World Leaders’ Commitment to New Social Compact on Poverty, Unfinished MDGs, Boon to Millions of Women, Girls, Says UNFPA

ADDIS ABABA—World leaders have agreed on measures to generate additional investments to tackle economic, social and environmental challenges at the United Nations Third International Conference on Financing for Development, held here.  Their Addis Ababa Action Agenda provides a foundation for implementing the global sustainable development agenda that the leaders are expected to adopt in September.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, welcomed the Action Agenda. “Today’s commitment to a new social compact to end poverty and to finish the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals is a boon to millions of women and girls all over the world,” said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, the Fund’s Executive Director. “Such goals include promoting maternal health and ending preventable maternal death.”

“By today’s action, world leaders have told today’s 10-year-old girl that, by the time she is 25, they would have catalyzed additional investments in her education, health and rights, so she can fulfill her potential and hold up half the sky in pursuit of development,” added Dr. Osotimehin. “These investments can help her get education, including comprehensive sexuality education, and reproductive health, so she can ensure for herself that every pregnancy is wanted and every childbirth is safe. By their action, the leaders have committed to helping reduce the number of women who die or suffer injuries as they give life.”

Going further, Dr. Osotimehin added: “Today’s commitment to make the critical investments in young people, to educate, employ and empower them can unleash a demographic dividend that can speed up human capital development that accelerates countries’ economic growth and poverty eradication.”

In Addis Ababa Action Agenda, leaders also agreed to:

• The position that investing in young people is critical to sustainable development, and recognized the need to support countries in making the requisite investments.
• Strong international support for national investments in services, such as health and education.
• Promote national youth strategies to meet the needs and aspirations of young people, including a global strategy for youth employment by 2020.
• Enhance national health systems and achieve universal health coverage.
• Strengthen countries’ capacity for early warning, risk-reduction and management of national and global health risks. That includes substantially increasing health financing and recruiting and training health workers in developing countries.
• Recognize the need for more timely, comprehensive and cost-effective ways to manage and mitigate natural disasters and complex emergencies, and committed to helping countries achieve that. They would invest in strengthening national and local capacity to manage and finance disaster-risk reduction, and to get international assistance, when needed.

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For more information or media inquiries, please contact:

Abubakar Dungus, Chief of the Media and Communications Branch, UNFPA; E-mail: dungus@unfpa.org

Abraham Gelaw, Communications Unit, UNFPA Ethiopia; E-mail: gelaw@unfpa.org;
Tel. +251 11 5444079; +251 91 1488627