Our societies and economies cannot thrive without access to comprehensive sexual reproductive health and rights for all: Deputy Foreign Secretary at the UN General Assembly
Statement by Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell at the United Nations General Assembly 57th session of the Commission on Population and Development.
Excellencies, 30 years ago, 179 countries adopted a forward-looking programme of action.
It established a global consensus on the critical link between population and sustainable development. Sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls was at the heart of it.
Since then, unintended pregnancies have fallen by 20%, the number of women using contraception has doubled and over 60 countries have improved access to abortion services.
Britain will continue to play its part in sustaining this incredible progress.
We want a world where by 2030 all women, adolescents and girls have agency over their lives and have control over their bodies. A world where girls and women can make informed choices on when, if, and how many children they wish to have. Whether and when. Their decision, their choice.
And a world where they can give birth safely, free from coercion and violence. As we look toward the Summit of the Future, we must prioritise these goals in the post-2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
Britain is investing in a whole range of user-friendly SRHR services – ensuring they can access the information, advice and care they need. This includes contraception, access to abortion services, maternal health care services, comprehensive sexuality education, and HIV prevention and care.
Last year, the European Parliamentary Forum ranked Britain highest in the region for our dedication to achieving SRHR for all.
We have come so far but now face our toughest challenges yet.
Between 2016 and 2020, maternal mortality rates have stagnated. Appallingly, female genital mutilation has increased by 15%. And a quarter of women still cannot make decisions about their health care in as many as 69 countries.
We face new global challenges such as climate and demographic change, and increased digitisation of health services.
This makes it all the more important to provide widely available services which are easy both to access and understand.
That is why we should ensure everyone has access to modern family planning, sex and relationship education, abortion services, and maternal and newborn health care.
We should keep finding new ways, like telemedicine, to improve access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Our societies and economies cannot thrive without access to comprehensive SRHR for all.
These services and rights must be protected and better financed as a matter of urgency if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
It is very much a matter of concern that some choose to ignore the evidence and undo the progress we have made collectively over the last three decades, and even seek to reverse them.
Britain remains steadfast and more determined than ever in its commitment to ICPD and its principles. That is why I am announcing today new UK funding of over $7.5m for a new maternal and newborn health and rights programme and later this year we intend to go much further and hope very much that others will choose to join us.
Only by supporting the rights and choices of women and girls to decide for themselves whether and when they have children can we secure a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable future for all of us.
Thank you Chair, Excellencies for your time.