The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has marked the start of the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 by unveiling ambitious new commitments to drive forward gains in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

On the first day of the Summit, IPPF Director General Dr Alvaro Bermejo revealed four new key pledges covering comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), abortion care, the fight against discriminatory laws covering sexual identity and gender expression, and South to South cooperation between IPPF national Member Associations.

Dr Bermejo told global and national leaders gathered to mark 25 years since the landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) that all participants at the Summit needed to recommit to transforming the lives of women and girls.

He said:

“179 national governments signed up to the ICPD Programme of Action in Cairo 25 years ago. But signing is one thing, implementing another. It’s still about translating commitments on paper into action; action to transform the lives of women and girls and marginalised groups. This has to be a priority.  

 

This Summit is needed because although Cairo was a monumental achievement, the years since have not fulfilled its promise.

 

Twenty-five years ago, it felt like the tide of progress was flowing only one way. Authoritarianism was in retreat, or maybe even defeated. It doesn’t feel like that now. This conference is hugely important for SRHR. IPPF will be influencing governments to announce national commitments to re-endorse ICPD and make sure it become a reality, and changes women’s and girls’ lives for the better.

 

And we are proud to make our own renewed commitments today. The ICPD Programme of Action continues to guide the work of IPPF Member Associations in every part of the world where we serve a woman, a girl or a young person and support their sexual and reproductive freedom.”

Dr Bermejo unveiled four new commitments:

(i)    By 2025 IPPF, together with Rutgers, its national Member Association in the Netherlands, will: 

• Provide 12 million young people in 30 focus countries with a specific focus on Africa, South-East Asia and Latin America/the Caribbean with comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), in and out of schools, through evidence-based approaches including innovative and digital ones.
• Influence governments of 42 countries to establish new or revised policy initiatives and/or legislative changes to include CSE into curricula of formal education programs or programs for out-of-school adolescents.
• Jointly establish at least three Centers of Excellence in priority regions to work in youth-centered programming and CSE and to build local capacity to deliver high-quality integrated gender and rights-based CSE.

(ii)    By 2022, IPPF will:  

• Accelerate universal access to safe abortion by expanding the provision of quality and women-centered comprehensive abortion care, with a focus on implementing innovative strategies to reach underserved populations; providing support to women to self-manage medical abortion and improving access to and availability of medical abortion commodities.
• Champion reproductive freedom and stand firm against reproductive coercion by advocating for safe and legal abortion, and by defeating obstacles that undermine women’s reproductive autonomy. We will influence 20 governments to establish new or revised policy initiatives or to pass legislative changes in support of improved access to abortion.

(iii)    IPPF commits to increase South-to-South triangular cooperation by establishing at least seven Centers of Excellence to accelerate cross-Federation learning and fostering a Member Association centric approach, in areas such as comprehensive sexuality education, sexual and reproductive health in humanitarian settings, supporting social movements, and enhancing female leadership by 2022.

(iv)    IPPF and many of its Member Associations are fighting discriminatory laws based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We commit to supporting each other and engaging with partners to ensure at least six countries change these laws by 2025.