ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – After days of intense discussion among experts ended in a clear set of recommendations, which will feed into the African position document at next year’s ICPD review process, the time had come to ‘walk the talk’. This was said by Benoit Kalasa, Regional Director for United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) West and Central Africa.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the experts meeting of the Africa Regional Conference on Population & Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 2 October, he congratulated the experts for their contribution to the ICPD review process. “This is a great moment, being part of the ICPD review 20 years later. Thank you for making us proud of Africa,” he said.
The drafting committee had spent long hours on the experts’ recommendations document, which will contribute towards the final African consensus document. This will make a significant contribution to next year’s ICPD review, he said.
‘We need political will and commitment’ – Executive Director
At a breakfast meeting for African ministers before the start of the Ministerial Session on 3 October, UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin said that solving some of Africa’s toughest problems requires the necessary political will.
He acknowledged the progress Africa has made in reducing maternal mortality and empowering women, for instance by increasing women’s representation in parliament and ensuring more girls are in school. Despite the progress, however, many issues remain to be addressed adequately, such as gender-based violence, child marriage and female genital mutilation. “These are still there and we need to reduce them,” he said. “We must also reduce maternal mortality to zero.”
In addressing these issues, he said, “We know what causes them, we know what works, and we know what to do. So it’s about political will.” This means implementing the programmes that have been put in place in African countries and scaling them up.
“As an African myself, I feel very proud about the progress we have made at this meeting, but we are competing with other regions. Ours is the last meeting, and I want it to be the best,” he said. He urged the ministers to commit to ensuring the meeting produced the best – and consensual – results.
The two-day ministerial segment of the Africa Regional Conference on Population & Development, themed Harnessing the Demographic Dividend: the Future we want for Africa, is being attended by 86 African ministers. The ministers are to discuss the draft Addis Ababa Declaration on Population & Development in Africa beyond 2014, which has been drawn up by a drafting committee based on recommendations made by African youth, civil society organizations, delegations of national experts and senior officials, and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) representatives. It is anticipated that the document will be adopted by the end of tomorrow, 4 October.
