Sex and the Summit

London is greyer and wetter than NY-but the coffee is better, and much needed after finally leaving JFK at 130 am. Sleeping sitting up is an art I have perfected, but by then I could have slept standing up-so my apologies if last night’s comments were not particularly insightful or detailed.
 
So now a few reflections on the last few days-firstly some of the personal pictures I will be keeping in my mental photo album :
 
The first sight, every morning, of the UN, the world’s flags fluttering in the sunlight of a clear NY morning-a real reminder that while it may not be perfect, and often gets it wrong, it’s the best hope we have to a shared collective vision of a better world-and we need to make it work.
 
Watching a whispered, quick conversation between Nafis Sadik and Thoraya Obaid in the dimmed light of the ECOSOC room yesterday as the panellists changed-two very different women, with very different styles, from different cultures, who shared a vision and have led UNFPA on the real issues of our time, issues of choice and aspiration that are at the heart of the daily life of people across the globe. I hope the selection process next week will find us someone who can follow them in engaging world leaders and civil society at every level in spite of politics and pressures of every kind.
 
- UNAIDs  Michel Sidibe’s indefatigable  energy and passion for what he believes the world can do to win the fight against HIV.
- The perplexed expression on the face of Asa Regner, Secretary General of RFSU, one of the oldest Member Associations of IPPF and respected universally for tireless, powerful work on rights (‘Sex is politics’), as she discussed the results of the Swedish election
- Graca Machel, tall and colourful, putting aside her speech to speak from the heart, reminding us that the words at the UN are important-but it is the translation of them into action at the local level of every village and community that matters.
- The clearly articulated vision and determination of so many young leaders, some already in positions of influence, like the Danish all party parliamentarian group,  many with impressive experience, qualifications and huge commitment that I would not have dreamed of at their age-but they can and will create a resilient more sustainable world.
 
Conversations: should the GFATM be enlarged to include maternal and reproductive health, what is feminism today, how to get more meaningful engagement of civil society at every level. They deliver half the health services in many countries, yet 24 speakers across 6 round tables, each speaking for 3 minutes, and in some cases reduced to 1 minute because of lack of time, together with some 25 observers passes a day do not create a space for mutually respectful dialogue and engagement-though some states and UN staff would welcome this, others may not-but this needs to change urgently at every level,  as we move towards 2015.
 
And from IPPFs perspective many things: A renewed sense of how important and unique our Federation is, the breadth of its mission, its willingness to work across such a breadth of issues, its volunteer base and structure of autonomous Member Associations, community based NGOs, united by common principles and vision, they can show what country-owned, sustainable development can be, with their dual roles of programmes and advocacy at every level.
 
With this in mind we have made significant additional commitments in the Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, well beyond those in the published summary, both as IPPF, and as a member of the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition. (That topic of supplies is another whole series of blogs I’m afraid!). We were able to make clear recommendations to Member States for the next 5 years, through the Roundtables, and to raise issues of the loss of life and well being related to unsafe illegal abortion and sexual rights and the need to address these, in order to achieve human rights, justice, equity and development.
 
We will now need to analyse the promises made by ourselves, others NGOs and states in this and the outcome document, after it is adopted today. We will need to consider how we can deliver our new model of comprehensive sexuality education, integrate HIV, human rights, gender equity and health and sexuality; how we can contribute through our Declaration of Sexual Rights and advocacy, while monitoring our own and others’ achievements. In the meantime, we succeeded in raising the issues of gender, women and girls and young people through statements and side events and calling attention to the urgent need to invest in young people, and the importance of partnership at every level. In Minister Carlssons word we, and our issues, were very evident-despite the challenges!
 
So now the work begins.
 
There is much more that I will return to another time, for us in IPPF, and more widely-some powerful lines to quote-and genuinely considered commitments, plus I have a bag full of new reports and publications to share!
 
But, in the meantime as I go, back to the office now, a moment to think about what will it mean for the world. The cynics will say ‘very little’, those who oppose multilateralism will be far fiercer in their condemnation, but for the rest of us-we must think about how we can help to take it forward, because we now have that chance. 
 
Certainly it wasn’t Cairo or Beijing-but then it’s the General Assembly, not a conference, and the world is in a very different place. Progress has been made. Today we are at a point where there are new promises to be implemented-and they must be- as time is too short for too many for this not to happen. We need to contribute-individually and collectively to make this happen. 

Regards, Gill

Sitting in a  traffic jam in New York, wiith the city gridlocked. Because President Obama and State Secretary  Hilary Clinton are in town  seems a good place to try to write a blog! At least a better thing to do than worry about whether or not I’lll make the plane.!

A few quick hiighlights from yesterday – a day of meetings, and side events, and conversations – some great  MPs – from Denmark and Belgium – what commitment the Danes have to ODA, srhr and young people – and how valuable that has been.

Meetings too with possible new donors, and several side events which deserve a proper discussion. At one on PMTCT, hosted by UNICEF and UNAIDS, a member of South Africa’s Mothers for Mothers spoke so clearly and simply of her shock and fear when first diagnosed, -’I was afraid of living, and afraid of dying’. Today she is a mentor for others experiencing the same fear.

At UNICEF there was a robust discussion by 4 INGOs of issues raised in a new UNICEF report, including the issues of local ownership, and equity, and the importance of reaching the hardest to reach, as we work so hard to do in IPPF. According to UNICEFs new. research, this is not only the right thing to do, in terms of equity, but is also cost effective- an important point to counter those who would suggest we should focus on  reaching the most accessible.

I also had a stimulating meeting with Cecile and senior people at PPFA, hearing about how they have worked to build a more collaborative shared culture across affiliates, including developments like their new  website, with information for young people and clients, and an on line learning platform- the number of visits is remarkable, and there is much that we can learn from all this  which they’re generously willing to share, and I’m looking forward to finding out more. 

They are also a Member Association which has an extraordinary history, and a commitment that has never wavered – a real example of ‘brave and angry’ or perhaps it’s more like intelligent rage as they continue to counter the challenges that continue to confront them.

This morning’s side event, with UNFPA  on young people driving development went well,  over 120 people, which was impressive,  given that it was a relatively early start, and so much else was on. Another great young chair – Maria Antonieta from our WHR office who kept us all firmly within time!

The panel was a good intergenerational mix of young, (Samuel from Ghana,) and not so young, (Thoraya Obaid, Michael Cashman European MP and me)!  a range of topics which included, the need for policies and programmes that recognise realities of young people’s lives, youth advocacy and leadership, the recent Mexico world youth conference, the role of church and state, and there was also time to acknowledge Thoraya’s commitment to engagement with civil society and young people. We can only hope her successor will have the same.

There was time too  for a few questions – and a strong contribution from the First Lady of Georgia, who is very knowledgeable and active on SRH issues.-what a difference that kind of leadership can make.

 (I’ll interrupt this here just to say that I’ve made it to the airport, where we are experiencing a major storm – thunder, rain and lightning – worthy  of ‘King Lear’ – and all flights are delayed – it’s beginning to seem like one of those nights when the all things conspire against me!!)

But back to today – if you’re still hanging on in there….

I was forunate to be invited to the UK Mission to a meeting of UK based  NGOs with Deputy PM Nick Clegg, and Secretary of State Andrew Mitchell. Both seemed to take on board the variety of issues that we raised with remarkable speed, (water, women, nutrition, health, MDG5B, disability, innovative financing, education, civil society engagement…) and responded thoughtfully, and with genuine interest.

Responding in this way – and making time  to do meet are positive signs of a willingness to engage with civil society – hopefully they will encourage this with other partner governments – and the UN!

From there I joined the line for the launch of the Secretary General’s global health strategy for women and girls’ Every Woman Every Child. During the wait in line (anyone from the UK read queue!)  I met a Canadian FIGO member from Canada, who is keen to explore a relationship between their new hospital, and our MA, met a friend who had just been to NZ to contribute to a midwifery conference, caught up with a couple of donors, and exchanged notes on books about assessing impact.

The temporary ECOSOC room was packed, and checked out by security dogs (golden retrievers -an unusual choice?) The moderator was Zeinab Badawi – a well know UK tv broadcaster who interviewed  Dr Mahmoud Fathallah, on BBC, when he received his award from IPPF last November, and recently covered some of our issues at the AU summit – wearing a beautiful white jacket with double rows of buttons she looked a little like a ringmaster as she paced in front of the podium, endeavouring ‘with respect’ to keep heads of state within their 3 minute time limit-not an easy task!

On the first of the four panels, the Secretary General, spoke of the strategy as a ‘clear road map’ and a broad partnership’ and talked of investing in women’s and children’s health as having a multiplier effect, of wome’s empowerment and women leading the way. He introduced Micelle Bachelet, (red jacket),  the new head of UN women who received enthusiastic applause. The Nowegian PM was unequivocal – the present situation for women and girls is unacceptable’. Talking of more money for health and more health for the money, he pledged to allocate increased finds, remarking that what makes the Strategy different is that it has gained commitments from governments and civil society.

I think I’d add that it has also encouraged specific country commitments rather than a general and  collective commitment by all member states-some of which have seen little concrete implementation.. Nigeria for example pledged to reach the Abuja target, and Tanzania made a number of very specific commitments, including some related to family planning.

Hilary Clinton (red jacket too) announced a joint initiative between the Aid agencies of UK,US, Australia and Gates, to increase access to family planning, reduce maternal newborn and child mortality, Nick Clegg, outlined the commitments already made , remarking that donors are finding ‘money is tight but time is getting tighter’.

Melinda Gates spoke of commitments to fp, and the need for low cost high impact interventions, while Kevin Rudd ( now Australias foreign affairs minister) said it would go down ‘as a good day for women’ and challenged  donors to multi year commitments of funding.

World Vision represented BRAC, CARE, SAVE ie those who gave financial commitments, and those. Who made other commitments and endorsements spoke of the role of civil society and their commitment of 1.5 billion over 5 years. (Unfortunately our 2 commitments were compressed to gether under one short para, and we will need to follow up how they will appear in future.

On later panels Graca Machel thanked the DG for ‘finally’ placing the issue high on the agenda, ther role women will need to play, the importance of health systems that deliver near to where women are.

So a few points I hope that give a flavour-and now to catch a plane I hope, and reflect on the value of the week.

An estimated US$40 billion has been pledged to advance the Secretary-General’s Global Strategy on women’s and children’s health. The financial commitments to the Global Strategy  will help ensure progress is made on women and children’s health by the MDG deadline of 2015. The pledges have come from over 40 countries and a number of CSOs, foundations and the private sector.

How much of the financial pledges constitutes new money remains a little unclear, but whatever, it is still a sizeable investment. Let’s hope that the funding combined with the political will has the impact in intend and makes a real difference to achieving MDGs 4 and 5.

The Prime Minister of Denmark has just highlighted the importance of SRHR for achieving the MDGs at the launch of the Secretary-General’s Global Strategy.

“Women are agents of development, there’s no chance whatsoever of achieving MDGs without strengthened focus on empowerment of women. Women must be able to decide freely if and when they want to have children and must have access to health services when giving birth. Denmark supports developing countries in the realization of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights”

The statements made by Civil Society Organizations  (CSOs) at the 6 MDG Summit Roundtables have been put up on line. But not so the speeches made by Member States.

The Roundtables were more or less the only forum by which civil society could participate at the Summit. However, even then CSOs were not always able to participate in any meaningful way. This was especially the case in Roundtable 1 where only 1 NGO out of the 4 was given the opportunity to speak. And on other Roundtables, some CSOs that did manage to speak were asked to cut their speeches from 3 minutes to just 1 – because Member States had not been able to keep to the 5 minute rule.

The 6 Round Tables focussed on the following themes:

Roundtable 1: Addressing the challenge of poverty, hunger and gender equality
Roundtable 2: Meeting the goals of health and education
Roundtable 3: Promoting sustainable development
Roundtable 4: Addressing emerging issues and evolving approaches
Roundtable 5: Addressing the special needs of the most vulnerable
Roundtable 6: Widening and strengthening partnerships

Earlier today we held our panel event with UNFPA at the Helmsley Hotel. To say it was a success would be a major understatement. We seemed to be cramming more and more people into an already packed room that was already heaving with high level dignitaries, including Ministers from Namibia, Nigeria and elsewhere, the First Lady of Georgia, MPs and senior civil servants from a wide range of countries. Even the Holy See came along to check out the speeches, all of which were great.

