Speech by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem at the Global Youth Dialogue

Opening Remarks by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem at the Global Youth Dialogue in Cotonou, Benin.

Your Excellency Madam Vice President of the Republic of Benin
Your Excellency, Mr. Prime Minister,
Director of Social Development of the Netherlands, Ambassador Peter Derrek Hof, Undersecretary for Development Policy of Denmark, Mr. Ole Thonke
Excellencies, Honorable Ministers, 
Special Envoy of the African Union, Mme Bineta Diop, 
ECOWAS Commissioner, Mme Fatou Sarr,
Dear young people of the world!

I greet you in peace. Peace is the noble purpose of the United Nations and the fervent wish of the women, girls and young people UNFPA serves everywhere. Peace is your right: Peace in the home. Peace in our communities. Peace on the planet!

I begin by quoting a proud daughter of Benin, a cultural artist of world renown, Angelique Kidjo. Angelique has said: “Your brain is your greatest weapon. Connect it to your heart and you can go anywhere.”

My question for you during this dialogue is, what’s next? What does your heart and mind tell you is where you want to go?

Look around! Feel the energy of hearts and minds that are connected for a purpose – young activists, feminists and allies from every part of the world. ICPD30 is your moment!

UNFPA is honoured to facilitate this dialogue – in partnership with our wonderful host, the Government of Benin, and our co-sponsors, the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Know that this is your space. Know that we are here to support, to listen, to facilitate. However, this is indeed your agenda. You are the designers of what's next.

Where do you wish to go next?

The sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda belongs in the hands of young people, and so it has always been.

Let us recall 30 years ago in Cairo at the International Conference on Population and Development, it was the mobilization of young activists, feminists and civil society organizations pushing for change that led to the adoption of the ICPD Programme of Action. And that Programme of Action has indeed been a game changer. It was a groundbreaking blueprint for sustainable development with reproductive rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women, girls and young people at its centre.

I was personally there in Cairo 30 years ago as a young professional, and I vividly recall our idealism, our excitement. My wish for you is to leave here with a powerful sense of purpose, with a sense of having been witness to something extraordinary.

Young people getting together to define the next steps. What do you want to do next for better understanding of human sexuality in all our diversities, of reproductive health, of gender, of an end to mindsets that would lead to child marriage, to female genital mutilation, to gender-based violence?

This is not the typical agenda in an intergovernmental meeting, and I am glad that during this global dialogue you have seen fit to put these items up for discussion.

The Programme of Action of ICPD has been revolutionary, calling for countries to meet the needs of adolescents for services, for education, so that they are able to understand and to make healthy choices as individuals, to avoid unintended pregnancy, to avoid HIV and now syphilis and so many other sexually transmitted infections that appear to be on the rise.

And more than anything, to live free in confidence, to be able to walk the streets of your village, your city, your world without fear, to live free from violence and harmful practices.

Young people have a role in shaping this journey. The leadership of young people, well organized in order to reach the goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030 -- that leadership is needed; that's unmistakable.

So I join you in celebrating every victory that moves us in the right direction.

I celebrate every life that's saved, every dream that has been realized since Cairo.

And yes, there has been progress:

• Between 2000 and 2020, maternal mortality declined by one third.
• The rate of unintended pregnancy has fallen by nearly 20 per cent since 1990.
• Since the year 2000, births among girls 15 to 19 years old have fallen by around a third.
• Since 1990, the number of women using modern contraception has doubled.
• Rates of child marriage have decreased, thanks to greater global advocacy, thanks to the legal environment acknowledging the equality of women and girls.
• New HIV infections fell by one third in the last 15 years.
• More than 160 countries have now passed laws to address domestic violence.
• Not so long ago, most countries in the world had legislation against LGBTQI+ sexuality. Today, two thirds do not, and punitive laws are falling more quickly than ever.
• In this country of Benin, the recent decriminalization of abortion will likely reduce recourse to unsafe abortion. This will save lives.

As I look to the future, it is the vibrancy of young feminists, young activists, and young leaders, including you who are here this week, representing hundreds of thousands that may not be in this room, but they are driving change in their corner of the world.

It's true that we received almost 15,000 applications from passionate young leaders, all of whom I wish we could have accommodated, but you are here as a testament to that power.

You are here as part of a global youth movement that is evidence-based, that's looking to data, that's looking to leave no one behind, to be inclusive. And that tells me that the ICPD Program of Action is alive and kicking.

In countries across the globe, young people are standing for peace. They are standing up against sexism, racism, and every other ‘ism’, against homophobia.

Disability inclusion is a big part of your movement, and we learn from this. You are leading the charge for climate action, and you’ve sparked a new wave of activism for reproductive rights that is changing laws, changing policies, changing the world. You are demanding your right to bodily autonomy and calling decision-makers to account.

For UNFPA, our hope is that the time here will be usefully spent as you build new alliances, as you create an even stronger global community of young change-makers who are going to carry that ICPD agenda as you redefine it.

Because ICPD should not just be a set of letters, right? It's an evergreen vision of that more just world, that more equitable future, that sustainable development that we foresee as relevant to your life, as it was to my life, as it is to the life of a 10-year-old girl.

