World leaders, civil society and private sector gathering in Kenya to commit to actions for ending maternal death, meeting demand for contraceptives and protecting women and girls from violence by 2030

Baghdad, Iraq; 13 November 2019 - Actions to save mothers’ lives meet the global demand for contraception and stop violence against women and girls by 2030 are the primary focus of a three-day global summit that takes place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 12-14 November 2019.

The Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 is happening 25 years after the groundbreaking International Conference on Population and Development, or ICPD, in Cairo where 179 governments unanimously called for the empowerment of women and girls in all spheres of their lives, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.

At the Nairobi Summit, top government officials, including heads of state, parliamentarians and representatives from non-governmental and civil society organizations will announce financial and programmatic commitments, policies and other initiatives with a view to achieving all the goals laid out in the Programme of Action stemming from the ICPD in 1994.

Today the Minister of Planning, HE Nouri Sabah al-Dulaimi, who is heading the national delegation of Iraq, read Iraq’s commitment to the ICDP25, which included providing high quality, integrated and comprehensive health care all, integrating reproductive health issues into national policies and strategies; lowering the maternal mortality rate by at least fifty percent from 31 deaths per 100,000 live births to 15; accelerating the promulgation of the Domestic Violence Act, which addresses sexual abuse, harmful practices and gender-based violence by 2022; reducing adolescent marriage rates from 25% to less than 10%; increasing the female enrollment in primary education by 100% and ending female genital mutilation in the Kurdistan Region. (full list of commitment)

The national delegation is formed of the Director General of Women's Empowerment Department of the Iraqi Council of Ministers, Dr Ibtisam Ali, the Director General of the Human Development and Population Policies at the Ministry of Planning, Ms Aqood Alsaad, the member of Parliament, Dr Abdulbari Al-Mudaris, representatives from the civil society organisations, including the Head of the Iraqi Statistical Association, Dr Mahdi Al-Allak, the Executive Director of the Iraq Health Access Org, Dr Hala Al-Sarraf, the Director Gender Studies Dept.-American University of Iraq-Sulaimaniyah, Dr Choman Hardi, and Yazidi activist and gynecologist,  Dr Nagham Nawzat Hasan, the Chairperson of the Iraq Family Planning Association (IPPF), Dr Inas Ahmed, and a group of Iraqi youth.

The Summit is bringing together an unusually diverse group of people including top government officials, thought-leaders, technical experts, religious leaders, activists and community organizers, young people, business leaders, indigenous peoples, international financial institutions, people with disabilities, academics and many others committed to sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as media partners.

Five main issues are the focus in Nairobi: sexual and reproductive health as part of universal health coverage; the funding required to realize all goals of the ICPD’s Programme of Action; demographic diversity and its power to drive economic growth and sustainable development; measures to end gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls; and the right to sexual and reproductive health care, even in humanitarian and fragile contexts.

Discussions in Nairobi will also highlight the absolute necessity and the power of gender equality, youth leadership, political and community leadership, innovation and data, and partnerships to accelerate change – recognizing that without achieving ICPD the world will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals that underpin the 2030 Agenda.

The governments of Kenya and Denmark along with the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, are co-convening the summit, which is also receiving financial or in-kind support from other governments and private partner organizations.

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UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, delivers a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled.

For more information or media inquiries, please contact: Salwa Moussa, Communications Specialist, smoussa@unfpa.org