Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin Opens Second Plenary of IWS

The afternoon session of the first day of the International Women’s Summit on the theme “Securing Sexual and Reproductive Rights for Women” began with an enriching speech by Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, the Executive Director of UNFPA. He was joined on the panel by Jan Beagle, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS; Lisette Herrera, President, YWCA of Peru; Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro, Director, Population Programme, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; and Gill Greer, Director General, International Planned Parenthood Federation. The panel was moderated by Joanna Kerr, Executive Director of Action Aid International and Hendrica Okondo, World YWCA Global Programme Manager SRHR and HIV and Regional Focal Point for Africa.

Dr. Osotimehin called for the human rights of girls and women to be recognised, “As our population approaches seven billion, every person should be able to enjoy human rights and human dignity…The right to sexual and reproductive health is essential to women’s empowerment, gender equality, and sustainable development.” He highlighted the plights women are facing all over the world, including fighting for family planning rights, being subjected to violence, being forced into child marriage and young motherhood, and being particularly vulnerable to HIV. Dr. Osotimehin confirmed the commitment of UNFPA to young women’s leadership: “I believe that adolescent girls are the unexpected solution to many of the world’s most pressing problems, provided we join efforts to unleash their power and potential. Empowering girls today means a better tomorrow for all of us.”

Jan Beagle shared one of her earliest memories of participating in a YWCA programme as a young child. With regards to the theme of the Summit and to the HIV prevention work being done through UNAIDS, she stated, “We have identified gender equality and human rights as one of the three pillars of our strategy going forward.” She stressed the importance of countries knowing the epidemic and responding accordingly, including using a gender-based approach, “For young women to become leaders, they must be safe, respected, included, connected, and skilled.”

Speaking on the topic, “Securing the Rights of Women Living with HIV,” Lisette Herrera discussed the work she has done within Peru to fight against the discrimination and stigma experienced by those living with HIV. She touched upon the need for groups to work together, including women and girls, to secure lives of freedom and justice for everyone, including people with an HIV-positive status.

Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro, former General Secretary of the World YWCA, endorsed the importance of working with women and girls to find solutions, “At the Packard Foundation we believe that we will never transform the world until every woman and every girl, whether she lives in Zurich or Zimbabwe, has the right to choose when to marry, when to start a family, has access to maternal health services, including quality contraceptives, and that no woman dies from unsafe abortion.” With the support of the audience, she asserted each person’s personal role, “Each individual person must do more, and you must begin by the girls that are next to you, the girls in your house, the girls in your neighborhood, the girls in your community, in the school you teach, etc.”

The session was wrapped up by Gill Greer who discussed the importance of integrating critical HIV services into sexual and reproductive health centres throughout the world, so as to decrease the stigma and the discrimination that persons living with HIV face. She ended by emphasizing that, despite the strides that have been made “We have so much to do…I wear a badge that says, ‘Criminalize hate, not HIV.’”

Source: http://www.worldywcacouncil.org