Jacinda Ardern, Mette Frederiksen, Abiy Ahmed
Let us start with the progress first. The past decades have seen remarkable improvements for women and girls worldwide. Globally, we have seen a 40 per cent decline in preventable maternal deaths, a 28 per cent decline in adolescent birth rates and a 33 per cent decline in the prevalence of female genital mutilation.
This is great progress, achieved by better access to health facilities, modern forms of contraception, better birth care, education and in many places within a context of economic growth.
We believe that this progress is also linked to the adoption of the Cairo Programme of Action and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – 25 years ago. This month, government leaders came together at the Nairobi Summit in Kenya to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Cairo Platform of Action.
These two milestones have revolutionised how women and girls are included and protected in our common set of rules. They have reaffirmed that securing women and girls’ rights is a prerequisite of sustainable development.
Yet, despite the remarkable progress, the promise of a better future is still a distant dream for millions of women and girls across the world.
An estimated 830 women die in childbirth every day. Many of them are girls between the age of 15 and 19 years old. Approximately 33,000 girls marry before they reach the age of 18. More than 200 million women do not have access to modern contraceptive methods. More than three million girls risk female genital mutilation every year. This is a barbaric practice that will be condemned by history.
On top of this, there is a very concerning push back against women and girls’ rights, particularly their sexual and reproductive health and rights including planning a family, access to modern forms of contraception, and safe abortion.
Conservative forces are building up, scaling back healthcare services and legitimising an ancient notion of women’s worth. This shows the world is not improving by itself. It takes people to push forward.
If those who seek to remove hardfought-for choices for women are allowed to branch out, we risk losing years of advancement for women and girls worldwide.
Policies that prohibit international organisations from informing people about abortion-related healthcare services are proven to be harmful to the health and wellbeing of women, young people and marginalised communities.
Making it harder to access proper health services, contraception, family planning and safe abortion will make life
Now is the time for countries that care to stand up and speak out. In our three countries: New Zealand, Ethiopia and Denmark, with many apparent differences, gender equality is not only evident it is also a good business case.