Overview
Increasingly, when the term “reproductive rights” is proposed in UN documents, States have tied its definition to the agreements negotiated in ICPD and Beijing with the following language: “reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development [ICPD] and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.”
On its face, the “outcome documents” language originally appeared to refer to the outcome documents of the traditional ICPD and Beijing +5, +10 and +20 conferences negotiated by all UN Member States. This is because when the outcome documents language was first proposed at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in 2013, those were the only kind of review outcome documents in existence, so it was adopted with no opposition.
Once this language was adopted, however, UNFPA held regional review conferences for ICPD and a youth ICPD review—reviews that it could more easily manipulate than UN negotiations to advance UNFPA’s covert LGBT and abortion rights agenda. In other words, it seems UNFPA planned at the CSW 2013 to have references to the outcome documents refer to future review outcome documents for Beijing and ICPD that were not even in existence at the time. A deceptive plan indeed.
Then at CSW 2014, UNFPA worked overtime lobbying to get the phrase adopted again to modify “sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development [ICPD] and the Beijing Platform for Action.” At the same time it also aggressively lobbied to get specific references endorsing outcome documents from UNFPA’s controversial regional ICPD review conferences, but UNFPA was rebuffed in those efforts because some of the regional reviews were very controversial and completely unacceptable to a number of UN Member States. So UNFPA instead turned its focus from the reference to outcome documents from regional review conferences, back to the more ambiguous, elastic reference to outcome documents from ICPD and Beijing review conferences in general, likely counting on the fact that most delegations were unaware that this language could also encompass the controversial regional reviews they were unable to get endorsed openly.
When UNFPA and the developed countries supporting them met stark resistance to even the more general reference at the 2014 CSW, the government of the Netherlands, urged on by UNFPA and representing a number of UN Member States known to promote the sexual/abortion rights agenda, proposed a hostile amendment to add a reference to the outcome documents of the review conferences of ICPD and Beijing in a resolution on HIV/AIDS and the girl child. This was only the second time this term had ever been proposed. The amendment was so controversial it had to go to a vote, and unfortunately, the term was adopted, but not without a substantial number of countries voting against its adoption.
Ever since then, the phrase has been pushed for any time “reproductive rights” is modified by “in accordance with” Beijing and ICPD. The question is, why do Western countries want this phrase so badly that they push for it and refuse to back down and will even call for a vote on it? The feeling in the room after this language was adopted at the CSW in 2014 was that there must be a hidden agenda behind the language. Indeed an ulterior motive must exist because the governments that push for the phrase as a matter of priority adamantly oppose any proposal to clarify it in the text or to list the specific documents to which it refers.
In fact, in spite of great opposition from a number of States, this phrase was also later adopted as part of SDG target 5.6, which is highly problematic for the following reasons:
Problems with the phrase “outcome documents of review conferences.”
- None of the highly controversial 20-year reviews of ICPD were openly negotiated by all Member States and then adopted by the UNGA.
- UNFPA conducted an operational review titled “ICPD Beyond 2014”[1]that contains more than 500 highly controversial references, including 391 references to “sexual,” 25 references to “sexual orientation,” six references to “prostitution,” four references to “transgender,” 18 references to “comprehensive sexuality education,” 44 references to “sexual and reproductive rights,” and 173 references to “abortion.”
- Just one example from the chart below, the outcome document of the 20-year thematic “human rights” review of ICPD hosted by the Netherlands has:
65 references to “abortion”
52 references to “sexual and reproductive rights”
23 references to “reproductive rights”
18 references to “sexual and reproductive health and rights”
12 references to “sex work” or “workers”
14 references to “comprehensive sexuality education”
8 references to “sexual orientation and gender identity”
5 references to “transgender”
- This phrase could imply endorsements of future review outcome documents for ICPD and Beijing that have not even been negotiated yet.
- It is dangerous to endorse or affirm broad categories of documents without specifying each document by name.
