The International Alliance of Women, IAW, a Women ’s Rights NGO with a focus on health rights, commends WHO on including adolescent boys and girls in the transformative Global Strategy 2016 – 2030. This will lead to ending avoidable deaths and, we add, reduce preventable maternal morbidity. Untimely and often undesired pregnancies cause both physical and mental stress, more so in young women who live in a patriarchal society.
Data presented by WHO at the G7 Rome International Forum 9 April 2017
“Starting from girls. Women Forum on inequality and sustainable growth” corroborate that young women bear the brunt and have an unacceptably high risk of losing their lives early.
On the issue of HIV we remark: Victims are both male and female adolescents but data on new HIV infections from 2015 suggest women aged 15–24 years are at particularly high risk of becoming infected.
If young women are to become potential envoys of change we believe basic education for all adolescents about their human rights is a must, with a focus on information about sexuality and family planning.
Women of all ages can’t wait any longer. More national and international action is needed to implement the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights SRHR.
We appeal to all governments including those preferring traditional family patterns to provide free access to counselling on family planning, to replenish the stocks of free contraceptives and to support the infrastructure for the same at community level. Our request for all women who are in childbearing age includes emergency contraception, where safe legal pregnancy termination is not available or legally banned, leading to risky unsafe abortion.
IAW will disseminate information on the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health 2016 – 2030 to our wider membership. We stand ready to monitor progress with other like-minded partners.
The statement may be downloaded here:
