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Regional Meetings for ICPD at 10
Background
A series of regional meetings and activities surrounding ICPD at 10 are being planned for 2004/2005, each aimed at providing a regional perspective and review at the halfway mark of the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA). The sexual and reproductive health and rights community felt strongly that ICPD at 10 should not only be marked by one international NGO-led meeting (i.e. the Roundtable), but rather that a series of regional and national events and meetings should both proceed and follow the key ICPD at 10 international events, in order to both build up momentum and provide input to the Roundtable (RT), as well as follow-up at the regional level on the outcomes of the International Roundtable and the UN Regional Economic Commission meetings on ICPD. This range of regional meetings will gather grassroots NGOs and regional organizations to take stock of progress, report back on experience, identify regional priorities and develop future strategies for implementing ICPD.
Links to the International Roundtable
These meetings, as important events in themselves, will also compliment, reflect and reinforce the international activities for ICPD at 10 (under the umbrella initiative of Countdown 2015: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for All .) We are developing mechanisms to ensure the most effective methods to feed regional experiences and findings into the Roundtable and other international events (for example, the UN General Assembly commemoration on ICPD tenth anniversary), and make certain that those regional events occurring after the Roundtable maximize and build on the messages and outcomes of the international meeting.
Whilst there will be a strong synergy between the regional and international activities, there will also be a diversity of events and focus – reflecting and indeed celebrating the diversity of each region. These regional events will be coordinated by IPPF six Regional Offices in partnership with other NGOs and inter-governmental organizations, as well as Parliamentarians.
Outcomes and Follow-up
The outcomes of these regional meetings taking place prior to the International Roundtable will provide input to the Roundtable itself, and form part of the RT's outcomes. Those occurring after the Roundtable, with some activities planned for 2005, will take up the messages and outcomes of the Roundtable, build on them and work on how to take ICPD implementation forward within the regions.
Please note: DATES AND DETAILS ARE PROVISIONAL
Africa Region
An Africa Regional Meeting is being planned jointly by IPPF's Africa Regional Office (ARO) in collaboration with partner regional and national NGOs . The meeting, to be held in Nairobi in June 2004 , will be a three-day event for 100 participants focusing on the following broad areas;
• A review of the status of implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) in Africa , the challenges, gaps, achievements, best practices and lessons learned
• Assessment of the challenges of meeting adolescence sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) needs
• Safe motherhood and abortion
• Women's citizenship and reproductive rights
• The impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on SRHR programming in Africa
• Linkages to poverty reduction and MDGs.
A key goal of the meeting will be to agree a consensus on the priority issues for Africa and development of a Plan of Action for future implementation of ICPD. It will also be seized as an opportunity to address SRHR within the New Partnership for Africa 's Development (NEPAD), spelling out that without a comprehensive approach to SRH being given a practical framework, the potential of NEPAD's Health Sector Action Plan will not be effective.
Studies have been commissioned on the implementation of the ICPD PoA within the following sub-regions: Eastern Africa and the Island ; Southern Africa ; Central Africa ; North Africa ; West Africa , and the Sahel . The main issues will be synthesized to give the Continent's status and these studies will form the basis of discussions during the regional meeting.
The participants at the meeting will comprise of NGOs, private sector, trade unions, development partners, government and the media. Of these, 40 will be funded by the grant from the European Commission (EC) while ARO and the members of the ICPD at 10 Africa Subcommittee, which is coordinating the meeting, will seek support from other donors for sponsorship of the other 60 participants.
A Regional Subcommittee was formed in October 2003 to assist the development of plans for the Regional meeting. Partners represented on the Subcommittee include African Population Advisory Council (APAC), Centre for African Family Studies (CAFS); RAINBO/AMANITARE; Union For African Population Studies (UAPS); Women's Health Project (WHP).
Arab World Region
A Regional Conference is being jointly organized by IPPF's Arab World Regional Office (AWRO) in partnership with UNFPA's Country Support Team based in Amman , in collaboration with other national and regional NGOs. Scheduled for June 2004, (dates & venue to be determined shortly). The conference aims to;
Papers will be presented at the meeting addressing five key themes in the Arab region – HIV/AIDS, adolescence/Youth, abortion, access to SRH services and advocacy. Three national reports of Tunisia , Yemen and Lebanon (see national meetings below) will be presented and discussed, along with recommendations of UN ESCWA Regional Conference. The results of this NGO Arab Regional Conference, including the final report, publications, media coverage etc will be presented at the International Roundtable.