- Ironically, adding this language actually expands the definition of reproductive rights to include not only a more explicit right to abortion, but also to encompass additional LGBT rights, because some of the “outcome documents” and “review conferences” promote LGBT and abortion rights explicitly. The ICPD outcome document from the Bali Global Youth Forum review of ICPD led by UNFPA calls for the legalization of prostitution, same-sex marriage, abortion, the abolishing of parental consent laws, access for youth to abortion and comprehensive sexuality education, LGBT rights, and more.
- The outcome documents of some of the regional reviews of ICPD promote sexual rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, prostitution, comprehensive sexuality education, and more.
- Since “the outcome documents of their review conferences” modifies “reproductive rights,”and since a number of these outcome documents promote LGBT and abortion rights, this phrase could also be used to interpret “reproductive rights” to include access to abortion and access for same-sex couples to reproductive technologies, surrogacy arrangements, or the adoption of children. In fact, the term “reproductive rights” alone has even been used to promote such rights for LGBT persons. (See the “Reproductive Rights” section for additional information.)
- The fact that this phrase was adopted in the SDGs does not mean it has to be accepted if it is proposed in future documents, and it should never be accepted in a binding document.
Talking Points
1. Can we be provided with a list of all the documents to which this phrase intends to refer? We cannot accept this term unless the documents it is referring to are specified by name. Can we list them here or add them in a footnote?
[Comment: If the other side refuses to replace this vague language with a list of the documents they are referring to, then it will be clear they plan to use it to recognize controversial regional or controversial past outcome documents or future documents yet to be negotiated. What other reason could they have for opposing such a reasonable request?]
2. Is this intended to refer to either the regional review outcome documents or UNFPA’s operational review? If not, how do we make that more clear?
3. Is the term “outcome documents” meant to refer to future outcome documents of review conferences? If so, how can we reaffirm something that has not yet been negotiated? If not, how can we make that clear?
4. Can we specify with a footnote or a reference in the text that this refers to outcome documents “as adopted by the UN General Assembly” to make sure it does not apply to regional documents or other documents that are not agreed upon by all UN Member States?
[Comment: Again, the degree to which these requests are refused are the degree to which you can know there is an ulterior motive behind the outcome document language.]
Additional Resources
CHART OF DIRECT QUOTES:
ICPD Review “Outcome Documents” and “Follow-Ups”
The chart below provides direct quotes from the following ICPD 20-year review “outcome documents”:
- UNFPA’s culminating 20-year Global Review of ICPD summarizing all the thematic and regional reviews
- Five UNFPA-led regional ICPD review outcome documents
- The UNFPA-led youth ICPD review outcome document – The Bali Youth Declaration
- The “Women’s Health” ICPD review outcome document
- The UN General Assembly review of ICPD that UNFPA calls an official ICPD “follow-up”
- The “Human Rights” ICPD review outcome document (the most radical review of all)
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Important Background For the following reasons, States should strongly oppose any references to ICPD review “outcome documents” or ICPD “follow-ups” unless qualified by “as adopted by the UN General Assembly”:
1. Most of the multiple 20-year ICPD review outcome documents aggressively promote abortion and controversial sexual rights that conflict with the laws, culture and religions of many Member States. (See excerpts below).
2. None of the 20-year ICPD review outcome documents were negotiated transparently by all States and/or adopted transparently by the full UN General Assembly (UNGA). The strategy to use ICPD review outcome documents was pre-planned by UNFPA. They knew they couldn’t get their radical agendas adopted if the 20-year review was done the traditional way with all UN Member State experts at the negotiation table. In fact, they were afraid that open negotiations by all States might result in a setback to their abortion/sexual rights agenda. So, UNFPA and their allied partner countries concocted a scheme whereby they could host and, therefore, manipulate multiple thematic and regional 20-year ICPD reviews away from the New York experts who understand and would have opposed all the deceptive terms they use. UNFPA then simply summarized their manipulated regional and thematic ICPD review outcome documents in their Global ICPD Beyond 2014 Report, passing that document off as the 20-year global review “follow-up” for ICPD, even though it was never negotiated. A clever plan indeed. And, the result is a global ICPD review and “follow up” document that includes over 130 highly controversial references. (See below.)