Fortunately, the hotel asked us yesterday if we wouldn’t mind moving to a larger room – and thank goodness they did. We were truly packed out and had around 140 people squeeze into a room meant for 100. It was cosy.

Oh yes, the hotel wanted our room as they were expecting Hilary Clinton along with the Presidents of Honduras and El Salvador to speak later that morning. And yes, I did sneak in for a while and listen to her speak. Who wouldn’t?

As for the speakers at our event Michael Cashman MEP gave a truly impassioned speech about the hypocrisies that cause people to live in fear. He directed his ire at the ‘men in frocks’ who have so much influence yet so little knowledge when it comes to reproductive health and who perpetuate the supply of false information such as ‘condoms don’t protect’ that directly leads to the deaths of so many. It was Thoraya Obaid however who spoke first and she addressed the assembled guests with the usual authority and insight that you would expect. Samuel Kissi of the Curious Minds NGO in Ghana spoke next and focused our attention on the need to ensure youth were engaged in PRSP processes. Gill Greer spoke with passion and insight on the theme of Universal access to reproductive health of adolescent girls and young women while Priscilla Vera Hernandez gave a brief analysis of the Youth Summit in Mexico. Naturally, the event was excellently moderated by our dear colleague Maria Antonieta Alcalde of IPPF WHR

This was a very successful event and much of it is due to our dear colleagues at both IPPF/WHR including Mirellise and Emily, and Prateek at UNFPA, with whom it was a real pleasure to organize this event

Wednesday sees the culmination of the 2010 MDG Summit. As such this is the time when the remaining big hitters will be around.

President Obama is due to speak on Wednesday and the Secretary General of the United Nations will launch the much hyped Global Strategy on women and children’s health We already know what the US think of the MDGs thanks to the release of the “CELEBRATE, INNOVATE & SUSTAIN Toward 2015 and Beyond: The United States’ Strategy for Meeting the Millennium Development Goals”. As for the Secretary-General’s Global Strategy, well there seems to have been a lot of work going on behind the scenes to drum up support and pledges for this initiative. As such we have heard of a few countries that have said they will support it with large sums of money. The UN Foundation too has promised it will support the Global Strategy with a pledge of US$400 million. NGOs too have made a number of commitments to the Global Strategy and IPPF commitments can be found here.

By this time tomorrow we will know exactly what has been pledged and keeping track of what has been promised will be an important part of any post-Summit accountability exercise.

Tomorrow also sees Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg deliver the UK’s statement to the Summit. Prior to that, IPPF as part of a BOND delegation will visit the DPM to get across our final thoughts and comments about how the Summit has gone and the line that the DPM should take, maybe not just here in New York, but afterwards too.

However, it would appear that there is little real opportunity to influence the UK’s Summit statement as part of it looks to have been leaked to the Guardian newspaper already. And if what it says is true, and what we hear from sources very close to the horses mouth is confirmed, then I don’t think there will be too many people in the reproductive health community that will complain, well not too loudly anyway.  

In other news, and apart from having countless meetings with some extremely interesting civil servants, politicians and UN agencies today I continue to keep on bumping into an eclectic mix of famous faces. This time Bob Geldof walking by on the street, and then Madeline Albright hugging people in a hotel bar. It can only be New York.

For those of you wanting to keep an eye on what your government (or even other governments) are saying at the Summit then please visit this statements page.

Better still, you can watch each country make their statement via the UNs webcast service

And if you would like to see which countries have been allocated which of the six Round Tables then please drop me a line via the comment box below and I will forward the list to you. We may even be able to provide some of the comments from the various Round Tables!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) we have our special panel event entitled 1.8 Billion strong: Young people driving the MDGswhich has been organized in conjunction with UNFPA.

The panelists will focus on making the case for prioritizing and investing in young people so as to accelerate progress on the MDGs. There is an excellent line up of key speakers including Dr Gill Greer (IPPF); Thoraya Obaid (UNFPA); Michael Cashman MEP, Samuel Kissi (Curious minds – Ghana); and Priscilla Vera Hernández (Instituto Mexicano de la Juventud). The event will be excellently moderated by our dear colleague Maria Antonieta Alcalde of IPPF/WHR.

We look forward to seeing you at 09:00 at the New York Helmsley Hotel, 212 E 42nd Street.

As they say, arrive early to avoid disappointment

Below are some very brief notes of statements made by different countries at the Roundtable on Health and Education. These notes, for that is what they are, should not be taken as verbatim  

Hungary
We have a long tradition of providing knowledge based assistance. The speaker emphasised importance of physical education for lifting the self-esteem of people. Hungary is proving development assistance in training teachers. We have considerable experience in developing health care systems which are shared along with medical breakthroughs. Hungary committed to achieving health related MDGs. 
 
Lesotho
We have a situation in Lesotho where we think we will be able to achieve MDG 3. Indicators are that data is that Lesotho is on track to meet MDG 2. We have major challenges related to the goals related to health. The challenge is mainly down to HIV and AIDS which disproportionately affects the young and vulnerable. We call on developing countries to call on replenishment of the Global Fund, All MDGs are inter-related, and success in achieving goals 1 2 and 3 could be undermined by failure on the others. A major challenge is also resources where we need assistance.
 
Lichtenstein
Welcomed engagement of CSOs in the RT. Progress on education is crucial to achieve all the other MDGs. Our development projects work towards sustainable development including access to education for women and girls in rural areas at secondary level. Women’s empowerment is an urgent priority. Maternal and child mortality remain at an unacceptable level. My government prioritises the funding on vulnerable groups – such as children affected by HIV. They need access to healthcare to overcome other – it is a basic human right. Thanked the SG for his strategy and offered his full support. We want better accountability and have endorsed the Muskoka initiative which will help bring health MDGs up to speed. We are particularly worried by maternal and child health.
 
