Latin American Leaders Urge Obama to Implement Cairo Actions

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Cairo Conference for Population and Development.  As such, many organizations are calling upon governments to reignite their commitment to the Cairo Programme of Action. A letter sent by dozens of women's right organizations in Latin America to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton does just that. 

Last week, 1,600 women from all over Latin America came together for the 11th annual Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting in Mexico. The delegates convened to develop strategies for eliminating gender discrimination and violence against women throughout the region. Among the delegates were representatives of the Latin American network of Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, partners of Catholics for Choice.  

To further their mission, the delegates prepared a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton.  The message applauded the administration's commitment to women's rights displayed in measures such as the elimination of the Global Gag Rule and the restoration of funding to the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA).  

Aside from this expression of gratitude, the letter largely focused on the 42nd Session of the United Nations Commission of Population and Development which is being held this week to evaluate the progress and implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action. The delegates included nine "asks" for President Obama to ensure the implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action:

1. Allocate more resources to Latin America and the Caribbean, including in the field of women's health and rights, as it is no longer a priority region for the majority of donor countries. This has created serious problems with regard to access to services and resources, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable people.

2. Promote integrated policies to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity.

3. Recognize adolescents and youth as rights holders by promoting their participation in the creation of policies, especially those policies designed to serve their needs.

4. Promote universal access to quality education, including comprehensive sexuality education.

5. Improve conditions for the exercise of sexual and reproductive rights and guarantee universal access to the full range of contraceptive methods.

6. Guarantee access to safe abortion services where abortion is legal and advocate for legal change in those countries where abortion bans continue to cause grave harm to women's health and hundreds of unnecessary deaths.

7. Implement integrated policies to eradicate violence against women, particularly sexual violence, that promote access to justice for the victims.

8. Guarantee universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

9. Assign political and budgetary priority to the most vulnerable groups.

The letter concluded: "With five years remaining to fulfill the commitments made at Cairo, we believe that the humanist spirit and integrated perspective of the Cairo agenda can help to effectively overcome the challenges of the current socioeconomic crisis that the world faces today. For this reason, we believe it is of utmost importance that the United States Government takes an active role in reaffirming the Cairo Programme of Action, signaling to the world a renewed leadership on women's human rights."

In the last 15 years, we have seen a shift from the initial spirit of the Cairo Programme of Action. Policies like the Global Gag Rule (now overturned by the Obama administration) and the fact that the Millennium Development Goals are silent on issues of sexual and reproductive health mean that the progress made on reproductive rights is imperiled.  During this 15th anniversary year of the Cairo meeting, Catholics for Choice and our Latin American partners are committed to working to redirect the governments throughout the world towards the original goals of the Programme of Action.