On Friday, January 8, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population Development,  where delegates from 179 countries signed the Cairo Program of action committing to improve adolescents' access to information and services and reduce negative sexual health outcomes among adolescents.   Read what James Wagoner and Nicole Cheetham had to say about Secretary Clinton's speech and the anniversary.

Praise for Secretary Clinton’s Speech and Encouragement for Bold Action
by James Wagoner, President, Advocates for Youth

During the eight years of the Bush Administration, the U.S. government bartered away women’s and young people’s rights as bargaining chips in an ideologically-driven culture war.  However, bold leadership from President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton has ushered in a new era of U.S. global leadership on sexual and reproductive health.

Secretary Clinton Pulls Through for Women and Girls’ Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 
by Nicole Cheetham, Director, International Division

Secretary Clinton did not disappoint in her commitment to women’s and girls’ reproductive health and rights.  She stated unequivocally that reproductive rights are at the heart of development, that we cannot achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) without them, and that ensuring these rights is key to development and political and economic stability and security around the world.

Fifteen years ago at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt, the United States delegation played a critical role in the creation of a Program of Action that placed sexual and reproductive health and rights at the heart of development and recognized the central role of women and young people in the development process.

Ultimately, 179 countries signed the 1994 Cairo Program of Action, which highlighted adolescents’ need and right to sexual and reproductive health education, information, and care, called upon governments to substantially reduce adolescent pregnancy.  Furthermore, at the ICPD follow-up conference in 1999, the Program of Action was reaffirmed and additional commitments to young people were made, including access to sex education at all levels of schooling, increased access to HIV prevention information and services, and a 25 percent reduction in global HIV infection rates among youth ages 15-24 by 2010.

During the eight years of the Bush Administration, the U.S. government bartered away women’s and young people’s rights as bargaining chips in an ideologically-driven culture war.  However, bold leadership from President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton has ushered in a new era of U.S. global leadership on sexual and reproductive health.  President Obama increased U.S. support for international family planning, effectively zeroed-out domestic abstinence-only funding in his first presidential budget, and rescinded the Mexico City Policy in his first year in office. Secretary Clinton stated unapologetically while testifying in front of political opponents on Capitol Hill that this administration’s definition of reproductive health “does include abortion.” 

Secretary Clinton’s Friday speech commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of the Cairo Conference is another important example of this administration’s commitment to advancing the mission of the Cairo Program of Action around the world.  As the largest donor in global health, the United States has considerable clout in the direction and outcomes of global health interventions and policies adopted in other countries.  Therefore U.S. leadership that recognizes and respects young people’s rights to sexual and reproductive health information and services is crucial. 

Fifteen years after ICPD, young people’s sexual and reproductive rights are yet to be guaranteed in many countries around the world. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth remain the leading cause of death for young women ages 15 to 19 in low and middle income countries; less than 40 percent of young people have basic information about HIV; and each year at least two million young women in developing countries undergo unsafe abortion. 

There is still much work to be done to ensure that the world’s 1.1 billion young people—the largest generation of youth in history,  have access to the information and services that they need to make responsible and informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.  Friday’s speech is a crucial symbol of this administration’s commitment to young people’s health and rights.  Now, the administration must demonstrate this commitment by prioritizing young people’s access to comprehensive, evidence-based sex education and safe, affordable reproductive health services, including access to family planning, contraception, and safe abortion. As President Obama begins to implement his ambitious Global Health Initiative and works with Congress to reform U.S. foreign assistance policies, it is imperative that he and his administration, including Secretary Clinton, work towards the realization of the Cairo Program of Action to advance the health and well-being of young people in the United States and around the world.

Secretary Clinton Pulls Through for Women and Girls’ Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 
by Nicole Cheetham, Director, International Division

At long last, Secretary Clinton gave her much anticipated address to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), which took place in Cairo, Egypt, back in 1994.  Hosted on Friday afternoon, January 8th, by the State Department, this event has been in the making for some time.  Originally scheduled for December, it was last rescheduled due to the biggest snow storm to hit Washington, DC, in over a decade.  This time around, in the New Year, proponents of women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights have finally had our day.

Secretary Clinton did not disappoint in her commitment to women’s and girls’ reproductive health and rights.  She stated unequivocally that reproductive rights are at the heart of development, that we cannot achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) without them, and that ensuring these rights is key to development and political and economic stability and security around the world. Secretary Clinton also made it very clear that allowing women and girls around the world to be helpless to plan their families and to die and suffer from maternal mortality and morbidity is simply unacceptable.  She also talked about how culture can prevent women from obtaining reproductive health services, from negotiating contraceptive use with their partners, and from realizing their potential.  She underscored the need for gender equity, the involvement of men and boys, and just basic equity in societies. 

All this said, it’s still hard for me to believe that we have to look back more than a decade to re-articulate a progressive agenda for the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women, men and young people around the world.  So thank you Secretary Clinton for taking us back in order to take us forward from where we have been for the past eight years.  Thank you for talking about the fact that a woman dies every minute of every day from complications due to pregnancy and childbirth.  Thank you for reminding us that there are still 20 million unsafe abortions that take place every year.  Thank you for talking about fistula and the sigma and devastating consequences that women, especially young women who are too young to give birth, must face when suffering from this preventable and treatable condition.  Thank you for talking about gender-based violence and telling us that 70 million women and girls worldwide have been subjected to female genital cutting.  And finally, thank you for talking about girls and young people. 

There are 1.1 billion young people between the ages of 15-24 in the world today.  They have the power to make change but not if our foreign assistance continues to fail to recognize them or prioritize their sexual and reproductive health needs.  Fifteen years after ICPD, complications from pregnancy and childbirth remain the leading cause of death for young women ages 15 to 19 in low and middle income countries; less than 40 percent of young people have basic information about HIV; and each year at least two million young women in developing countries undergo unsafe abortion. 

These dire realities for youth around the world are unacceptable and preventable.  There is no excuse for denying young people the information, tools, and services that they need to live healthy lives and plan their families and futures.  It’s time for U.S. Foreign Assistance to get real and support policies and programs that help young people make responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.  This is their right, not ours to merely ponder or squander, but to respect and uphold. 

Secretary Clinton’s speech today gives hope that the Administration is committed to instituting structural and organizational change to support women and girl’s reproductive rights.  We as a community need to support her vision and the Cairo Program of Action.  While Secretary Clinton acknowledged and described examples of real progress made towards the ICPD Program of Action in the past 15 years, she provided sobering reminders of how much farther we have to go and that we need to act quickly.  The Administration and Congress must act now.  Time is ticking towards the target year of 2015 for ICPD and the Millennium Development Goals.  Time is ticking period. 

Secretary Clinton thanked the audience for their efforts to advance women’s and girls’ reproductive health and rights throughout the good times and bad times.  At the same time, she also asked us not to give up--not to become weary of the fight for what seems to be so evident, so obvious...  She urged us to shoot for institutional and structural change that does not get wiped away with the winds of political change. This to me was the biggest call to action that she put forward.  So now is the time, within the Global Health Initiative, within Foreign Assistance Reform, and within any other vehicles, to make programming for women and young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world a long-term and unquestionable component of U.S. foreign assistance.