Ipas joins other women's rights advocates to protect commitments made in Cairo ten years ago

Elizabeth Maguire, President and CEO of Ipas, today addressed the 37th session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development in New York City during its review of progress made in the decade since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). On behalf of Ipas and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), governments, health-care providers and other advocates, Maguire urged the Commission to reaffirm commitment to the ICPD recommendations and to support actions required to translate those recommendations into reality.

“If we are to achieve the goals of ICPD and the Fifth Millenium Development Goal to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters in the next decade,” said Maguire, “we must act on the knowledge we have and confront the needless deaths caused by unsafe abortion . . . There is a role for everyone, and everyone can do more. ”

The ICPD, held in Cairo in 1994, was a milestone in the history of women’s health and rights. At that historic gathering, governments recognized unsafe abortion as a “major public health concern” and agreed that “in circumstances where abortion is not against the law, such abortion should be safe.” By consensus, 179 countries adopted the Programme of Action, a 20-year plan for implementing ICPD recommendations.

Halfway through that 20-year plan, there is reason to celebrate. Many members of the international community, including governments and NGOs, have been working together over the past ten years to implement the reproductive-health and rights recommendations of the ICPD. Signs of progress include:

• Contraceptive use has increased in many countries, helping to prevent unintended pregnancies, and emergency contraception is steadily becoming more widely available.
• Abortion and postabortion services have improved, saving many women's lives.
• A number of countries have reformed their laws to permit women to end unwanted pregnancies under certain circumstances.
• In 2003, the World Health Organization issued Safe Abortion: Technical and Policy Guidance for Health Systems to facilitate implementation of safe abortion services around the world.

Despite this progress, well over half a million women have died from the complications of unsafe abortion during the past decade. Every year, close to 20 million women resort to unsafe abortion to end unwanted pregnancies. Of these women, almost 70,000 die and countless others suffer temporary or permanent injuries. Tragically, these deaths and injuries are almost entirely preventable: According to the World Health Organization, abortion is one of the safest medical procedures when performed by a skilled health-care provider under safe conditions and with modern methods.

Because unsafe abortion remains a leading cause of maternal mortality around the world, Ipas and other advocates are committed to keeping the abortion-related recommendations at the top of the agenda during the ICPD ten-year review this week. In addition to Maguire’s spoken address, Ipas has submitted a written statement to the Commission and will host a panel discussion on the ICPD recommendations. Ipas is also providing the opportunity for other NGOs to demonstrate their commitment to women’s health and rights by signing a petition which reads, in part:

We . . . call on all members of the international community to recognize unsafe abortion as a human rights and social justice issue and to remedy this injustice by ensuring access to safe abortion services, as well as to safe and effective contraceptive choices.

The petition also calls for an increase in the allocation of resources for women’s reproductive-health education and services and the reversal of current U.S. and international policies that threaten women’s health and rights. Maguire noted in her address that, unless such steps are taken, progress toward reducing pregnancy-related deaths of women, especially in the developing world, will be limited. “When the Commission on Population and Development convenes again a decade from now,” she asked, “will many policymakers still be hesitant to even speak about this most neglected and stigmatized aspect of reproductive health? Or will we be able to point to strong evidence that the world is respecting and supporting the ICPD principle of ‘women’s ability to control their own fertility?’”.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258