PRESS BRIEFING BY UNFPA

28 May 1997

Press Briefing

19970528 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

A senior researcher at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Stan Bernstein, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing that reproductive rights were established in United Nations agreements dating back to the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and treaties and conferences, such as the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994 and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.

The press conference, introduced by UNFPA Information Officer Jessica Jiji, was held to herald the launching of the Fund's report "The State of World Population 1997". Focusing on the theme "The Right to Choose: Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health", the report documents global progress and shortcomings in ensuring reproductive rights guaranteed by human rights agreements.

Explaining what reproductive rights meant, Mr. Bernstein said the term was a summary for some rights such as the right to choose and the right to health, including reproductive health and family-planning services. A key choice issue was the right to reproductive self-determination, which includes free choices regarding pregnancy, childbearing and voluntary choices on the number and spacing of children and on marriage. Also discussed was reproductive security rights, which was the right to sexuality, to reproduction free of violence and coercion and the right of women to opportunities and gender equality.

The report documents the global effects of the failure to fulfil the reproductive rights recognized by the international community, he said. For example, 585,000 women -- one every minute -- die each year from pregnancy- related causes, nearly all in developing countries. Of those, about 200,000 could be avoided with effective services. Further, there were 333 million new cases of curable sexually-transmitted diseases every year, which could be addressed through information and protection campaigns to meet the reproductive health needs of the people around the world.

Similarly, about 120 million women and girls had undergone some form of female genital mutilation, with another 2 million at risk each year, he continued. Still, 1 million women and infants died yearly from reproductive tract infections, and there were about 120 million to 150 million women who wanted to limit or space their pregnancies but lacked the means to do so effectively. Altogether, 350 million couples lacked information on and access to contraceptive services.

The report also relays some of the measures that would be necessary to address those problems, he said. They include the mobilization of resources in national programmes, the involvement of non-governmental organizations and local communities, the adoption of local legislation and their enforcement, and the translation of the principles adopted in Cairo into guidelines for national action. The costs estimated at Cairo for ensuring reproductive health and population programmes for the world was about $17 billion a year by the year 2000. Of that, various sectors had mobilized about $9.5 billion as of 1995.

"The efforts have to be redoubled and increased so that we can meet the needs of the world", he concluded.

In a subsequent question-and-answer session, he was asked to explain why there were problems in raising the amounts needed for the programmes. He said that they differed from country to country. Poor States found it hard to mobilize any kind of resources and, therefore, needed additional levels of international assistance. On the other hand, the levels of official development assistance (ODA) had levelled off in recent years due to the developed countries' difficulties in mobilizing more funds for international assistance. The quick pay-off of investments in reproductive rights and reproductive health should encourage countries to renew efforts to raise the funds required.

In response to a question as to how cultural differences over the meaning of those rights could be resolved, he said the rights had been agreed to by consensus in international instruments. Their translation and implementation in local circumstances would require some close work with local communities and groups, governments and non-governmental organizations on their local understandings of the rights.

Asked for his views as to the reasons for the sexual exploitation of children and women, he said that one of the causes was poverty in many societies. "People do not readily give up their children for sexual uses unless they are in desperate circumstances", he said. Therefore, the broader issues of poverty and gender equality and equity should be addressed to ensure that girl children were valued for themselves and not for what they could obtain materially for families.

Replying to a question on the progress made in addressing such problems, he said that since the Cairo Conference, attention had been concentrated in the larger area of health. Several countries such as Chile, Mexico and India were also transforming their health services to incorporate more reproductive health services. Efforts that had been started should be further nurtured and supported with more financial and technical assistance from international agencies, donor countries and through South-South cooperation.

UNFPA Briefing - 3 - 28 May 1997

In response to a question on how much developing countries were contributing to the resources requested at the Cairo Conference, he said that those States were contributing 78 per cent of the needs for integrated population programmes.

Asked to explain the circumstances that led some women into prostitution, he said some of them were forced into that practice by lack of alternative opportunities. Women should be provided greater opportunities to credit, education and control of resources in order to reduce such vices.

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