In addition a Youth Forum will take place alongside the conference. The youth participants active in the three ICPD at 10 national conferences (see below) will be invited to participate fully. Parliamentarians will also be invited, as well as international organizations, NGOs and regional institutions.
The Regional Conference will host an exhibition of various materials (covering the period from 1994 to 2003) such as brochures, posters, video films produced by the NGOs and agencies on SRHR issues. Outreach to the regional media will also be an important area of work including, for example, a press conference during the meeting. There are also plans to organize a panel discussion around sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and challenges facing the region with a regional satellite television station and coverage.
National Activities
In addition to the Regional Conference, three of IPPF member associations (MAs) in the Arab Region – Lebanon , Tunisia and Yemen will organize advocacy campaigns throughout 2004. They will focus on promoting SRHR as a key factor in development and poverty alleviation and highlight the “unfinished business” in each of the countries. Each country will produce a report on progress achieved in implementing ICPD and present an analysis of the funding of SRHR programmes. The results of these studies will be presented at the Regional Conference in June. The highlight of each of these national activities will be a 2-day national conference ;
Tunis 17 - 19 April 2004; Yemen 6 - 8 May 2004; Lebanon 26 - 27 May 2004
These will present successful initiatives across the range of areas within the ICPD PoA, identify priority areas for the coming 5-10 years and issue recommendations for action by a platform of NGOs and other members of civil society within the region
East & South East Asia and Oceania Region (ESEAOR)
A three-day Regional Roundtable will be held in Kuala Lumpur, 23-25 July 2004, which will discuss, develop and consolidate the civil society led national and regional analyses, advocacy and recommendations relating to past achievements and future implementation towards realization of ICPD goals. It is being organized by IPPF's East & South East Asia and Oceania Region (ESESAOR) in partnership with other organizations including; Asia Pacific Alliance on RH; AFPPD; APDA; UNFPA; UNAIDS; ICOMP; JOICFP; ESCAP; AIDCOM; ARROW, CARE International and World Vision. Malaysian government agencies and local partners will also be involved.
The overarching theme will be Reproductive and Sexual Health Rights and Poverty Alleviation and will cover broad thematic areas including adolescence reproductive health; maternal mortality; unsafe abortion; family planning; gender violence; HIV/AIDS integrated into SRH, with a special focus on marginalized and underserved population.
The conference will include the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in its deliberations and will develop strategies for advancing advocacy, alliance building and strengthening partnerships. The deliberations will also take forward the recommendation of the ESCAP 5 th Asia Pacific Population Conference held in Bangkok , December 2002, which will form the base document of the Regional Roundtable.
A three day Regional Advocacy and Alliance Building Meeting will be held in Bangkok, April 2004 , with the participation of IPPF Member Associations (MAs), government, civil society, media, parliamentarians and other key stakeholders to strengthen alliance and collaboration with partner agencies for the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA). The meeting will be organized in collaboration with ESCAP and regional NGOs.
ESEAOR will hold a two-day media consultation in Kuala Lumpur to coincide with International Women's Day around 9 March 2004 to raise awareness on the aims and objectives of events around ICPD at 10, and to identify strategies for media to become effective allies and advocates for the ICPD goals .
A cross-regional meeting will be jointly organized by ESEAOR and IPPF's South Asia Region (SAR) in December 2004 which will focus on the two overlapping regions approach to implementing the recommendations for taking ICPD forward from the UN ESCAP Report, the regional meetings themselves and the International Roundtable.
Europe Region
IPPF's European Network and the Irish FPA (IFPA) are organizing a one-day conference to mark ICPD at 10 under the Irish Presidency of the European Union (EU), 2 April 2004 in Dublin . The Irish Government is a strong defender of ICPD and has consistently reiterated its support for the PoA during debates in the Irish Parliament and in the media. This is in spite of persistent domestic opposition by vociferous groups and right-wing media in Ireland .
This conference aims to promote the understanding and support for ICPD among NGOs, politicians and policy makers from Ireland and the EU Accession countries. The Conference will provide;
• a historic insight to ICPD and in particular the role which the Irish Government at the time played in framing and wording the ICPD PoA
• details of the objectives of ICPD in particular as they relate to SRH, rights of women and children and HIV/AIDS
• an overview of the progress in achieving the goals and indicators in ICPD and ICPD+5
• barriers to implementing ICPD
• views on the importance of upholding the ICPD PoA, as well as mobilising leadership and support for ICPD.