3. The language referring to ICPD review “outcome documents” and/or ICPD “follow-ups” is intentionally vague and elastic, so it also could refer to future outcome documents of reviews that have not yet even been conducted. For example, the first time this ICPD review “outcome document” language was adopted was in 2013 at CSW 57, immediately before the series of pre-planned radical UNFPA-led 20-year reviews (excerpted below) were conducted, and before anyone knew how controversial the multiple thematic and regional ICPD review outcome documents would be. This was intentional to get the upcoming radical review endorsed in advance and then to make it harder to oppose it in subsequent documents since it would already be agreed language.
4. UNFPA manipulated all of the regional ICPD reviews, the youth ICPD review, and others, and even outright lied in their purported UNGA ICPD review document (see below) in order to promote abortion, comprehensive sexuality education, LGBT rights and more.
5. UNFPA and their abortion-minded partner Member States invested millions of dollars putting on these multiple, manipulative review conferences for ICPD in order to insert their radical agendas to the farthest extent possible in each of the ICPD “outcome documents” and “follow-ups” (excerpted below). And they have been determined to get them deceptively endorsed in all negotiated UN documents ever since.
Note: While the regional 20-year ICPD reviews may have been negotiated by governments at the regional level, UNFPA heavily manipulated those governments during the reviews to include controversial terms and phrases that might otherwise have been rejected by many of their UN experts who understand better than their regional counterparts how controversial terms would be interpreted. |
FRAMEWORK OF ACTIONS for the follow-up to the Programme of Action FRAMEWORK OF ACTIONS of the International Conference of Population and Development Beyond 2014 (Also known as the “ICPD Beyond 2014 Report,” this document purports to be a summary of all of the regional and other 20-year reviews of ICPD and the call to action for all States based on those review outcome documents.)
Background: This non-negotiated document known as the “ICPD Beyond 2014 Report” or the “Framework of Actions,” purports to be the major global 20-year ICPD review outcome document. It calls itself a “follow-up” to ICPD encompassing all of the UNFPA-led thematic and regional review outcome documents of ICPD. There is no other 20-year UN global review outcome document for ICPD other than this one.
Quotes from “ICPD Beyond 2014 Report”:
“As mandated by the UN General Assembly, the Framework of Actions also builds on the outcome documents from three major thematic ICPD reviews – on youth, human rights and women’s health: … ICPD Review: Bali Global Youth Forum, ICPD Beyond 2014 International Conference on Human Rights Conference Report, ICPD Beyond 2014 Expert Group Meeting on Women’s Health: Rights, Empowerment and Social Determinants.”
The “ICPD Beyond 2014 Report” has 191 references to “abortion,” for example:
“PRIORITY DEFINITIONS: 1. Abortion: Captures all priorities pertaining to abortion including addressing unsafe abortion, promoting access to safe abortion services, post abortion care, reducing the number of abortions and legal reform around abortion.”
Abortion 504 d) “Ensure that all women have ready access to safe, good-quality abortion services”
“The role of NGO providers may nonetheless be crucial to the provision of comprehensive coverage of sexual and reproductive health, to ensure the provision of key services such as abortion.”
“371. States should remove legal barriers preventing women and girls from access to safe abortion, including revising restrictions within existing abortion laws, in order to safeguard the lives of women and girls and, where abortion is legal, ensure that all women have ready access to safe, good-quality abortion services.”
