There is a clear link between universal health coverage, including Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and lifting women out of poverty: UK statement at the UN
Statement by Ambassador Archie Young at the UN for the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
Mr Chair, I would like to thank you and the bureau for your leadership throughout this session. And I would like to give particular thanks to Ambassador Brandt and her team for their excellent facilitation, especially in such unprecedented circumstances.
CSW68 has played host to meaningful dialogues between ministers, civil society and leading experts. And alongside this, we have collectively renewed our commitments to the pursuit of gender equality.
As ever, we acknowledge the contribution of civil society to CSW. Their presence and determination inspire us and remind us why we are here.
This year’s theme on the reduction of poverty is essential for the full, effective, and
accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda.
Tackling the underlying causes and drivers of poverty are key. For that reason, we championed the necessity of quality education for girls, preventing and eliminating gender-based violence, and ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights.
We approached these negotiations with a desire to find an outcome agreeable to all.
And, we welcome agreement on this text, which serves to respond to the root causes of gender inequality, highlight the need to reform the international financial architecture, as well as championing gender-responsive economic and social policies.
However, we were disappointed that we were not able to agree on the importance of sexual and reproductive health and rights, particularly as it relates so closely to this year’s theme.
There is a clear link between universal health coverage, which includes SRHR, and lifting women out of poverty and breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
We also want to emphasise we had hoped to secure gender transformative commitments and were disappointed that discussions have lowered to only gender responsive and sensitive.
We also regret that this negotiation saw false dichotomies between human rights and development, and between gender language and issues such as debt. In the future, we should seek to avoid gender issues from becoming a bargaining chip within wider debates.
Finally, we thank you and all Member States for the constructive debates. We are committed to actioning the Agreed Conclusions and look forward to next year’s thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action.