Vanuatu
Spoke on behalf of 14 countries. We have made some progress but much remains to be done. Quality of care, maternal health family planning, youth friendly services, STIs and HIV prevention and treatment are all vital – water and sanitation required across all countries across the Pacific. Most child deaths are from prevalent causes such as pneumonia, diarrhoea etc. Much could be done in regard to skilled birth attendants – as they can only reach 40% in most isolated parts of the country
 
Zimbabwe (President Robert Mugabe)
Education and health is taken very seriously. We realise that for a child to secure good education that child must be healthy. A healthy mind can only reside in a healthy body. We believe in healthcare delivery through a primary health focus. We remain (despite the downturn) determined to prioritise essential services in our national budget. We have given education 1st place in our budget. Health is also prioritised. We are committed to the Abuja 15% undertaking and to ensuring that all children can complete primary school education. Innovative healthcare financing remains a priority but we recognise the need of vibrant community participation in health financing. We have adopted the WHO guidelines on HIV in principle. We will under old guidelines work to achieve universal access goal. We have fought against HIV – 12,7 incidence. No woman should die giving life. We are very concerned about child and maternal mortality. We are committed to removing user fees in our fight against maternal and neo-natal mortality. We will establish a child, maternal fund to achieve MDGs 1, 4 and 5.  The sanctions are affecting the lives of our children, and our programmes related to health and education. We are confident of reaching the targets by 2015 if we can continue the momentum made.

Algeria – MoFA
We have made considerable progress in health and education but many in our region face major problems.
 
Honduras – President.
We are working to achieve the MDGs. Economic crises and natural disasters destroy our crops and infrastructure and hamper us in our tasks. Education and health are the chief priorities of our government. We are promoting education and health very strongly and are focusing on local and regional indicators which will engage parents, civil society etc We have a duty of solidarity with those who least.
 
Prince Albert of Monaco
Health and education is a priority for Monaco. I have expressly called on my government to increase ODA. Pandemics and NCDs, and development of hospital partnerships are priorities for our Development assistance. We support national programmes to support maternal and infant. We also invest in struggle against Malaria. We will sign up to SG’s Global Strategy.
 
Germany
Health and Education are human rights and vital for development and to achievement of all MDGs. We must continue to support developing country partners to support MDGs. Education is a priority in our development policy. We will step up efforts to achieve education around the world. Education helps improve health of women and girls, and reduces mortality rates. It helps to reduce violence and conflict. We are encouraged to take a holistic approach to improve quality of education and school retention rates. We are 2nd largest donor funder on education. We support the SG’s Global strategy. That is why as part of g8 we have pledged extra 400 million Euros to improve child and maternal health as part of Muskoka initiative.
 
Cuba – DPM
Cuba is making sustained progress to goals on health and education. 99.7 percent of children of primary school age are included in school network. More than 98% achieve 6th grade. In 2008, 86.9% are taught in groups of just 20. Unfair trade, hampered market access, trade issues, technological divide and unilateral blockades all get in the way to achieving MDGs – we must foster international alliance for development which should like at the basis of entire progress.
 
WHO – Margaret Chan
Education and health go hand in hand. The evidence demonstrating link is incontrovertible. Education of girls is vital. Educating girls will see that they have less babies and have them later in life. Educated girls make better mothers. Education lifts the status of women, protects their sexual health and protects them from sexual violence. Education is powerful way to break status of poverty – education breaks cycle of poverty. The linkage between health and education are mutually reinforcing sisterhood which go hand in hand and lift people out of poverty – gives opportunity to develop full human potential.

Save the Children – CEO
Health – 3 lessons. MDGs 4 and 5 are behind. Poorest and most vulnerable have poor access to health services. Health is too m=fragmented and lives of women and girls is put at risk
5 recommendations –
1. prioritise equity requires access to services and overcoming barriers
2. impacts re heath should be at community level
3. education needs to remove barriers so all children can fully participate
4. more investment in MDG synergies
5. look at impact of MDG 8 on all MDGs – financing gap is 34 billion for health
 
Gambia – M for National Planning
Education is vital ingredient for human development. The positive effect of education impacts on fertility, mortality and morbidity. Evidence points to development of nation can be retarded by lack of access to health and education. My government prioritises these sectors since 1994. As Africans, our greatest enemy is ignorance. To save Gambia we have invested significant portion of budget to health and education. This has impacted by increasing access to services for people. We aim to improve access to RH. Maternal mortality has reduced from 730 to 550 per 1000 by 2010. CPR and has increased from 6.7 in 1990 and 13.4 in 2001 to 97.8% in 2006 (???). We have made significant gains in HIV reductions though providing ARTs remains a daunting challenge.
 
Tanzania – Prime Minister
We are here to change and share experiences to try and implement the MDGs. On primary education we had 51.7% in 2000. Now it is 94.5% enrolment. Re Maternal Health – until 2005 there was no real progress. 529 per 100,000 in 1996. In 2009/10, MMR reached 454 per 100,000 live births- we have made progress but not enough. On HIV and AIDS, HIV prevalence is significantly high among women. We must keep up momentum etc if we are to achieve the MDGs.
 
Eritrea – MOFA
We are committed to achieve MDGs and have invested 100s of millions of dollars – especially on trying to make hunger history. Health MDGs. 75 % has access to healthcare. Immunization of DTP and Hepatitis is at 9%. 34.1% of all pregnant women have access to skilled birth attendants
 
Israel – Deputy MOFA
Our approach to development reflects our commitment to human capital and capacity building. We support training of teachers in Africa with UNESCO. We also see education as a means of building bridges with neighbours. We work to improve maternal health – we will sign a trilateral partnership with and Germany on development cooperation.
 
UNICEF
We helped organize 1st world summit of health and education which go hand in hand. 69 million have no access to education. We need to integrate education and health. We know that. But we know now that if we shift focus to the most disadvantaged then it has huge impact. Education is a powerful weapon against disease and should be used to its fullest to help children thrive.