She's in her island home, she's in her mountain community, and she is wondering: Who is going to help me to complete my education, who is going to respect me and assure that I am not victimized by that old mindset of power that leads to gender-based violence? She's demanding answers, and I hope that you'll have answers for her.

ICPD was ahead of its time. It linked population dynamics to gender relations, to demographic patterns, to environmental sustainability and to economic growth. And these are all issues that we would do well to remember as we look to advance those Sustainable Development Goals in a world at war, in a world that is grappling with climate change, migration, demographic shifts, and rapid technological change that should be deployed for the benefit of human beings, not for death and destruction.

Human rights are fundamental, and they are indivisible. Human rights are under threat, and it's up to all of us to stand up for human rights everywhere, every time.

Thirty years after Cairo, must young people continue to wait – until it’s too late – to understand their own biology? Why should a young women wait a day longer to control their own fertility, to not die during pregnancy and childbirth, and to escape gender-based violence and other types of harm, including online bullying and GBV?

So, I would like to ask you to put a stop to discrimination and exclusion. Whether it's a young woman with a disability, a migrant, someone living with HIV, a woman of African descent, someone who is gender diverse. 

People continue to experience barriers when they seek sexual and reproductive health care and advice, so it's clear that we have a lot to do to bring Cairo to every doorstep.

As you've chosen these topics. I think we realize now that the world is divergent. For the first time in a world of more than 8 billion, there are also more older people than ever before, just like we have more younger people than ever before. So, it will be up to you to understand the precursors to healthy, active longevity.

Countering the anti-rights, anti-gender movements will take all of us. Gender equality will benefit everyone, and of course men and boys. 

I would like to say to the young men who are delegates, in all your diversity, it is encouraging to me to see many of you stepping away from those old power dynamics and the roles that privilege men's choices over women's.

When we see models of positive masculinity, it makes a difference. When you speak up against gender-based violence, it influences younger boys who are watching you and look up to you. And change begins at home, in our hearts and in our mindsets – the heart and the brain.

For policy and decision makers, there is power on your side of the room as well. The solutions that you are bringing should be in tune with what young people are saying that they would like to see as change.

We should stand ready to amplify the voices of young people, to work shoulder to shoulder with them, to advance our common agenda globally, and as already has been said, also at home, at the country level, where it counts.

I often think that it's a bit overwhelming to be a young person growing up today.
The rapidity of change, the bombardment of misinformation and disinformation, and the lack of ability to have a frank conversation, it's really not fair.

Being an activist today, which you do by choice, is not an easy thing. But we embrace your altruism.

As you look around your world, if you face powerful opposition, it may be well-financed, it may be well-organized, but never will they match the determination that you have to keep those hard-won gains, the progress for women, for everyone who has been pushed to the margins. Because determination is what makes a difference.

Everyone in this room today is determined, determined to uphold the inherent dignity, the bodily autonomy, the human rights of every girl, every woman, every young person – every person on the planet – in all our beautiful diversities.

We are strong, and I believe that we will grow stronger. When you have opposition to an agenda, it only proves this. Throughout history, we've seen pushback always accompanies the big steps forward, the big progress.

So UNFPA encourages you to keep going, to take part in the betterment of your communities.

Young people, you are famous for your optimism, for your idealism. This is great. I have to agree with you that we have to try to make the world better than we find it right now.

So we find ways to end sexism, to end racism, to end discrimination.

We stop violence against women and girls. This includes ending female genital mutilation and child marriage. Touche pas à ma soeur!

We quell disinformation, and we protect each other from falsehoods.

I ask you to confront online threats – the bullying, the attacks that can harm young people's safety, well-being, and mental health.

And I say, aim for peace, that’s SDG 16.

Aim for decent human relationships – SDG17.

Aim for gender equality – SDG 5. For girls. For women. For boys and men. For everyone, including LGBTQI+ people. Anyone thought to be different. If they say you're disabled, you have special abilities.

With the right mindset, the potential is huge. Everyone belongs. That's what human rights say and that's what leave no one behind means.

And lastly, for health, this is a precondition for development, SDG 3. Know your body, know your boundaries so that you stay healthy in mind, in body, and in spirit as you move on to transform this world. 

And you're already doing it.

So young people, not just a demographic cohort, you're a force to be reckoned with, 1.9 billion strong. Step into that power. We will be with you.

Welcome to this ICPD30 Youth Dialogue! This is the worldwide opening of a year-long celebration of reproductive health and of human rights.

UNFPA will always stand with young people. We put young people first. That’s because we look to you. We embrace your leadership. The United Nations will need the recommendations that you’re providing here as we move towards September's Summit of the Future in New York.

So what happens in Cotonou must make that journey to the General Assembly Summit of the Future.

Be very active. Use your voice. Tell your stories and tell your experience.
That's needed – your full participation.

And more than anything, profound thanks. Thank you for stepping up. Thank you for believing that you can make a difference – and you will.

I love what you're doing, and I love you. Keep up the good work. Do the good thing. Do the right thing. Do well. And most of all, you do you.

Adelante! Forward!