“Other soft law: Since 1994 human rights standards have evolved to strengthen and expand States’ obligations regarding abortion. In a series of concluding observations, treaty monitoring bodies have highlighted the relationship between restrictive abortion laws, maternal mortality and unsafe abortion; condemned absolute bans on abortion; and urged States to eliminate punitive measures against women and girls who undergo abortions and providers who deliver abortion services. Further, treaty monitoring bodies have emphasized that, at a minimum, States should decriminalize abortion and ensure access to abortion when the pregnancy poses a risk to a woman’s health or life, where there is severe foetal abnormality, and where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. However, the Human Rights Committee noted that such exceptions might be insufficient to ensure women’s human rights, and that where abortion is legal it must be accessible, available, acceptable and of good quality.”
The “ICPD Beyond 2014 Report” has 14 references to “comprehensive sexuality education,” for example:
“States should design and implement comprehensive sexuality education programme”
“The regional reviews and outcomes [of ICPD] stressed the importance of designing and implementing effective, ‘comprehensive sexuality education’ that addresses the key elements linking the five thematic pillars of the operational review.”
“Comprehensive sexuality education – Binding Instruments: Binding instruments. The Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Youth (2005; entry into force 2008) recognizes that “the right to education also includes the right to sexual education” and that “[s]exual education shall be taught at all educational levels.”
“Comprehensive sexuality education . . . The Programme of Action called on Governments to provide sexuality education to adolescents.”
“Safeguarding the rights of young people and investing in their quality education, decent employment opportunities, effective livelihood skills and access to sexual and reproductive health and comprehensive sexuality education strengthen young people’s individual resilience.”
The “ICPD Beyond 2014 Report” has 20 references to “sex work,” for example:
“With 116 countries criminalizing some aspect of sex work, sex workers face deeply rooted stigma, as well as institutionalized discrimination through legal and policy environments that reinforce and exacerbate their vulnerabilities. . . Criminalization of sex work limits their political voice and collective representation”
“States should decriminalize adult, voluntary sex work in order to recognize the right of sex workers to work without coercion, violence or risk of arrest”
The “ICPD Beyond 2014 Report” has 10 references to SRHR, for example:
“The International Conference recognized the centrality of sexual and reproductive health and rights”
The “ICPD Beyond 2014 Report” has 4 references to “sexual orientation and gender identity,” for example:
“259. The operational review showed that persons with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities in parts of the world suffer from the risk of harassment and physical violence. The outcomes of the regional reviews reinforced the importance of the principles of freedom and equality in dignity and rights as well as non-discrimination. Structural violence in the form of homonegativity marginalizes and dehumanizes persons of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity, hindering their capacity to fully contribute to society, and denying them the civil rights that are typically afforded to other persons. The commitment to individual well-being cannot coexist with tolerance of hate crimes or any other form of discrimination against any person.
“human rights principles related to equality and non-discrimination have unfortunately remained unrealized for many groups, principal among them girls and women, and persons of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity. In some countries, laws banning certain consensual adult sexual behaviour and relationships, including relations outside of marriage remain in force.”
“States the rights of and the international community should express grave concern at acts of violence, discrimination and hate crimes committed against individuals on the grounds of their sexual orientation and gender identity. National leaders should advocate for all persons, without distinction of any kind.”
https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/event-pdf/93632_unfpa_eng_web.pdf
Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development—Montevideo (Latin American and Caribbean regional review)
“42. Ensure, in those cases where abortion is legal or decriminalized under the relevant national legislation, the availability of safe, good-quality abortion services for women with unwanted and unaccepted pregnancies, and urge States to consider amending their laws, regulations, strategies and public policies relating to the voluntary termination of pregnancy in order to protect the lives and health of women and adolescent girls, to improve their quality of life and to reduce the number of abortions;”
“11. Ensure the effective implementation from early childhood of comprehensive sexuality education programmes, recognizing the emotional dimension of human relationships, with respect for the evolving capacity of the child and the informed decisions of adolescents and young people regarding their sexuality, from a participatory, intercultural, gender-sensitive, and human rights perspective;”
“46. Guarantee sufficient financial, human and technological resources in order to provide universal sexual health care and reproductive health care for women and men alike, without any form of discrimination.
