Press Release – 10 May 2014
A new global campaign launched in Ireland by the IFPA is calling on world leaders to support women's and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The campaign – I Decide – is being led by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), with events taking place in 172 countries across the world. The campaign focuses on four key rights of women and girls: the right to decide who they live with; what happens to their bodies; if, when and how many children they have; and to determine their own futures.
Chief Executive of the IFPA Niall Behan said: “Everyone has the right to sexual and reproductive health and well-being. Only when these rights are realised can sustainable development and gender equality be realised. That’s why the IFPA is supporting IPPF’s I Decide campaign”.
As discussions about the framework that will replace the Millennium Development Goals continue, the I Decide campaign is calling for sexual and reproductive health and rights to be prioritised and aims to collect one million signatures to present to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in 2015.
Niall Behan added: “Women and girls are central to development. Yet it is they who are most affected by inequality and poverty. The rights to bodily integrity and to live free from violence is denied to thousands of women on a daily basis, while more than 220 million women in the world lack access to effective and affordable contraception. Global leaders must ensure that sexual and reproductive health and rights are central to the next set of development goals.”
IPPF Director General Tewodros Melesse said: “The next few years will see the end of a series of international commitments and the development of new ones. This presents us with an unparalleled opportunity to secure a world of justice, choice and well-being for all people which ultimately leads to sustainable development and an end to poverty.”
ENDS
Note to editor
The I Decide petition can be signed at http://www.ippf.org/idecide.
More information on the campaign is available here.
About the IPPF
The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), of which the IFPA is a Member Association, works to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights as a route to sustainable development. The organisation is a worldwide network of 152 Member Associations active in over 170 countries.