Kenya – MoEd
Kenya has made significant progress in health and education and has achieved universal access to primary education. We have newly passed a constitution where there is complete access to education for all. We have made major progress since 2005 but need to achieve more to reach the MDGs. We have reduced child mortality, improved MH and reduced the spread of HIV. Currently MM remains high (488 per 100,000 live births) – 7,700 women die every year due to lack of adequate ANC – though 91% attend ANC. We now offer ARV drugs and increased voluntary testing services in public facilities etc. Nevertheless we have huge challenges to provide quality and affordable healthcare for all Kenyans. We are improving access to health by providing model health centres that have child and maternal health wards.
 
Russia – MOFA
It is hard not to agree that health is not only a prerequisite for a person’s quality of life, but for eradicating discrimination, etc. We have allocated $20 billion in last 5 years to health. We continue to take part in ODA to combat HIV, TB, Malaria and the communicable diseases. We get significant technical assistance to CIS countries. We will actively promote the values of a healthy life style – the goal of the first NCD conference in Moscow next year. We have contributed over last XX years $430 million. UNSG we support – and will hold a series of scientific educational conferences to disseminate best practice on reducing maternal mortality.
 
Saudi – His Majesty
Women, gender equality, sustainable development addressed in conferences etc

UNESCO
We support the SG Global Strategy that emphasises close link between health and education – education saves lives. Evidence shows that children of parents who have education are more likely to save lives. When parents have post primary education the situation is better, though achieving this is difficult. Educated women are likely to give birth using a skilled health worker, seek ANC and approach health services and know more about available services. Education is a powerful means to prevent spread of preventable diseases and promote healthy lives, behaviour etc that has progressive impact on lives of women. Adolescent girls are key target. They need access to basic health services
 
Ghana
Our results are mixed. Our 2008 DHS report has fallen from 111 in 2003 to 80- per 1000 live births in 2008. A further reduction of 50 % is required to reach target. The progress in reducing MM is further off track. We estimated there was 450 deaths per 1000 live births in 2007. MDG target is 185 – we are a long way off. HIV AIDS has stabilised largely though we need more resources. We need to achieve Abuja target of 15% so as to help achieve family planning accessible for all, all maternal health services are free, to scale up planning and services. We need to include number of midwives. We are way out of MNDG 5 but we believe with strong commitment we will be able to achieve it.
 
Bulgaria – Ministry of FA
If challenges related to access are not met, millions will be deprived of opportunity to have decent lifestyle. Significant amount of our ODA goes to education as we believe that investment in human capital can achieve long term progress on the MDGs. Re the Youth Conference. To improve adolescent SRH, the YP Bulgaria was established. Regional Peer education training connects more than 50-00 people from 42 countries. – so speedy progress is possible. We cannot achieve MDGs without progress on education and health.
 
UNFPA – Thoraya Obaid
5 points
1. Education and health are interlinked but when girls are educated they also contribute to productivity and economic growth
2. Health of women is not just focus of ministry of health. National plans need to prioritise integrated package of services.
3. Partners need to work together to support countries – ie H4+ we work to focus on those countries with high newborn and maternal deaths.
4. We talk re investments so need to see budget lines etc
5. We need more than health, the competing demands – it is a cultural issue around value of women and girls. If we value women then we need to work with value systems to improve and promote health of women and children.
 
Oman – MOFA
Oman calls on international community to address other health issues that directly affect the MDGs such as NCDs. We continue to offer free healthcare to our citizens and work closely with CS and UN agencies to achieve MDGs – and believe in communication, collaboration and …….
 
Arab League
In Libya children participate in schools at 100 per cent. We have closed health gap between rural and urban areas. Reducing maternal mortality we have achieved a lot and improved healthcare through building hospitals and providing free medication.
 
Norway
The most dangerous day for a woman is the day she gives birth and the day she is born. Would it be the same if men gave birth? We need more attention and focus on providing sex education, safe abortion services etc. Women must be put in a position where they have power to decide over their own body. When women are valued the society at large will protect their rights. Gender equality is good for health. Meeting the MDGs means also focussing on gender equality too
 
World Bank
The MDGs are the World Bank’s goals. We want a world free of poverty. We need to provide basic essential medicines, and create meaningful employment opportunities. I am pleased to highlight Zoëllick’s announcement earlier today that the Bank is pledging new investments to help poor countries close gap by 2015. We will focus on access agenda and address these goals and targets and focus on 35 countries in Africa and Asia.

It is not often you find yourself in a closed room listening to President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Prince Albert of Monaco and the President of Honduras. Oh yes, and let’s not forget his ‘Majesty’ from Saudi Arabia or the President of Tanzania.

It is rarer still that you will find yourself listening to all these men discussing the best ways to improve maternal health.

So I suppose today was just one of those days.

Men (yes men) who are in positions of power and influence and who certainly have one hand on their country’s national budget were all talking about how difficult it was to fulfil women’s health and rights.

Many highlighted that progress had been made, but that they were still way off course for achieving their MDG targets, especially those related to health or women.

All of these people, which included several Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Prime Ministers, their Deputies, Presidents, Heads of UN Agencies (WHO, UNFPA, UNESCO etc) and a very small number of NGOs came together at Roundtable 2 of the MDG Summit to focus on the what would seemingly appear to be a highly contentious issue - ‘Health and Education’.

The majority of the speeches made, were shall I say, not particularly enlightening and I shall not name names here – “the importance of physical education for lifting the self-esteem of people should not be under estimated”! I am sure this is true, but really, oh dear. 

Others, though disappointingly few, made excellent statements – and I am happy to name UNFPA and Norway here. Norway pressed home the point that there really needs to be more focus on providing comprehensive sex education, youth friendly services, safe abortion services and the importance of achieving MDG 3. 

Many and I include the President of Tanzania in this, highlighted that progress on reaching MDG 5 has been mixed. Gains made in reducing the Maternal Mortality Rate had been clawed back by the high incidence of HIV among women. Lesotho too highlighted the challenge presented by HIV and AIDS which disproportionately affects the young and vulnerable.

However, perhaps the most progressive statement of the day was made by an NGO that managed to speak right at the very end. The speech is attached here and provides a good example of what we should all be striving for. Oh yes, and the name of that NGO, erm, its IPPF Of course.

If you would like a very brief outline of the speeches made at the Round Table 2 then do please let me know and I’ll do my level best to forward them to you.

