United Nations Secretary-General and his Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning commended the Addis Call to Action, a declaration of support for family planning as a key part of development and inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Nearly 1,000 individuals and organizations from more than 80 countries signed onto the Call to Action, representing the millions of women, men, and young people around the world asking leadership to secure sexual and reproductive health services for all people. The declaration urges the Post-2015 development framework to commit to universal access to voluntary, high quality family planning.
Dr. Jotham Musinguzi of Partners for Population and Development launched the Call to Action at the closing event of the 2013 International Conference on Family Planning in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dr. Michael J. Klag, Dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, presented the collective global appeal for family planning to remain a core component in upcoming discussions of the Sustainable Development Goals and Post-2015 Development Agenda. In his letter to the Secretary-General Dean Klag praised the inclusion of family planning and universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services by 2030 in proposed goal 3, as stated in the final draft of the 13th session of the Open Working Group for Sustainable Development. He also encouraged the United Nations leadership to ensure:
- Universal access to voluntary, high quality family planning and sexual and reproductive health services, including of the widest possible contraceptive choice, is included in the post-2015 framework;
- Existing Millennium Development Goal targets on maternal mortality and access to reproductive health that have not been met are carried over into the new framework as key goals and targets; and
- Closing the gap in unmet need for family planning in full within the time frame of the new post-2015 framework.
In response, Special Adviser Amina J. Mohammed, on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, shared their appreciation of the Addis Call to Action and reiterated their commitment to the Post-2015 Development Agenda, noting that, “the integration of sexual and reproductive health care services will ensure a truly transformative development landscape.” She stated that the input would be duly considered as the Synthesis of the Secretary-General is prepared.
The majority of the supporters of the Call to Action signed on as individuals (60%), 35% signed on both as an individual and on behalf of an organization, and 5% signed on as organizations. A number of global institutions contributed their weight to the list, including:
African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), Nairobi, Kenya
Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins University
DKT International
DSW (Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung)
EngenderHealth
European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (EPF)
FHI360
Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University
Guttmacher Institute
Institute for Reproductive Health
International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)
International HIV/AIDS Alliance
IntraHealth International
Ipas
Jhpiego
John Snow Inc. (JSI)
Management Sciences for Health (MSH)
Matei Multipurpose Cooperative Society (MATCOPS), Sierra Leone
Pathfinder International
Population Services Inc. (PSI)
Population Council
Save the Children
Universal Access Project
World Education, Inc.
Women Deliver
View the full list of signees.
Read the full Addis Call to Action statement.
For more information contact [email protected].