“Considering that discrimination and violence on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity places persons of diverse sexuality in a vulnerable position, preventing their access to equality and to the full exercise of citizenship,”
“57. Enforce existing policies and adopt, on the one hand, preventative and punitive measures, and on the other measures for protecting and caring for women in order to eradicate all forms of violence and stigma against women in public and private spheres, especially the gender motivated violent murder of girls and women, and ensure effective and universal access to fundamental services for all victims and survivors of gender-based violence, with special attention to women in high-risk situations, such as older women, pregnant women, women with disabilities, culturally diverse groups, sex workers, women living with HIV/AIDS, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals, Afro-descendent, indigenous and migrant women, women living in border areas, asylum-seekers and victims of trafficking;”
https://www.cepal.org/celade/noticias/documentosdetrabajo/9/50709/2013-596-montevideo_consensus_pyd.pdf
Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development in Africa Beyond 2014—Addis Ababa (African regional ICPD review)
“17. Adopt and protect the human rights of all individuals, without distinction of any kind, and guarantee equality before the law and non-discrimination for all people, in accordance with national policies, laws, religious, ethical values and cultural backgrounds;”
“18. Promulgate, where absent, and enforce laws to prevent and punish any kind of hate crimes without distinction of any kind, and take active steps to protect all persons from discrimination, stigmatization and violence; in accordance with national laws and policies;”
“35. Enact and enforce laws and policies within the national political and legal framework to respect and protect sexual and reproductive health and rights of all individuals;”
Note: Algeria, Benin, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sierra Leone, The Sudan, and Tunisia issued reservations on the three paragraphs listed here, but the reservations are not noted in the outcome document.
https://www.icpdtaskforce.org/pdf/2013-10-04-Declaration-on-Population-and-Development-in-Africa-beyond-2014.pdf
Development Challenges and Population Dynamics in a Changing Arab World” Regional Population Conference League of Arab States & ESCWA—Cairo (Arab regional ICPD review)
“52. Make available culturally and age appropriate sexuality education, in and out of school, which addresses gender and life skills differences, . . . which is necessary for young people to be able to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy, HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and to promote values of tolerance, mutual respect and refrain from all forms of violence;”
“55. Design and implement public education campaigns and community mobilization on human rights and laws related to sexual and reproductive health and protection of reproductive rights and reinforce a culture of acceptance, respect, non-discrimination and non-violence;”
“57. Amend or enact laws and policies in order to provide high quality sexual and reproductive health services and to protect the reproductive rights of all and enable all individuals to enjoy the highest level of reproductive health without discrimination;”
https://arabstates.unfpa.org/webdav/site/as/shared/docs/2013_Cairo_Declaration_English.pdf
Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development—Bangkok (ICPD regional Asia/Pacific review)
Background: This was a review of the progress and remaining challenges in the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development in Asia and the Pacific and proposed thematic priorities for the development agenda beyond 2015.
