Overturning of Roe v Wade abortion law a ‘huge blow to women’s human rights’ warns Bachelet

24 June 2022
United Nations

The widely anticipated Supreme Court decision, by six votes to three, was made in the specific case of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health, and Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that it represents a “major setback” for sexual and reproductive health across the US.

The historic decision returns all questions of legality and access to abortion, to the individual states.

Reacting earlier to the US ruling, without making specific reference to it, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that a staggering 45 per cent of all abortions around the world, are unsafe, making the procedure a leading cause of maternal death.

Continued: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/06/1121312

Time to stop sacrificing lives of Kenyan women and girls at the altar of religious fundamentalism

April 29, 2021
By Venoranda Kuboka, Josephine Achieng and Maureen Kemunto

We don’t talk about religious fundamentalism enough, especially its negative effects on the rights, health and dignity of women in Kenya.

Religious fundamentalism is one of the most pervasive social maladies in Kenyan today, especially to the lives of women because it has stigmatized, restricted and criminalized access to essential reproductive health services.

Continued: https://citizentv.co.ke/blogs/opinion-time-to-stop-sacrificing-lives-of-kenyan-women-and-girls-at-the-altar-of-religious-fundamentalism-10798167/

Kenya: Groups Want Kenya Out of Deal ‘Unfair’ to Women

26 NOVEMBER 2020
The Nation (Nairobi)
By Nasibo Kabale

In recent weeks, the country has witnessed a heated debate on the right to health for women as the Senate went into the second reading of the Reproductive Healthcare Bill.

What has been a bone of contention in the Bill is the right to access to sexual and reproductive healthcare as well as the termination of pregnancy which has led to many inaccurately branding it as the 'abortion Bill'. Unsafe abortion remains a leading cause of deaths and injuries related to pregnancy in Kenya.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202011270108.html

Countries called on to reaffirm commitment to ICPD agenda

Stevie Emilia and Rita Widiadana

The Jakarta Post, Tue, July 21, 2020

Just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic began wreaking havoc, leaders from across the globe, including Indonesia, reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of their people.

The commitments were made during the 25th anniversary of the landmark Program of Action of the International Conference of Population and Development (ICPD) in Nairobi in November 2019.

Continued: https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/07/21/countries-called-on-to-reaffirm-commitment-to-icpd-agenda.html

Women Activists Escalate Demand for “Bodily Autonomy” as 19 Nations Dissent

Women Activists Escalate Demand for “Bodily Autonomy” as 19 Nations Dissent

By Thalif Deen
Jan 17, 2020

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The United States and 18 other UN member states have come under fire for denying a woman’s legitimate right to “bodily autonomy”—the right to self-governance over one’s own body without coercion or external pressure.

The Executive Director of Women’s March Global, Uma Mishra-Newbery, told IPS the United Nations has worked towards progress in fighting for women’s rights.

Continued: http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/01/women-activists-escalate-demand-bodily-autonomy-19-nations-dissent/

US must lead the charge on global reproductive rights — not stand in the way

US must lead the charge on global reproductive rights — not stand in the way

By Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Opinion Contributor
Nov 18, 2019

For women to lead full productive lives, they must have the freedom to make the health care choices that are best for them. And when women and girls are healthy, educated and safe, their countries and the world are more secure and prosperous.

Alarmingly, the Trump administration is taking us in the wrong direction, amplified by recent activity at an important international conference where the U.S. adopted a counter-productive role, rallying countries to oppose internationally-accepted references to sexual and reproductive health and rights. That is why last week, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and I were joined by 36 members of Congress to introduce a resolution that calls on the U.S. to recognize reproductive rights as human rights and celebrates 25 years since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

Continued: https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/470869-us-must-lead-the-charge-on-global-reproductive-rights-not

Kenya – Scale up sexuality education to address maternal hitches

Scale up sexuality education to address maternal hitches

Irungu Houghton
16th Nov 2019

Exaggeration is the lazy tool of advocates attached to a cause. With it, dies truth and the possibility of common ground. This week’s International Conference on Population and Development attracted its share of half-truths, manipulated facts and lies. What is its significance for the next decade?

Seven thousand delegates attended this week’s conference to reflect how far the world has changed since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, 25 years ago. Rallied by the United Nations Population Fund, 179 governments placed women’s empowerment at the centre of poverty reduction and population control strategies for the first time. Women must have the right to choose the number and timing of their children was part of the quantum leap achieved in 1994. Rather than states controlling women’s fertility, signatories committed to providing universal education, broadening the range of reproductive and sexual health services and reducing infant and maternal mortality and female genital mutilation (FGM).

Continued: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001349594/scale-up-sexuality-education-to-address-maternal-hitches

US isolated at ‘failed’ anti-abortion summit in Nairobi

US isolated at ‘failed’ anti-abortion summit in Nairobi
Conservative protests against global development conference in Kenya fail to draw crowds, or derail commitments.

Nandini Archer, Claire Provost, Mary Fitzgerald
15 November 2019

US representatives found themselves isolated at a “failed” counter-summit, organised by religious conservative groups, to protest against the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) in Nairobi this week.

More than 9,500 people from 170 countries attended the three-day global summit, queuing for hours to get in on the opening day. Five people were rushed to hospital after fainting in the packed lines of delegates.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/us-isolated-at-failed-anti-abortion-summit-in-nairobi/

Kenya – What is comprehensive sexuality education? A life saver.

What is comprehensive sexuality education? A life saver.

14 November 2019

NAIROBI, Kenya – “If I had known about safe sex in my teens, my life would never have turned out this way,” said 21-year-old Sithu* from Myanmar. He contracted HIV two years ago, despite being intimate only twice with his partner at the time.

Like millions of young people around the world, Sithu had never received any kind of comprehensive sexuality education, in school or elsewhere.

Continued: https://www.unfpa.org/news/what-comprehensive-sexuality-education-life-saver

Tempers flare over ‘abortion agenda’ at reproductive health summit

Tempers flare over ‘abortion agenda’ at reproductive health summit

By PAULINE KAIRU
Nov 14, 2019

Disagreements continued to rock the controversy-ridden International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) forum in Nairobi Thursday.

This is after the United States and the European Union openly clashed over what the former claimed was a hidden pro-choice agenda, setting the stage for a global showdown over issues such as abortion and sex education for teenagers.

Continued: https://mobile.nation.co.ke/news/ICPD25--Tempers-flare-over-abortion-agenda/1950946-5349216-y4aerdz/index.html

14.11.2019