Parliamentarians recommit to centring rights and choices in sustainable development

Oslo, Norway - Three decades since the International Conference on Population and Development, where world leaders set out to centre reproductive health and women’s rights in development, more than 170 parliamentarians from 112 countries gathered to renew their commitment to champion sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.

At the Eighth International Parliamentarians Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action (IPCI) in Oslo, Norway, parliamentarians from all regions reflected on the progress of the past 30 years. They celebrated new laws, policies and programmes that support women and girls in living longer and healthier lives.

Together with ministers, academics and civil-society leaders, the parliamentarians also discussed current crises, persisting inequalities and challenges, as well as opportunities to deliver on the ICPD promise amid demographic shifts and rapid technological change.

“I am excited that IPCI gives us this opportunity to celebrate every victory, every life saved, every dream realized since 1994,” UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem said during the opening ceremony. “And that is why we have an obligation to steady the ship, and to reaffirm our partnership and support for the ICPD Programme of Action.”

The conference included plenary sessions on topics including digital technology, policy, megatrends and financing. Interactive breakout sessions defined the way forward on a range of themes, including universal health coverage, youth leadership, demography, fertility, rights-based policymaking, leaving no one behind, the power of midwifery for the ICPD, protecting democracy and human rights, men’s health and more. Roundtables allowed for deeper dives and the exchanging of best practices on diverse issues.

Pledging their support, parliamentarians adopted the Oslo Statement of Commitment, to accelerate efforts to ensure laws, policies, programmes and resourcing to protect human rights, to implement the ICPD Programme of Action and to realize sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.

“As parliamentarians, we cannot afford business as usual. We must ensure that the rights and choices of people remain central to a sustainable future in a demographically diverse world,” read the drafting committee Co-chairs Hon. Alando Terrelonge, MP, Jamaica, and Hon. Åse Kristin Ask Bakke, President of the Norwegian All Party Parliamentary Group.

The conference was co-hosted by the Norwegian All Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Rights; the Global Parliamentary Alliance on Health, Rights and Development, which is an initiative of the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights; and UNFPA.

Find more details on the conference website.