“124. Integrate responses to gender-based violence in all sexual and reproductive health services and programmes, as part of a broader, multisectoral, coordinated response, including within maternal, newborn and child, adolescent and youth health, family planning and HIV-related services, and ensure that all victims and survivors of violence have immediate access to critical services, including emergency contraception and safe abortion;”
“132. Review, and where appropriate, repeal laws that punish women and girls who have undergone illegal abortions, where applicable, as well as end their imprisonment for such acts, bearing in mind that in no circumstances should abortion be considered as a family planning method;”
“7. Reaffirming the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration and its Programme of Action as well as other international instruments relating to all human rights, including the right to development and international law, and emphasizing the responsibilities of all States, in conformity with the Charter, to respect, protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability or other status,”
“83. Expressing grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination committed against individuals on the grounds of their sexual orientation and gender identity,”
“84. Work to reduce vulnerability and eliminate discrimination based on sex, gender, age, race, caste, class, migrant status, disability, HIV status and sexual orientation and gender identity, or other status;”
“120. Address the legal and policy barriers that impede access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, particularly among key affected populations, including sex workers, persons who inject drugs and men who have sex with men, transgender and mobile populations;”
“12. Some delegations reported on measures to ensure sexual and reproductive health and rights to all individuals without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“47. Some delegations stated that their countries recognized persons with different sexual orientations and gender identities and the associated need to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
https://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/news/2013/APPC6_WP1ER3.pdf
UNECE Regional Conference Enabling Choices: Population Priorities for the 21st Century, Chair’s Summary (No negotiated text)—Geneva (Regional)
“13. Participants also called for the removal of legal barriers preventing women and girls from access to safe abortion services, and for protecting the rights of people living with HIV to access sexual and reproductive health services and education.”
“15. Participants recommended that professional groups such as health care providers, members of the judiciary, teachers, social workers, and law enforcement personnel be provided with training to enhance their understanding of human rights-based, gender-sensitive and responsive, non-discriminatory approaches to all individuals, regardless of age, sex, race, ethnicity, class, religious affiliation, marital status, occupation, disability, HIV status, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, immigration status, or language.”
“22. Participants noted that laws and practices that criminalize consensual adult sexual behaviors and relationships, including outside of marriage and including those of voluntary sex work, potentially marginalize the status of individuals in society, while constituting a public health threat.”
“26. Participants noted the diversity in the forms of the family in the region and called for appropriate public policy responses, responsive legal frameworks, and support, including financial support, facilitating work-life reconciliation providing quality early childhood education, and quality care for both children and older persons.”
https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/pau/icpd/Conference/Other_documents/Chair-s-Summary.pdf
ICPD Youth Forum Bali Declaration—Bali (Youth ICPD review led by UNFPA and IPPF)
Note: This alleged youth review of ICPD was nothing more than a deceptive ploy by UNFPA to bring in activist youth groomed by Planned Parenthood (a co-convener of this forum) to promote radical abortion and sexual rights as part of the youth review of ICPD. This “outcome document” for the 20-year review of ICPD claims to be what youth across the world are demanding from government using their radical IPPF-manipulated interpretations of ICPD.
Access to health services
“Governments must provide, monitor and evaluate universal access to a basic package of youth-friendly health services (including mental healthcare and sexual and reproductive health services) that are high quality, integrated, equitable, comprehensive, affordable, needs and rights based, accessible, acceptable, confidential and free of stigma and discrimination for all young people. As part of this basic package governments must provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services that include safe and legal abortion, maternity care, contraception, HIV and STI prevention, care, treatment and counseling to all young people.”
Laws and policies
“Governments and UN agencies should support the sexual and reproductive rights of young people including ensuring access to legal and safe abortion that is affordable, accessible and free from coercion, discrimination and stigma, providing support and protection mechanisms that promote the right to choose.”
“Governments should implement financially sustainable policies and legal frameworks that protect, promote and fulfill the reproductive and sexual rights of all young people, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identities.”
Sexual rights
“Governments must fund and develop, in equal partnership with young people and health care providers, policies, laws, and programs that recognize, promote, and protect young peoples’ sexual rights as human rights. This must be developed in accordance with the principles of human rights, non-discrimination, respect, equality and inclusivity, with a gendered, multicultural and secular approach.* (Note: This asterisk was a reference to the WHO working definition of sexual rights, the Yogyakarta Principles, and Sexual Rights: an IPPF Declaration)
“Cultural and religious barriers such as parental and spousal consent, and early and forced marriages, should never prevent access to family planning, safe and legal abortion, and other reproductive health services – recognizing that young people have autonomy over their own bodies, pleasures, and desires.”