So two days since my last sex and the summit note. It has been a mix of frustration, and real interest, and the chance to meet old friends, and new people, some of whom were experiencing NY and the UN for the first time.

The Women Deliver brunch yesterday - some interesting statements, not least that the opulent, elegant Waldorf hotel where we met was apparently once the site of a huge fistula hospital, which makes you think

Unlike the Roundtable today, the speakers kept within their 4-5 minutes, and managed to keep us motivated, and the table conversations were an interesting model.

I was particularly interested by the international youth coalition’s comment that the MDGs are not engaging young people. Graca Machel was great – and very clear about the need for governments to be responsible, and that action must take place at the local level.

The ‘stand up’ event at the Lincoln Centre to draw attention to global poverty, HIV, was a good effort at raising public awareness on a range of issues, by a number of NGOs, and I had the unexpected chance to talk with Sylvia Borren, a Dutch New Zealander who is the Co Chair of the Global Coalition Against Poverty, which seems to be very successful on a very limited budget. And conversations with Sylvia always leave me thinking about what can be done differently to build a movement, and to impact on poverty.

From there to a Women Deliver advisory board meeting, with one of the few talkative yellow cab drivers I’ve met. He was from Bangladesh, and knew the MA. At the meeting we discussed the evaluations, lessons learned, wide ranging media coverage, definitions of feminism and possible plans for the next WD in 2013 – Kuala Lumpur? Bangkok? Ethiopia, South Africa

Wherever, Jill is certainly to be congratulated on what she and a very small team have done-truly extraordinary!

And then to the NGO meeting to prepare for the Summit-a large number from different NGOs, from the South. And many for the first time. It was good to see a number from IPPF MAs and 2 regional offices. The young members of the NY group that have tracked the byzantine processes of the UN over the last few months showed great leadership and organisation. For us it was a good opportunity to hear what others wanted to see included in our 3 Minute statement today, and what their concerns are –  about the week, the Outcome Document, and the Secretary Generals Global Strategy.

And so to today, time spent on finalising the 3 minute marathon as we struggled to get everything in, and then reduce it by 500 per cent! Never was so much time spent by so many on so little – as you will see!

The sunny streets of NY were a little different from usual this morning, with a protest against the Hilton for having Iran’s head of state to stay, barriers closing off the streets round the UN, the NYPD out in full force and snipers on the roof.

The Round Table was interesting – a number of states have clearly made some significant achievements in health and education, others were clear that they still had a long way to go – and some described achievements in minute detail, and, I suspect with some optimism! Some specifically addressed MDG 5B, which was encouraging to hear.

As a result of the session running late, the 4 civil society reps were asked at the end of the 3 hour session to reduce our 3 minutes to 1 – a further challenge which we struggled with, partly because of the points we wanted to make, even to a diminished audience, and partly – at least in my case – because of a stubborn sense of wanting civil society to be given the chance for a meaningful contribution! I do think we need to work with some of our contacts in the administration to try to get better processes and space for civil society in the run up to 2015, otherwise they risk losing credibility and civil society becoming increasingly resentful. Certainly there are some within the UN who would like to get beyond 24 roundtable participants and 24 Passes for others, but I imagine some Member States may be less enthusiastic.

I followed this with the launch of the Global Leaders Council for reproductive Health-chaired by Mary Robinson, the Leaders include Fred Sai, Helen Clark, Annie Lennox, and a number of others who have had distinguished careers. It’s come out of the September 2008 meeting here, hosted by Packard and Gates, and it will be well worth seeing if there are ways we can work together, or exchange views.

On the way back from dinner, walking past the high piled rubbish bags, I met a man striding down 45th St singing opera –  a wonderful voice – and so confident and relaxed – as if it was a completely normal thing to do! And I guess that’s the essence of New York! And yes when I arrived back – my missing bag had finally arrived!

And now some sleep before tomorrow’s 7.30 HIV breakfast!

Gill

Today was busy, very busy, spent preparing for the start of the MDG Summit tomorrow. At just before ‘too early o’clock’ we assembled downstairs to start drafting IPPF’s statement which will be delivered at Monday’s Roundtable on Health and Education. However, tiredness combined with pressing engagements ensured we could not complete the task and we decided to reconnoitre later in the day to finalise the text and agree on key messages.

By 9.00 am we were all seated in the Starlight Room of the Waldorf Astoria for the Women Deliver Brunch. The line up of speakers included many of the most impressive names in sexual and reproductive health – both old and new as well as a sprinkling of Ministers, Ambassadors and civil society.

The wonderful Fred Sai spoke with conviction about the rights of women and girls and explained how the Waldorf Astoria was actually built on the site of a Fistula hospital – demolished back in the late 19th century. Graca Machel, one of the UN Secretary General’s MDG advocates went off script and spoke with passion about the importance of gender equality and rights as being central to the attainment of the MDGs. Other speakers, such as Dr Imane Khachani spoke articulately about the importance of, though lack of reference to, young people and adolescents in the MDG framework – and really, can anyone disagree? After all, the Summit outcome document is 27 pages long. Yet there is only one reference in the entire document to adolescents – and that is in relation to employment!

A cynic would say that the solitary reference to adolescents is at least one more than there is to ‘abortion’ – which contains exactly zero mentions! This is quite startling. Especially when we consider that in 2005 nearly half of the world’s population (almost 3 billion people) was under the age of 25, and that some 19 million women annually are forced to risk their health and lives to undergo an unsafe abortion with 70,000 of these women dying as a consequence. Indeed, studies show that up to 80 per cent of women who have an unsafe abortion suffer illness, injury or disability as a result. An estimated 2.5 million adoelscents have unsafe abortions every year and these account for 46 per cent of deaths related to unsafe abortion every year. Adolescent girls aged 10-19 account for 23 per cent of the global burden of disease due to pregnancy and childbirth

As someone said, “the MDGs don’t speak for young people”. Our task therefore is to ensure that they do, though quite how this can be achieved is open to discussion.

Following the Women Deliver brunch we all moved up to the Lincoln Center for the ‘Stand up Against Poverty’ event. This was an event designed to draw attention to the MDGs among the US public at large. And while there were a large number of NGOs present, and the sun shone brilliantly, the number of members of the US general public remained stubbornly and disappointingly low. Despite this, a wealth of knowledge was on show and many people commented on the high quality of information and data available.

