Addressing Inequities

I am pleased to join my distinguished colleagues today to discuss equity and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This is a very timely discussion as we see young people all over the world wanting participation, freedom, dignity and equity.

Let me just say from the start that addressing inequities is central to our work at UNFPA.

Guided by the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), UNFPA focuses on human rights, especially the right to sexual and reproductive health, for all.

We support countries to reach universal access to reproductive health by 2015, which is a target under MDG 5 to improve maternal health, which is a priority for UNFPA.

We work to reduce inequities in access to reproductive health, and this includes family planning, maternal healthcare and HIV prevention.

We advocate greater equity within national budgets to ensure higher spending on health and other essential social services. This is extremely important because in reality a budget reflects the actual priorities that are set to address inequities.

And far greater amounts need to be spent by governments to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of all.

People fall into poverty by paying for healthcare. So-called catastrophic health expenditures push more than 150 million people into poverty each year.

And many women refrain from seeking maternal healthcare because they cannot afford to pay for the services or the transportation to the health facility, which increases the rates of maternal death and injury.
In response, UNFPA is supporting countries to develop and roll-out innovative financing for sexual and reproductive health, such as equity funds, community insurance and voucher systems.
UNFPA takes a lead role in supporting the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health in countries with the highest rates of maternal and child mortality and morbidity.

We also lead the Campaign to end Fistula, which is active in nearly 50 countries. This campaign has helped countries to identify and map areas where women lack access to reproductive health services so that these inequities can be urgently addressed.

In every region, UNFPA is making efforts to increase access to reproductive health services to disadvantaged or vulnerable populations such as young people, rural communities, ethnic minorities, indigenous populations, and persons with disabilities.

Some encouraging progress is observed in several countries where UNFPA supports governments to reach the most vulnerable.

In countries such as Ecuador and Bolivia, for example, indigenous women are actively claiming their right to health and culturally sensitive health services that draw upon their rich knowledge.

In Bangladesh, rural women are organizing their communities to support comprehensive reproductive health resulting in declines in child and maternal mortality.

In Burkina Faso, disabled women are gaining access to health information and services.

And in many other countries, such as Cambodia, Mozambique and Malawi, adolescents and youth are engaged in sexual and reproductive health initiatives to reduce their vulnerability to violence, and prevent unplanned pregnancy and HIV.
In our work on HIV prevention, within the division of labour in UNAIDS, UNFPA is convener for the work in the area of HIV prevention among young people, sex workers, women and girls, all particularly vulnerable populations.

Through the United Nations Adolescent Girls Task Force, UNFPA is leading efforts to focus policy and programmatic attention on marginalized girls, especially those aged 10-14 years, to break the cycle of exclusion and exploitation.
I would also like to point out that UNFPA’s support for data and analysis helps countries identify inequities in their societies so that these can be addressed.

UNFPA focuses on engaging communities in policy dialogue so that the needs of marginalized populations are addressed in development and humanitarian policies and programmes.

When the global economic crisis hit, UNFPA took up the UN Social Protection Floor Initiative to promote universal access to essential social transfers and services.

It is clear that, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, we need to pay even greater attention to vulnerable and marginalized groups.

We need to engage and empower communities to exercise their rights, including right to health, and to bring about change from within.

Inequities need to be addressed through a multi sectoral approach, which requires strong and well-coordinated partnerships, and further commitment of the UN system to deliver as one to support the national governments in achieving their objectives.