Development Co-operation Ireland, part of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, will be a key stakeholder in the organization of the conference and participants will include representatives from NGOs, politicians, policy makers, civil servants and government department officials.
The European Network will also produce a fact sheet on ICPD at 10: Achievements in the Europe Region to be distributed at the Conference and used in subsequent meetings relating to ICPD at 10.
Activities in 2005
In order to demonstrate the importance and relevance of ICPD in two donor countries which have so far failed to live up to their commitments, two inter-regional meetings will be organized in 2005. The first Inter-regional meeting on ICPD with the Lusophone world will provisionally be held in March 2005 in Lisbon, in collaboration with the Portugal MA (APF), the Africa Regional Office (ARO). The member association of France (MFPF) will coordinate with EN on a second Inter-regional meeting organized with the Francophonie world, provisionally scheduled for May 2005 in Paris .
NB: A selection of countries in Central Asia will work on ICPD advocacy activities in 2005.
South Asia Region
A South Asia Regional Forum will be held in July 2004, Kathmandu, Nepal coordinated by IPPF's South Asia Regional Office (SARO) i n partnership with regional networks, NGOs, and the UNFPA Regional Country Support Team (CST) based in Kathmandu . The Forum will focus on the concrete goals of the ICPD PoA, including the outcomes from the Report on the UN ESCAP 5 th Asian and Pacific Population Conference, results achieved so far and the development of regional strategies to move the agenda forward over the next 10 years. The forum will involve civil society organisations, as well as parliamentarians and explore opportunities to highlight regional challenges to the international community for improved allocation of development assistance to SRHR in South Asia .
The range of partners collaborating on this Forum include WHO SEARO & WHO EMRO; ADB South Asia Department; World Bank; UNFPA, UNICEF, UNAIDS / UNDP; Partners in Population and Development; Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development; South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation; Population Council; ARROW; Save the Children Alliance; Panos South Asia; One World South Asia; Interact worldwide.
A regional publication to highlight the remaining challenges in ICPD implementation in South Asia will be produced in November 2004 (the award winning journal Real Lives ).
Cross-Regional Activities
IPPF has two regions that have a geographical closeness (South Asia Region and the East, South East & Oceania Region) which many partner organizations work across. Together they will work in partnership to provide an effective exchange of information between the two regions around ICPD at 10 and cooperation on key outcomes including;
• Cross-regional attendance at Regional Roundtable fora
• Joint outcomes from regional meetings for a including a joint communiqué and a joint set of recommendations for taking forward the UNESCAP Plan of Action
• Coordinated alliance building and communication with partner organizations.
• Joint meeting in December 2004 on moving ICPD forward (details above).
At the national level, three technical implementation meetings will be held in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Iran, Sri Lanka, Maldives during 2005 to follow-up the outcomes of regional and international fora on ICPD. Each meeting will focus on a specific target audience; 1) parliamentarians 2) broad development community 3) media.
Western Hemisphere Region (North & Latin America and the Caribbean )
Two regional symposia for ICPD at 10 are being organized jointly by IPPF's Western Hemisphere Region (WHR) and partner NGOs, with a focus on the relationship between the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The first will be held in New York City on October 20 2004 , and the second in Rio de Janeiro , at the end of November/beginning of December 2004 (date to be determined). The symposia will highlight the indisputable need to fulfill the ICPD and ICPD+5 goals and targets in order to realize the MDGs. They will also aim to ensure that civil society organizations working on Sexual and Reproductive Health are mobilized around the MDGs, and to engage governments of the region, key UN agencies and donors on this subject.
Both symposia will involve between 150-200 participants each and four to five papers analyzing progress toward MDG and ICPD implementation in selected countries of the region will be commissioned for the meetings, and shared within the other ICPD at 10 activities and the sexual and reproductive health and rights community at large.
Given the emphasis that will be placed on youth at the International Roundtable and other ICPD at 10 activities, special attention to Youth and the MDGs will be given at the symposia.
Partner organizations involved in co-convening or collaboration on the meetings include LACWHN (Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network); Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir; CAFRA (Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action); Family Care International (FCI); Redlac (Red Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Jóvenes por los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos); Population Action International (PAI); the Inter-American Parliamentary Group on Population and Development; International Women's Health Coalition; Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University; the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and a group of Brazilian networks and NGOs.