“Governments must repeal laws and regulations that permit violence and/or discrimination against young people, especially those who are marginalized, including laws that limit same-sex marriage, and criminalize YPLHIV and LGBTQI.”
“Governments should decriminalize abortion, and create and implement policies and programs that ensure young women have access to safe and legal abortion, pre- and post-abortion services, without mandatory waiting periods, requirements for parental and spousal notification and/or consent or age of consent.”
“Comprehensive sexuality education should be developed in partnership with young people and include information on sexual orientation and gender identities that is free of religious intolerance.”
Families
“The concept of the family is constantly evolving and governments must recognize this by adapting legal, policy and programmatic frameworks that embrace every form of family* and ensure the right of everyone to form a family, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
(Forms of families include but are not limited to: single parenthood, same sex couples, traditional, temporarily separated, displaced, child-led/headed, divorced, cohabitating, fostered, grandparents raising children, couples without children, migrants, extended and LGBTQI.)”
Final Recommendations from Thematic Session 1: Staying Healthy
“Ensuring accountability, transparency and the need for implementation as a cross cutting theme across all recommendations, with special focus particularly on LGBTQI, MSM, drug users, refugees, rural populations, out-of-school, sex workers, indigenous, afro-descendant populations, migrants, young people in conflict and emergency situations, empowering young women and adolescent girls, persons with disabilities, young people living with HIV and AIDS.”
https://icpdbeyond2014.org/uploads/browser/files/bali_global_youth_forum_declaration.pdf
The ICPD Youth Forum in Bali was co-sponsored by UNFPA to: “produce recommended actions for the outcome report of the review and for the post-2015 United Nations development agenda, as well as to generate a new consensus on putting youth rights at the heart of development.”
ICPD Beyond 2014 Expert Group Meeting on Women’s Health: Rights, Empowerment and Social Determinants– Follow-up to the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development beyond 2014—Mexico (ICPD thematic review published by UNFPA)
Background (quoted from the document): “The ICPD Beyond 2014 Coordinating Secretariat, as part of the global review of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, and in collaboration with WHO, convened an expert meeting from 29 September to 2 October, 201 in Mexico City, Mexico. It complements the ICPD Beyond 2014 International Conference on Human Rights hosted by the Netherlands in July 2013, and the Global Youth Forum hosted by Indonesia in December 2012, by focusing on the health, empowerment and human rights specifically of women and girls. The primary purpose of the meeting was to generate recommendations on effective ways to accelerate progress toward universal access to an integrated package of core sexual and reproductive health services, and protection of the sexual and reproductive rights of girls and women for both the ICPD Beyond 2014 Global Report and the post 2015 development agenda. Participants in the meeting included experts and officials from 21 countries, 5 UN agencies including WHO, the World Bank, UNDP, UN-Women, and UNFPA, 7 international organizations, 6 youth organizations, a scientific journal, 4 universities in the North, and 2 foundations.”
71 references to abortion, for example:
“Recommendation 1: Governments must specifically plan to reduce inequalities in SRHR through the following actions: a. Reorient the primary health care system to provide SRH information and services as one of its key priorities, with effective referral to higher levels of SRH care such as . . . essential core SRH services (contraception, safe abortion, maternity care, STI and HIV prevention and treatment) in both supply and demand side financing schemes; c. Remove legal, policy and regulatory barriers to the availability and accessibility of SRHR services and information, especially those that restrict adolescents’ access, and those that restrict specific SRH services, such as emergency contraception and safe abortion” “Recommendation 7: Actions, especially by governments and international partners, must be taken to increase access to safe and legal abortion”
4 references to “comprehensive sexuality education, for example:
“Recommendation 10: Governments, with the support of donors, the international community and other stakeholders including adolescents, must make comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), in line with the current gold standard, available to all adolescents, especially those ages 10 to 14, in and out of school.”
