Reaffirming commitments

BEIJING — Representatives of governments, civil society and young people, together with parliamentarians and health personnel, met here to talk about fulfilling commitments to make the world a better place to live in.

At the end of the three-day 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR) held Oct. 18-20, the participants produced the Beijing Call to Action urging governments to reaffirm their commitment to the full implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) of 1994; the Beijing Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women, 1995, and the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals (IADGs), including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were drawn up at the United Nations Millennium summit in 2000.

The full implementation of the ICPD and Beijing platforms for action are deemed essential in achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and critical for the development of each individual.

At the 5th APCRSHR attended by 1,400 delegates, discussions focused on how far governments in the Asia Pacific Region have fulfilled the two platforms and moved closer to meeting the MDGs, targeted for 2015.

The conference presented the world outlook — and it’s not pretty, to say the least — on key issues. United Nations agencies report uncomfortably slow decreases in fertility rates. The world’s population of 6.6 billion is still projected to increase by 60 to 70 million annually, and almost all of that population increase happens in developing countries.

Reports also show that in all developing countries, the proportion of people living in absolute poverty has merely declined from 33 percent in 1990 to 27 percent in 2005, and that in South Asia, from 53 percent in 1990 to 46 percent in 2005. After 15 years of efforts, say the reports, still nearly half the children in developing countries lack food and basic medicines.

Maternal mortality and HIV infection rates remain high in many regions.

There is lack of quality medical care and obstetrical facilities, indicating the risk of maternal death over a woman’s lifetime is as high as one death:16 women in Sub-Saharan Africa.

International contributions to reproductive and sexual health services are limited, making developing country governments unable to take direct intervention to reduce rapid population increases due to cultural or religious considerations.

The critical issue of excessive consumption of resources by a rapidly expanding global population has not received adequate policy support and advocacy from governments over the past 10 years, say the reports. Population increase and resource consumption by the population make the global resources supply even tighter. Global warming, desertification, scarce water and continuous reduction of arable land make it more difficult for poverty alleviation and realization of gender equality.

Against this background, participants in the 5th APCSHR shared experiences and best practices particularly on the issues of reproductive and sexual health and rights. Symposia and satellite sessions covered the areas of reproductive and sexual health and rights; sexuality, gender and culture in changing Asia; youth empowerment, linkages of HIV/AIDS and RTI/STIs, and ageing.

Participant from the Philippines, Helen Orande lists some of the calls to action, thus:

? Call for the urgent need for all development policies and support to address the linkage between the development of human capital in developing countries and financing for development in a more systematic and coherent way.    

? Call for increased levels of development assistance, consistent with the needs of developing countries to take advantage of their demographic transitions and to invest in social sectors, as essential prerequisites for expanding the financial base for development and building competitive economies.

? Call for strengthened partnership between civil society, governments and the international community to commit and provide adequate resources for sexual and reproductive health and rights programs.

? Call for enhanced capacity building, documenting best practices and sharing lessons learned and experiences through south-south cooperation for the achievement of ICPD goals and the MDGs.

The first APCRSHR was held in Manila. It was initiated and organized by the Philippine NGO Council on Population, Health and Welfare, Inc. (PNGOC) in January 2001. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was keynote speaker on opening day. This was followed by conferences held every two years, the second in Bangkok, followed by those in Kuala Lumpur and Hyderabad, India.    

The Beijing conference was organized by the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, chaired by Dr. Baige Zhao who is the NPFPCC vice minister.

Dr. Eden Divinagracia, executive director of PNGOC and a member of the International Steering Committee, told me the outcomes of the APCRSHR conferences had shown progress made on several issues, especially the integration of population concerns into socio-economic development strategies, the adoption of laws and politics to protect women’s rights and empower women, and increased access to reproductive sexual health services.

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On another front, Philip Chua writes that Senator Loren Legarda, as early as 2007, campaigned for the popularization of Moringa, or malunggay or kamungay. She asked the government to make Moringa among its priority crops for propagation. The Bureau of Plant Industry, in its report, stated that weight per weight, Moringa leaves have the calcium equivalent of 4 glasses of milk, the vitamin C content of 7 oranges, potassium of 3 bananas, 3 times the iron of spinach, 4 times the amount of Vitamin A in carrots, and 2 times the protein in milk. Moringa also helps to purify water, a cheaper alternative to mechanical filtration.

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PowerNut, a food store making and selling malunggay-laced products, has its own website now - malunggay4 [email protected]

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My email: [email protected]