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PRESS
RELEASE
United Nations Population
Fund
Contact in New York:
Hugh O'Haire
Alex Marshall
Fax: (212)
557-6416
Round Table on
Reproductive Health and Rights Opens
KAMPALA, Uganda, 22 June—An
international meeting on reproductive health and rights was opened
this morning by Sam Kutesa, Uganda’s Minister of State for Finance,
Planning and Economic Development; and Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive
Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Dr.
Sadik later meet with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and with the
Ugandan Parliamentary Forum on Population and Food Security.
Fifty experts from around the world are attending the Expert
Round-table Meeting on Ensuring Reproductive Rights and Implementing
Sexual and Reproductive Health Programmes, Including Women’s
Empowerment, Male Involvement and Human Rights. The UNFPA-organized
meeting at the International Conference Centre here is part of a
year-long evaluation of progress made since the 1994 International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo.
The four-day conference will focus on efforts to ensure
reproductive rights, especially for women, and to implement sexual
and reproductive health programmes. Today’s sessions also included
presentations and working group discussions.
Mr. Kutesa spoke on behalf of Dr. Specioza Wandira-Kazibwe,
Vice-President of Uganda and Minister of Agriculture, Animal
Industry and Fisheries. The formal opening session was chaired by
Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, Director of the Population Secretariat,
Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. The UNFPA
Representative in Uganda, James Kuriah, welcomed all participants,
dignitaries and Ugandan lawmakers attending the opening.
Greater involvement by civil society, communities and the private
sector has helped developing countries like Uganda shape and
implement policies for population and development since the ICPD,
Mr. Kutesa said. Uganda will continue to encourage such
decentralization so that decisions directly affecting people’s lives
can be taken more quickly and with greater effect. He cited recent
efforts his country has made to fight acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (AIDS), in promoting reproductive health and in empowering
women.
In her opening address to the round table, Dr. Sadik said the
host country has been effective in carrying out family planning and
reproductive health programmes. Uganda has addressed the issues of
reproductive health openly and with strong commitment from President
Yoweri Museveni.
The round-table, she said, should address the empowerment of
women and the role of men in that process. Women's empowerment must
include education, support and advocacy for the rights of women and
girls, and free choice in the numbers and spacing of children.
Empowerment requires changes in the attitudes and behaviour of men,
she stressed. Programmes must therefore educate them and provide
them with access to appropriate reproductive health services and
information.
"Men's concerns should be addressed, and they should be seen not
only as part of the problem, since many men would like to be seen as
part of the solution," Dr. Sadik said.
She praised Uganda for its efforts to eliminate female genital
mutilation, and said other countries should follow its lead.
The reproductive health needs of women in emergency situations
must be addressed, Dr. Sadik said. These efforts should ensure that
abortions are as few as possible among refugees, and sexually
transmitted diseases as well as AIDS should be addressed as urgent
matters.
In an early morning session on the background to the ICPD review
process, the Director of UNFPA's Technical and Policy Division,
Mohammed Nizamuddin, spelt out the purpose and the organization of
the round table.
Dr. Nicholas Dodd, Chief of the Technical Branch of that
division, gave an overview of the road travelled and challenges
encountered in working to achieve the goals of the ICPD. He
challenged participants to work to ensure that four key questions
could be answered in the affirmative:
"Our language has changed, but has our behaviour? Have policy
changes been reflected in different operational activities at
community level; would a village person know that ICPD ever took
place? Are programmes focussing on the effective interventions
required to reach ICPD goals? Are adequate resources available to
meet the sexual and reproductive health of women, men and
adolescents?"
The President of the International Women's Health Coalition,
Adrienne Germaine, urged participants to seek ways to create the
political will necessary to ensure adequate resources to accomplish
ICPD goals, and to overcome political opposition, sensitivities and
other constraints. She called for consultations, partnerships and
broad alliances to promote ICPD goals, as well as investments to
develop advocacy skills and build the strategic capacities of
various groups to act and interact.
Dr. Dean Phiri, Director, Reproductive Health Unit, Republic of
Zambia, spoke about his country’s efforts to address gender issues,
including male involvement, and how resources are allocated to
implement population and reproductive health policies.
In the afternoon, the experts went into working groups for
detailed discussions on various themes on the round table’s
agenda.
Tuesday’s session will focus on the design and quality of sexual
and reproductive health services, including an emphasis on the
reduction of maternal mortality. |