International Advocacy on Family Planning invites ICFP participants to…

Join CHANGE, Muthaa Community Development Foundation, PATH, and the Universal Access to Female Condoms Joint Programme at the International Conference on Family Planning

Thursday, November 14 6:00-7:30 PM

African Union Conference Center
Briefing Room 1

Female condoms are an important option for dual protection. Two decades after entering the market, female condoms are increasingly accepted and available, but more advocacy is needed to ensure that information, training, and support for effective use of female condoms are availabe in every country.

Click to read more ...

International Conference on Family Planning, 12-15 November 2013, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Countries with Greatest Family Planning Needs Lead Progress to Expand Access to Contraceptives

Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) has issued the following press release from the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP):

 Countries that have the greatest needs for family planning are at the forefront of global progress to expand access to contraceptive information, services and supplies according to a new progress report released by Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) at the 2013 International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP). Also at the conference, five governments – Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Mauritania and Myanmar – announced major new national family planning pledges.

Click to read more ...

Population dynamics, reproductive health and sustainable development: critical links and opportunities for post-2015

The Population and Sustainable Development Alliance (PSDA) has issued a new briefing Population Dynamics, Reproductive Health and Sustainable Development: Critical Links and Opportunities for Post-2015.

The briefing sets out the links between population dynamics, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and key sustainable development priorities, and makes recommendations for integrating a focus on population dynamics and SRHR into the post-2015 development framework.

The briefing can be downloaded here.

Open Working Group – moving forward to the Post-2015 Development Agenda, November 2013

As was decided in the Outcome Document for the UN General Assembly Special Event, the Open Working Group (OWG) will be the major negotiating body until February 2014, after which it will prepare its report by September 2014. It is therefore important to be aware of the sessions that will be held in the coming months to maximize possibilities for input. It should also be noted that civil society participation is through the Major Groups and other stakeholders.

Intersessional Meeting between Major Groups and other stakeholders and the Open Working Group on SDGs, 22 November 2013

Click to read more ...

Olav Kjørven appointed Special Adviser to the UNDP Administrator on the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Olav Kjørven has been appointed Special Adviser to the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, within the Programme's Bureau for Development Policy (BDP). He will lead on UNDP's contributions to the post-2015 development agenda.

Click to read more ...

Outreach of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing

As reported in an earlier posting the meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing are closed, although a multi-stakeholder dialogue has been scheduled for its second session in December and there will be further such dialogues at future sessions.

It has also been reported by Hilkka Vuorenmaa of Vaestoliitto in Finland to the EruoNGOs that the Committee Co-chairs have decided to form a steering committee of "non-state actors" for the duration of the work of the committee. This steering committee will act as an interface between the committee and non-state actors and help to organize interactive hearings when the Committee meets, including on the selection of speakers. It will comprise eight members:  four from the Major Groups and four (NGOs and business sector) from the Financing for Development (FfD) process. UN DESA Secretariat (DESA and FfD) will make recommendations to the Co-chairs who will be responsible for the final selection.  

Click to read more ...

UN System inputs into the work of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing

A working group of the UN System Task Team (UNTT) has been set up to inform the on-going deliberations on the post-2015 development agenda, as well as to provide background work for the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing. Its remit is to “produce background material on financing for sustainable development, taking as much as possible an integrated perspective that addresses social, environmental, and economic dimensions.” 

Click to read more ...

Update on the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing

The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing was established in accordance with the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) The Future We Want. As stated on the Committees website, The Future We Want recognized “the need for significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources and the effective use of financing, in order to give strong support to developing countries in their efforts to promote sustainable development, including through actions undertaken in accordance with the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and for achieving sustainable development goals.” The Committee’s first meeting was held at the UN Headquarters in New York, 28-30 August 2013. H.E. Ambassador Pertti Majanen from Finland and Mr. Mansur Muhtar from Nigeria were elected at its first meeting.

Click to read more ...

OHCHR call for submissions on child, early and forced marriage — deadline 15 December 2013

The High-Level Panel in its illustrative goal 2 called for a target to end child marriage. The UNFPA proposals for the post-2015 development framework also call for prevention and elimination of sexual coercion and violence against women, including child marriage.

Last month the UN Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 24/23 on the subject of child, early and forced marriage.  It requests the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to prepare a report on “preventing and eliminating child, early and forced marriage, with a particular focus on challenges, achievements, best practices and implementation gaps” to be presented to the Council at its 26th session in June 2014.  This report will also inform the panel discussion that will be held at that session on the same subject. This report can contribute to the inclusion of child, early and forced marriage into the post-2015 development agenda.

Click to read more ...

UNFPA announces its proposals for the post-2015 development framework

Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, introduced the UNFPA proposals for the post-2015 development framework at the EuroNGOs conference Next Steps: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights on the Post-2015 Agenda. Fulfilling rights, achieving universal access to SRHR, empowering women, investing in youth, through a coherent post-2015 development framework.

As Dr Osotimehin noted there are about 800 days are left for MDGs.  ICPD has been about 20 years and the MDGs 15 years. At that time we could not get a goal for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and Target 5B was not introduced until 2007. The next 18 months will be most critical. As far as the ICPD Beyond 2014 review process is concerned, the regional conferences and thematic meetings have been held and it is very clear that the world wants to realize gender equality and women’s empowerment. There is, moreover, from the regions for a strong call for advancing SRHR.

Click to read more ...