Voices from the Global South discuss population, rights and sustainability at PCCA Rio+20 event

17 June 2012

Source: Population and Climate Change Alliance

Today at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development participants at the summit came together at a side-event of the Population and Climate Change Alliance to discuss a controversial but critical debate for Rio+20 and beyond.

The future we want and need

Population, rights and sustainability: Voices from the Global South examined the importance of a focus on reproductive rights and population dynamics at Rio+20 and beyond, if we want a sustainable future for people and the planet.

Chaired by Tania Dethlefsen of the Danish Family Planning Association, one of the founding mothers of the Population and Climate Change Alliance, the interactive panel debate brought together members of the alliance to discuss how addressing women’s reproductive and sexual rights at national and community levels is a win-win approach, for women and sustainable development.

After introductions from Tania, Carmen Barroso, Regional Director for IPPF Western Hemisphere Region, provided a contextual overview for the debate, addressing the controversies and sensitivities which must be overcome in order to ensure that population and sexual and reproductive health and rights issues are recognised as critical to sustainable development.

An interactive panel debate then took place with Mialy Andriamahefazafy of Blue Ventures Madagascar, Joan Castro of Path Foundation Philippines Inc. , and Negash Teklu of PHE Ethiopia Consortium sharing experiences from their own countries of integrating family planning with other sustainable development programmes.

Lively debate and discussion ensued with comments and questions from the audience on a variety of topics, ranging from the implications of the Vatican’s privileged observer status at the UN, to strategies the SRHR community must use to ensure that in the post-2015 international development agenda sexual and reproductive health and rights are explicitly and visibly recognized as a core element of the foundation upon which the world's efforts to secure sustainable development for all can be realized.

Key messages from the event

• The voices of people from the global South in sharing experiences are critical for overcoming sensitivities and the reluctance or concern that some development actors have about approaching population and SRHR issues.
• It's not an either or issue; both population and consumption are important and this message is vital for overcoming controversies and sensitivities.
• Population, health, development and environmental issues are integrated so the solutions must be too. Family planning and conservation can be delivered simultaneously and there’s evidence that it is cost-effective.
• Population issues and family planning provision are not necessarily contentious in all countries and communities. In Madagascar for example where Blue Ventures is working, it was the local community that identified population growth and lack of access to health services as exacerbating poverty, overfishing and food insecurity.
• Incorporating livelihood approaches into PHE approaches has benefits for the environment, food security, health and well-being and poverty reduction.
• The SRHR community needs to engage more widely outside of the population and reproductive health and rights spheres, reaching out to development and environmental audiences and actors.
  

Recommendations for scaling up integrated approaches

PCCA members from the Global South shared the following recommendations for others interested in undertaking integrated Population, Health and Environment approaches:

• Integrated population, health and environment approaches must be inclusive and fully involve communities in planning and implementation.
• Consortiums (such as PHE Ethiopia Consortium) bringing together multi-sector stakeholders, including those working on health, environment, gender and livelihoods issues, are a good way of promoting collaboration, sharing learning, and building capacity for the implementation of integrated programmes. 
• Sensitivities and obstacles vary according to culture. Don’t be afraid of talking to communities about their needs, and be ready to respond.
• Engage with youth and use peer education programmes.
• Identify champions at all levels; community, policy makers, service providers etc.
• Community-based distributors of reproductive health commodities are an effective way of increasing access and awareness of family planning but also of overcoming sensitivities. This is an approach used by Path Foundation Philippines Inc.
• Community outreach through sports activities, films etc generate interest and increase awareness.
• Build the evidence base for PHE approaches, and bring it to policy makers and funders.

More PCCA-associated side-events

The event was held by PCCA with the support of the following co-organising organisations: Blue Ventures Madagascar, Marie Stopes International (MSI), PATH Foundation Philippines, Inc. (PFPI), Population Action International (PAI)
Population Health Environment (PHE) Ethiopia Consortium, Population and Sustainability Network (PSN), Sex og Samfund (Danish Family Planning Association) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

PCCA is also associated with a number of other Rio+20 side-events.

Yesterday alliance member Doris Mpoumou of IPPF WHR made a presentation at the PAI side-event From Rio to Cairo to Rio… and Beyond, sharing the alliances perspectives of integrating population dynamics and SRHR into the Rio+20 and post-2015 processes.

Tomorrow at PAI’s Healthy Women, Healthy Planet: Women’s Empowerment, Reproductive Health and Climate Change side-event the alliance's Southern member organisations Blue Ventures Madagascar, PFPI and PHE Ethiopia Consortium will be discussing their integrated Population, Health and Environment programmes.

On 22 June a high-profile IPPF side-event Dynamics of Rio: Population, Women and Rights will bring together the governments of Denmark, Brazil and South Africa.

Earlier at the summit, PCCA member Negash Teklu of PHE Ethiopia Consortium spoke at the side-event Climate change and sustainable development in Ethiopia.

Further information about PCCA

To stay up to date and share infomation about the latest Rio+20 developments relating to population and SRHR  issues you could join the PCCA Rio+20 egroup. Contact Sarah Fisher if you are interested in joining.

For further information about the alliance and our calls for Rio+20,  the PCCA’s leaflet Why talk about population and reproductive rights at Rio+20? is available to download below.