SRHR: “The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and subsequent intergovernmental meetings established global consensus on the importance of universal access to sexual and reproductive health, and protection of reproductive rights (SRHR).”
https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/event-pdf/womens_health_english.pdf
ICPD Beyond 2014 International Conference on Human Rights [outcome document of the human rights review conference of ICPD] (ICPD thematic review hosted by the Netherlands, UNFPA and the OHCHR)
Background (quoted from the outcome document): “In conformity with General Assembly resolution 65/234 and the related concept note for the ICPD beyond 2014 review consulted with the General Assembly, the ICPD Beyond 2014 International Conference on Human Rights was held in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, from 7 to 10 July 2013. Organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Government of the Netherlands, the conference brought together over 300 participants from 127 UN Member States, civil society organizations, academia, parliamentarians, human rights defenders, young people, and service providers, as well as United Nations agencies.
65 references to “abortion”
52 references to “sexual and reproductive rights”
23 references to “reproductive rights”
18 references to “sexual and reproductive health and rights”
12 references to “sex work” or “workers”
14 references to “comprehensive sexuality education”
8 references to “sexual orientation and gender identity”
5 references to “trangender”
REFERENCE TO SEXUAL RIGHTS
“Since the Programme of Action was adopted, states have also adopted a number of consensus documents and resolutions that reflect a growing political commitment to sexual rights. Treaty bodies have developed clear guidance to remove legal and other obstacles that prevent individuals from realizing human rights as these relate to sexuality.”
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/ICP_%20Beyond_2014_International_Thematic_Conference/Report_of_the_ICPD_Beyond_2014_International_Conference_on_Human_Rights.pdf
The 29th United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the follow-up to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development Beyond 2014 (United Nations General Assembly ICPD Follow- Up)
Important Background: This is a very deceptive report that claims to be the UNGA “follow-up” for ICPD. Yet, this alleged UN General Assembly ICPD “follow up” is nothing more than what UNFPA cherry-picked from a few of the more radical Member State GA statements given at a UNGA session on ICPD in an attempt to make it look like the entire General Assembly was calling for abortion, CSE, SRHR and more. The UNGA as a whole would never have agreed to this and it shows how low UNFPA will stoop to push its radical agenda.
Abortion
“Member States also identified access to comprehensive integrated sexual and reproductive health and rights as a priority of the global development agenda beyond 2014 and considered this essential to poverty reduction and to sustainable development. They noted that alongside modern methods of contraception, access to safe abortion and post-abortion care would go a long way toward reducing maternal mortality and morbidity.”
Comprehensive Sexuality Education
“Comprehensive sexuality education was seen as instrumental in removing barriers to access and increasing adequate utilization of contraception among adolescents and youth.”
“Member States proposed that universal access to the right to sexual and reproductive health be prioritized in the post-2015 development agenda, and expressed their support for all efforts concerning education including comprehensive sexuality education, especially for girls as well as boys.”
Sexual and Reproductive Rights
“Member States emphasized their determination to ensure that gender equality, women’s empowerment, and sexual and reproductive health and rights are firmly embedded in the post-2015 development agenda.”
“accelerate progress towards achieving universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health services and the fulfilment of sexual and reproductive rights for all.”
“Member States reaffirmed their commitments to the principles, charters and protocols that advance the agenda of population and development, particularly the provision of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights and enhance the decision-making powers of women and youth at all levels.”
“Member States emphasized the need to ensure that each woman and each girl is able to exercise her fundamental rights, including her sexual and reproductive rights, and that each woman and each girl has access to equal opportunities and can live her life free from all forms of violence.”
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
“Member States committed themselves to uphold anti-discrimination laws and policies that address intersecting forms of discrimination, including those based on age, sex, economic status, language, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and other social categories.”
https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/ICPD_UNGASS_REPORT_for_website.pdf
[1] United Nations. (2014). Framework of Actions for the follow-up to the Programme of Action of the International Conference of Population and Development Beyond 2014. Retrieved from https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/event-pdf/93632_unfpa_eng_web.pdf