African First Ladies call for increased investment in adolescent girls’ health
New York, USA, 22 September 2014 – The Organization for African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) today called on the global community to ensure that young people are put at the centre of Post-2015 Development Agenda.
In a communique at the end of their high level event on 'Investing in Adolescent Girls for Africa’s Development' held on the margins of the 69th United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in New York, the organisation emphasized the need for increased investment in adolescent girls’ health in Africa, in line with the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) and the Maputo Plan of Action.
The First Ladies expressed concerns on the challenges still facing African adolescent girls, including low access to maternal health services, complications arising from marriage at a young age, gender-based violence, early pregnancies, sexual exploitation, unsafe abortion and the risk of sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV and AIDS.
They called for more attention to be given to quality maternal health services, especially pre-, intra- and post-natal care services, and access to information and commodities for family planning, to put Africa’s women and adolescent girls to make safe choices for their optimal health.
The President of OAFLA, H.E Mrs Hinda Déby Itno, called upon the international community to give priority to women and adolescents in the post 2015 agenda by defining a specific objective focusing on the promotion of adolescent reproduction and sexual health so as to reduce the maternal, neonatal and new-born death.
She also reaffirmed the determination of African First Ladies to contribute to the initiatives aiming at improving the health condition of mothers and children in Africa and to the emergence of a generation without AIDS and without new HIV infection.
Speaking at the event, UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin called on African governments to prioritize girls’ education because according to him educated women are able to delay their first pregnancy, space their births and are more likely to ensure that their children go to and stay in school.
Dr. Osotimehin said girls are the world’s greatest untapped resource and therefore require more investments to achieve significant economic returns.
“We know, for example that girls completing secondary school in Kenya would add US $27 billion to the economy over their lifetimes. In Nigeria, if young women had the same employment rates as young men, the country would add US$ 13.9 billion annually” he said.
The First Ladies of Africa reaffirmed their individual and organizational commitment to advocating for a sustainable response to the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV; the accelerated reduction of maternal, newborn and child mortality; the elimination of gender-based violence; stigma reduction; the empowerment of girls, youth and women; enhanced gender equality; and universal access to sustained services for the reproductive health and rights of women in Africa, including effective breast and cervical cancer prevention and treatment.
The First Ladies of Africa reiterated their commitment made at the 15th African Union Summit in Kampala, Uganda in 2010 to accelerate and intensify those activities, in order to create meaningful change within the African continent.
They resolved on the following actions to mobilize for investment in adolescent girls in order to advance maternal and newborn health for Africa’s development:
1. Continue to advocate for the empowerment of women and adolescent girls to exercise their reproductive rights and ensure their access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, in line with regional and global instruments;
2. Advocate for the introduction of age-appropriate and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education for all in order to strengthen school curricula, and to prevent early sexual debut, unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV;
3. Join forces with the African Union Commission (AUC) to harmonize national legislation to raise the minimum age for the marriage of African girls to 18 years and promote the enforcement of laws to end child marriage on the continent. They called on African Union Member States to extend the Maputo Plan of Action on SRHR beyond 2015;
4. Champion education, leadership and skills development for adolescent girls, in the belief that a woman’s level of education and socio-economic status has far-reaching and positive long-term health implications, and is linked to improved health outcomes for herself and her children, and contributes to the sustainable development of her community and country;
5. Call on African governments and national institutions to ensure law enforcement and the implementation of international instruments protecting adolescent girls;
6. Continue to support efforts to engage men and boys, as important partners in addressing harmful traditional norms and practices that perpetuate violence against women and adolescent girls, as well as inequalities between the two genders, while re-enforcing positive values in men and boys;
7. Support the creation of a conducive environment across the continent that allocates domestic resources, promotes global investment and private sector partnerships, and encourages community involvement to increase investment in adolescent girls and coverage of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) services;
8. Accelerate efforts to reach MDG 5 and have issues of adolescent girls central in the Post-2015 development agenda.
The high level event was organized by OAFLA and attended by African First Ladies and the First Ladies of the Republic of Serbia, Republic of Honduras and Republic of Haiti, the Crown Princess of Denmark, the Crown Princess of Jordan, Mrs. Ban Soon-taek, eminent personalities, celebrities and representatives of the private sector, civil societies and heads of UN agencies.
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The Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) was established as a collective voice for Africa’s most vulnerable people, women and children infected and affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. With its permanent secretariat in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, OAFLA has moved from addressing the symptoms of the HIV/AIDS crisis to the root causes of poverty and the overall inequality of women in the region. OAFLA works to reduce the stigma and discrimination of people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and increase their participation in fighting this pandemic; mobilize stakeholder and financial and operational resources to facilitate an expanded response to HIV/AIDS; and advocate for the expansion of effective strategies for the prevention and effective treatment of HIV/AIDS.
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund , is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled.UNFPA expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy and productive lives. UNFPA East and Southern Africa (ESA) works in 23 countries in the region. In these countries, the Fund is a catalyst for progress. Working with governments and through partnerships with other UN agencies, civil society and the private sector, the organization makes a real difference in the lives of millions of people, especially those who are most vulnerable. Visit esaro.unfpa.org , ‘like’ UNFPA ESARO on Facebook and follow @UNFPA_ESARO on twitter.
For more information, please contact:
- Nardos Berhanu, OAFLA Communication Officer: nardos@oafla.org, +251 115 508069/+251 118 962998
- Adebayo Fayoyin, UNFPA Regional Communication Adviser, East and Southern Africa: fayoyin@unfpa.org, +27 78 6066715