It was then time to get ready for the MDG SRHR strategy meeting. The meeting was designed to bring NGOs working across MDGs 3 to 6 up to speed on the MDG process and look to agree on concrete actions to use the brief time left to advocate for greater reference to sexual and reproductive health and rights in official statements being made by governments at the Summit from tomorrow onwards.

Debates within the group also touched briefly on what should be included in statements from those fortunate enough to be selected for participation within the Round table process – and let’s not forget that civil society is grossly under-represented in the official Summit processes. For example, while there may be well over 3,000 + civil society organizations in consultative status with the ECOSOC, only 24 have been selected to participate during the roundtables – and of course, participation in this sense does not mean that the CSOs will actually be given the opportunity to participate in any meaningful way – let alone speak – as protocol dictates that member states must be given the opportunity to engage before civil society, UN agencies, the private sector and so on. And if time runs out and the session has to close before civil society can utter a word …. then so be it.  

Finally, we are back to the hotel to refocus on the statement for tomorrow’s round table event. But the witching hour is soon upon us and we agree, and with very heavy eyes, to reconvene in the morning.

I arrived in NY last night. One bag went missing en route but nevertheless, it was a good 7 hour space to read what experts and journos had to say about the review of the MDGs next week, the world’s governments evaluating ‘the world’s biggest promise’.

The Lancet’s online publication, ‘The Millennium Development Goals: a cross sectoral analysis and principles for goal setting after 2015′ is worth reading, despite the long title,  for a view of where we’ve come from – and where we might go. It’s a good reminder too that the MDGs are not an end in themselves – but a means to an end – an end which won’t be reached by 2015. It calls for greater synergy, in setting and delivering such goals, and stresses the importance of ‘equity’.

Interestingly, Madeleine Bunting had written in Tuesday’s Guardian, which I’d kept to read, that ‘equality is the one item nobody wants on the UN Agenda next week’, reflecting that ‘For all the progress on the millennium development goals, it seems countries are growing richer while leaving their poor behind.’ Two pages on Polly Toynbee, President of the British Humanist Association commented that “Repression of sex, banning contraception, gays, abortion, stem cell research and IVF treatment cause untold misery ….. while this Pope claims condoms ‘aggravate the problem of HIV”.

Today though, no time for reading, too much time spent searching for my missing bag, involving  endless calls to non human answer phones – and time catching up on emails and phone calls. I have asked friends and colleagues what would be their ‘must have’ key message for the Health and Education Roundtable on Monday, which I’m fortunate enough to have been given an invitation – if indeed the 4 civil society reps get to speak at all.

Their answers? Invest in women; invest in young people; keep girls in school; family planning – meet the unmet need of 215 million women, for dramatic reductions in maternal deaths and illness, and improving health, well being, and sustainable development; involve civil society in decision making, and in reaching the poor, marginalised and vulnerable; integrate  policies and programmes for reproductive health and HIV. Every one of these points important because individually and collectively, these issues are critical to human rights, to well being, to development – but now the question is: how to get them – together with the evidence – into a 3 minute statement?!
 
And tonight a small meeting of kiwis with some common interests, including Helen Clark, administrator of UNDP, and our former Prime Minister who this coming week will be one of the new Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, and Patti O’Neill from the OECD, and a few more – we work in very different ways, but also from a shared history – part of which is that ours was the first country to give women the vote in 1893. And so tomorrow morning the real work of the week starts, with a Brunch for delegations, focussing on MDGs 5,4,6,2 and 3, led by Women Deliver, and the redoubtable Jill Sheffield, with IPPF and others as co-hosts – an opportunity to follow up the June WD conference and begin the week with a key message – Invest in Women – It Pays

And in the meantime, back to that 3 minute statement! Watch this space!

Gill

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has estimated that nearly 140 Heads of State will attend the MDG Summit that starts on Monday. This is good news as surely not so many would attend if they believed it was going to be a failure. So let us be highly optimistic (some could say naive) and assume, until we know otherwise of course, that the Summit is going to be a roaring success.

As such our thoughts naturally turn to wondering about what governments will bring to the table in the form of pledges to finally put the MDGs back on track. This despite some going on record already to say that they don’t see this Summit as a ‘pledging’ one – but rather one that seeks to reinvigorate political will for development among the wealthier states. And as we know, some governments have already used the ’economic crisis’ as justification for being shy in coming forwards in the funding department.

But others have at least been looking closely at investing both the resources and political will into the Secretary-General’s Global Strategy on Women and Children’s Health as a way of getting MDGs 4 and 5 back on track. And while the details of any pledges (an estimated $26 Billion has been suggested) won’t be confirmed until the Summit starts (or even until the official Global Strategy is launched on Wednesday) I thought I would at least share with you IPPF’s commitment to the SG’s Global Strategy. You will all know that IPPF is committed to universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (last year alone we provided 69 million SRH services around the world. Yes. 69 million!). As such our commitment is as follows: 

