control their own reproductive health in such circumstances? Without the means to exercise them, rights are meaningless.
• Fifth, 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 and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Many countries have introduced laws on gender-based violence, but these are often not enforced. Only 13 countries reporting had developed advocacy programmes for gender equality. Efforts promoting women's advancement are often susceptible to budget cuts. In order to improve the status of women, we should, for instance, eliminate gender gaps in education, increase access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, reduce discrimination in employment, property ownership and inheritance and stop gender-based violence.
• Sixth, we are confronted with health systems which are chronically under-financed, especially in least developed countries, and understaffed, including because of a high mortality rate among health workers due to HIV/AIDS.
• Seventh, 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, also part and parcel of the Cairo agenda, are fully recognized by the EU.
• Finally, reproductive health needs in conflict situations need our attention. As a consequence of armed conflict and natural disaster, all the wrongs of society are magnified. One quarter of the world's refugees are women of reproductive age; one in five of these women is likely to be pregnant. ICPD drew attention to the reproductive health needs of people in crisis situations. More deaths occur worldwide from preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth than from starvation. Nevertheless, before ICPD, basic materials for safe delivery and emergency maternal care were rarely included in emergency assistance. While funding for reproductive health needs has increased since 1994, the number of people requiring these services has grown faster than related assistance.

Mr. President,

As we all know, facing such daunting challenges costs money. That is why it is essential that we all live up to the financial commitments we made. The numbers 0.7% (the ODA promise) and 4% (the ICPD target of allocating 4,0% of ODA to sexual and reproductive health and rights and to population issues) will sound familiar in this context. Almost all of us, developed countries in particular but as developing countries, have failed to live up to our promises in that regard. However, some have done so because they were not willing, others because they were not able. 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 who 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.

But it's not all about the money: political commitment also makes the world go round. Beyond all the celebrations and commemorative events of this special year, the Cairo agenda must remain high on our political agenda. Political leadership is essential if we are to effectively address the challenges of the next decade. Many leaders have shown their continuing commitment to ICPD by signing the World Leaders Statement in support of ICPD.

To address the outstanding issues of the Programme of Action is a formidable challenge by itself. Indeed it is a challenge made more difficult by attempts by some to roll back the ICPD agenda. But the ICPD stands as relevant today as it did in 1994.

What we need is a global partnership to improve the reality of people's lives. All sectors of society must be involved. Governments cannot and should not go it alone. The efforts of NGOs, local community groups and religious leaders are indispensable. A lot of hard work on the ground is being done by them. We want to commend them and ask them to keep up the good work. The private sector also has a crucial role to play: development is everybody's business.

Multilateral organizations are key players and catalysts regarding the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action. Multilateralism works. In this regard, the EU would like to underline its strong support for the activities of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Under the inspiring and strong leadership of Thoraya Obaid, the fund has consolidated its position as the lead implementing agency regarding ICPD and has also developed innovative and interesting activities such as addressing culturally sensitive issues through partnerships with community leaders and institutions. We would like to underline the importance we attach to the activities of UNFPA which, we believe, are in strict conformity with the Cairo Programme of Action. We emphasize the need for increased, stable and predictable core resources for UNFPA and encourage all countries to contribute to its funding.

The global partnership for ICPD should ensure that reproductive health issues are adequately addressed in all development processes, ranging from Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers to next year's MDG-event. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, wisely stated, "the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, cannot be achieved if questions of population and reproductive health are not squarely addressed." The EU stresses that these issues must therefore be included in the review of the Millennium Declaration in September 2005 and the Secretary-General's reports on progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr President,

1994 was the year of the paradigm shift from population targets to the rights and needs of individuals. Let 2004 be the year of the shift in resources, towards the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action. In today's world, gaps in reproductive health care -a lack of information, care and practical resources like condoms- account for nearly 20% of the worldwide burden of illness and premature death. Donors and recipient countries should collectively endeavour to increase the share of funding for population and development programmes commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the goals and objectives of ICPD. The EU stands ready to meet this challenge. I am proud to announce that the EU intends to collectively (the 25 member states and the Commission) fill the entire reproductive health commodities gap of 75 million US dollars in 2004 through a special contribution to UNFPA's Reproductive Health Commodity Fund. UNFPA's analytical work has demonstrated that reproductive health services are some of the most cost-effective health interventions. A million dollars in reproductive health commodities will avoid the following human tragedies:

• 360.000 unintended pregnancies;
• 150.000 induced abortions;
• 800 maternal deaths;
• 11.000 infant deaths;
• 14.000 deaths of children under five.

Mr President, the funds provided by the EU will multiply the benefits and go a long way towards meeting the reproductive health commodities needs in 2004. But given that the total worldwide gap of reproductive health commodities is probably three or four times higher, we strongly encourage other donors and recipient countries to join us.

Mr. President,

After this session, we again go home with our work cut out for us. After today, the Cairo agenda must remain high on the international agenda. There is still plenty of work to do and there are still plenty of goals to achieve. Someone once said that goals are dreams with deadlines. We can make these dreams into a reality in this generation. The recipe is simple, the message is clear: less ideology, more reality; less lip service and more money. Our deadline is 2015.

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Recherche Avancée

• EU Presidency Statement - Commission on population and development  (6/5/2004)
• EU Presidency Statement - Commission on Population and Development (22/3/2004)
• EP - Population control and development: 10 years after the UN Conference in Cairo (8/3/2004)