Monitoring the UNGASS Goals on Sexual and Reproductive Health

This report, as well as the report “Strategies from the South: Building Synergies in HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Reproductiv eHEalth and Rights” –which FEIM has carried out since 2006 to promote joint advocacy between PLWHA, sex worker, and IDU networks, NGOs working in the field of HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, human rights and women’s and youth’s rights-, will be taken to the United Nations to do advocacy.

This monitoring was carried out in the framework of the international project “Civil Society Fighting for its Rights”, coordinated by GESTOS with the financial support of the Ford Foundation and was done in 16 countries: nine in Latin America and the Caribbean:

Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay, three from Asia: India, Indonesia and Thailand, three from Africa: Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, and one from Eastern Europe: Ukraine. In Argentina, FEIM (the Foundation for Studies and
Research on Women) was responsible for the coordination and compilation, with the participation of 14 youth, women’s, sex workers, GLBTT, WLWHA and other NGOs.

At the presentation, which was held in the Ford Foundation in New York, more than 60 people were present and Dr. Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA spoke, where she referred to the importance of the issue and to how the United Nations agencies made efforts to work together with women’s and PLWHA community groups, in terms of how to guarantee these rights, especially for women living with HIV. For this reason, she congratulated this new contribution and pointed out that she hoped they would continue monitoring these commitments with the same level of participation of organizations and groups.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot, was the last speaker and expressed his concern over this High Level Meeting,where the level of fulfillment of the Commitments is reviewed,regarding all the voices and all the problems being represented. He pointed out that he believes that advancements were made – referring to the increase in funds, the increase in people receiving ARV (antiretroviral) treatment and the reduction in mother-to-child transmission rates-. Nonetheless, he recognized that there remains much to be done. All the same, Piot asked Civil Society groups to continue monitoring their implementation.

During the closing of the presentation, Mabel Bianco expressed that she hopes “the United Nations agencies strengthen and increase their support for women’s, human rights, PLWHA and AIDS organizations, in order to intesify the demands made to governments, donors, and the UN system so that the goals can be reached by 2010, something which we are very far from reaching today, as is mentioned in the civil society’s reports and in the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon’s, document A/62/178 from April 1st”.

Bianco called especially on “the support necessary to achieve sexuality education for 95% of youth aged 15 to 24 -which was just
recently achieved for 40%-, access to sexual and reproductive health services for all people which has only been achieved in about 30% of
the population, and access to ARV treatment for all, which today has reached only 3 million people and 9.6 million are still in need”. She also asked for “countries to destine part of their budget to the response in order to achieve universal access, as well as for donors to increase their contributions, but without conditions such as abstinence-only education for youth”.

Later, a space for dialogue was opened in which representatives from organizations in Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean actively participated.

11 & 12 June
United Nations General Assembly Special Session -UNGASS- in New York

*For more information: feim@ciudad.com.ar
Paraná 135 Piso 3 “13” (1097) Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tel./Fax (5411) 4372-2763
E-mail: feim@ciudad.com.ar / www.feim.org.ar