1. IPPF pledges to build on many years of successful national, regional and global advocacy to support policy and legislation changes which ensure universal access to SRHR, and support the universal right to the highest attainable standard of health, and the advancement of women and girls. We will continue to monitor commitments made to women’s and children’s health, the SRHR of young people, and HIV prevention, treatment and care. We will hold stakeholders accountable to their national, regional and global commitments, including those made at the International Conference on Population and Development, Beijing and the 2005 and 2010 High Level meetings to review the MDGs.
2. IPPF commits to ensuring its SRH services reach the poorest, most marginalized, vulnerable and underserved sectors of society. By 2015, at least 80% of our SRH services will reach this target group.
3. IPPF will provide comprehensive and integrated, rights-based SRH services, including family planning, antenatal, postnatal and newborn care, comprehensive abortion care (where legal) and post-abortion care (in all settings), and those related to sexually transmitted infections, HIV, gender-based violence, and reproductive cancers.
4. IPPF will strive to contribute to meeting the needs of the 215 million women with unmet need for contraception by increasing the number of new users of IPPF contraceptive services by at least 50% by 2015, and at least doubling the number of unintended pregnancies averted.
5. IPPF is committed to meeting the SRHR needs of young people. We will increase our services to young people by at least 50% by 2015. We will scale up comprehensive sexuality education through rolling out ‘It’s All One Curriculum’ to all IPPF Member Associations, so integrating gender, human rights, HIV prevention and sexuality.
6. IPPF commits to scaling up its HIV related services, with the aim of providing integrated SRH/HIV services to at least 10 million people by 2015.
7. As part of IPPF’s commitment to the highest attainable standard of health IPPF will continue to protect the right to legal and safe abortion.
8. IPPF is committed to upholding human rights. Its ‘Declaration of Sexual Rights,’ will be integrated into service delivery and advocacy.
9. IPPF commits to integrating SRHR in humanitarian settings through its SPRINT Initiative and will continue to promote and implement the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for SRH in Crisis Situations. The prevention of sexual violence and care of rape survivors will be a priority.
10. IPPF commits to extending its partnerships with national governments, UN agencies, donor governments, the private sector, research institutions and civil society. These partnerships will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practice and contribute to galvanizing ourselves and other stakeholders to implement our shared commitment to accelerating progress towards MDGs 3, 4, 5 and 6.

While our pledges are a genuine effort to improve sexual and reproductive health around the world by 2015, it will falter without the support, encouragement and cold hard cash of governments around the world to help make this happen. Combine this with a renewed political priority by governments for SRH and then, just then, we might just start to see some modicum of progress being made on the MDGs lagging behind

For those of you looking for something to do in New York on Sunday to get you in the mood for the MDG Summit, may I suggest a visit to the Stand Up Against Poverty event which is scheduled to take place from 12 – 4pm at the Josie Robertson Plaza – Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023.

It promises to be an exciting event with “a rally, live entertainment and a vibrant exhibition on the Millennium Development Goals”. There will even be a special MDG 5 booth staffed by lots of knowledgable and wonderful volunteers. Undoubtedly there will be lots of information available about the centrality of reproductive health to development and details about how you can get involved in the ”A Promise is a Promise” campaign on MDG5b.

For further information on the Stand Up Against Poverty event visit www.standagainstpoverty.org

See you there …

A busy day which started with my first pre-Summit event in Westminster, London organized by a network of British development NGOs called BOND. The event which attracted about 300 people was called ‘Fighting Global Poverty and Inequality: UK Priorities to meet the Millennium Development Goals’ and had good government representation. Highlights included Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg outlining his belief that international development needed to remain a global priority. He even hinted that there would be new commitments and new resources to tackle maternal health.

However, for me, the most interesting speaker was the Secretary of State. It was very interesting to listen to him again. He really does seem to be very strong on the importance of sexual and reproductive health and rights for development. I last heard him speak at the Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) of the ECOSOC in July where again he was in impressive form. At the AMR he stressed the importance of putting women’s health and rights at the centre of development efforts and included specific reference to the need for access to safe abortion services. This time Mitchell continued where he left off at the AMR. He highlighted the fact that women and children have to remain “at the front and centre” of all development efforts if any progress was to be made in reaching any of the MDGs; that annually over 350,000 women die giving birth every year; and that UK development aid educates more than 5 million children overseas every single year.

In regard to next week’s Summit, Mitchell said that the UK wants to underline four key areas: These are going to be:

1. A commitment to doubling the number of women and children’s lives saved using UK ODA. Mitchell re-emphasized a point made earlier in the week by DPM Clegg (and reported in the Guardian newspaper) that “as a result of the new strategy … at least 50,000 more women and 250,000 babies will survive and 10 million more couples will get access to family planning”. To highlight the importance of this point he stated that 73 per cent of women in Sub Saharan Africa have no access to contraception whatsoever
2. UK leadership on international development – and he wants to encourage other governments to prioritise development as well
3. The importance of transparency and openness – in other words he wants, as we all do, for governments to be held accountable for fulfilling the promises and commitments they make – this is of course an area where civil society can play a key watchdog role, and
4. That now was the time to deliver on the MDGs – highlighting that there should be an annual meeting to review progress on achieving each of the goals (I assume the AMR would be the most likely forum where this would happen)

Mitchell also mentioned that there was going to be an emphasis on tackling malaria, that a new fund would be created to focus on targeting nutrition in the 8 most high burden countries, and that the UK would work with Gates to focus on conflict and reconciliation – though details on this were sketchy due to the lack of time.

Other highlights included Mariella Fostrup – from off the telly. She made a very good and impassioned speech about the need to make progress on Gender Equality and MDG3. The equally impressive Head of Governance from WaterAid Nigeria, Juanita During, highlighted not just water and sanitation issues but also mentioned the need to make progress on MDGs 3 and 5.

I guess we won’t have many more details until the Summit itself, but if the UK does deliver on what it says it will, then it will certainly have played a major part in making the Summit a success. Now for the other 191 Member States …

As for Summit related news from the UK, well we now know that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will lead the UK Delegation to the Summit and will be accompanied by Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell MP. Clegg will deliver the UK’s speech at the Summit as Prime Minister Cameron is on paternity leave (following the birth of daughter Florence) but is also mourning the recent death of his father Ian Donald Cameron.

The UK statement at the Summit is scheduled to be delivered during the afternoon of Wednesday 22 September and from what we hear DPM Clegg will say something along the lines of “the choice of women should be at the centre of development programmes”. Good news if that’s what is delivered, though something even stronger would be preferred.

What else, ah yes, Clegg is likely to be there for one day only but Mitchell is down for the duration. He will be participating in side events including an important one on Malaria. Mitchell will also be attending the launch of the Secretary General’s Global Strategy on Women and Children’s Health and participating along with 50 others at Round Table 4 focusing on “Addressing emerging issues and evolving approaches”

Wonderful news Michelle Bachelet is first again.

Previously she had managed to be elected as the very first woman to become President of Chile. Now, she has been confirmed as the very first Under-Secretary General of the new United Nations agency “UN Women”. She is certainly a strong and influential leader and we wish her all the very best in making the progress that is so desperately required in advancing women’s rights and empowerment around the world.

Interesting times ahead