On the initiative of Equipop, Planning Familial, and MDM, 93 networks and associations working on issues related to "sexual and reproductive health and rights" in more than 30 countries are calling on Emmanuel Macron to have France create and lead an SRHR coalition at the Generation Equality Forum ("Beijing+25").
Letter to Emmanuel Macron
, Paris, December 2, 2019
Subject: For the success of the Generation Equality Forum, France must lead a coalition on "sexual and reproductive health and rights" (SRHR) Dear Secretary of State for Women,
Mr. President,
On October 10, at the Global Fund replenishment conference to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in Lyon, you mentioned the synergies to be developed between health issues and gender equality. You emphasized that sexual and reproductive health issues were twin pillars of the fight for gender equality and identified the Generation Equality Forum as a space where concrete convergence between these inherently linked themes must take place.
The Generation Equality Forum will be the feminist event of the year and will address a wide range of topics related to gender equality. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), often excluded from multilateral negotiations, will be the focus of one of the specific action coalitions to be launched in July 2020.
This is all the more meaningful in the context of the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Conference, one of whose major advances was encapsulated in the following statement: "Women's fundamental rights include the right to be masters of their own sexuality."
SRHR is a subject of diplomatic tension. Promoting it on the international agenda requires strong impetus. In this regard, France is ideally placed to lead an SRHR coalition within the framework of the Generation Equality Forum, because it is the organizing power and because the other states that have taken a position on the issue have a more modest influence. Finally, it could create a significant ripple effect across many French-speaking countries, where SRHR indicators are among the most alarming in the world.
The speeches delivered in various national and international forums by the Secretary of State for Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination, Marlène Schiappa, by the Secretary General of the Generation Equality Forum 2020, Delphine O, and more broadly, the French positions taken at the UN on SRHR are, so far, positive signals. We ask you, at a time when choices will undoubtedly have to be made, to personally ensure that France leads an SRHR coalition at the Generation Equality Forum.
Furthermore, the 93 signatory networks and associations, committed to SRHR issues in more than 30 countries, wish to inform you, through this letter, of their desire to contribute to the momentum that such a coalition will generate in the years to come—especially since there is no dedicated vertical fund. We look forward to your response.
Through our expertise and networks, we have a lot to offer, thanks to our ability to provide recommendations based on the specific needs of people in various contexts. You yourself mentioned this in Lyon: "We must rely more on the many health innovations being carried out in the field by local actors." The "Beijing25" process is the first opportunity to put this approach into practice.
We thank you for your attention to our request. At a time when women's rights, and in particular SRHR, are under severe threat, France has taken on a major responsibility by organizing the Generation Equality Forum. July 2020 should mark the launch of an unprecedented international mobilization in favor of SRHR. We are counting on you!
Yours sincerely, Mr. President,
Aurélie Gal-Régniez, Executive Director of Equipop
Catherine Giboin, Vice President of Médecins du Monde
Véronique Séhier, Co-President of Planning Familial
On behalf of the 93 signatory networks and associations involved in more than 30 countries:
(Albania, Germany, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, United States, France, Guinea, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Norway, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, United Kingdom, Senegal, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland)
ABBEF
AfriYAN Madagascar
Action against Unwanted and High-Risk Pregnancies
AIBEF
ASSISTANCE
AIDOS (Italian Association for Women in Development)
Albanian Center for Population and Development
Women's Alliance for Democracy
International Women's Alliance International Women's Alliance
International Youth Alliance for Family Planning in Guinea (IYAFP Guinea) International Youth Alliance for Family Planning in Guinea (IYAFP Guinea) International Youth Alliance for Family Planning in Guinea (IYAFP Guinea) International Youth Alliance for Family Planning in Guinea (IYAFP Guinea) International Youth Alliance for Family Planning in Guinea (IYAFP Guinea) International Youth Alliance for Family Planning in Guinea (IYAFP Guinea) International Youth
Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center
Family Planning Association (APF)
Association of Women Lawyers of Côte d'Ivoire (AFJCI)
Association Help Me Be a Mother
Association Opportunity and Protection for All
Association for the Education of Disabled Children (AAEEH)
Association for Assistance with Infectious Diseases
Association of Women of Southern Europe
Association of Women Lawyers of Côte d’Ivoire
Association of Young People for Active Citizenship and Democracy Mali
Association for human rights and active citizenship Pariter
Association for the Promotion of Youth Rights
Association for the promotion of young people and children who communicate
Association for Sexual Health and Youth Empowerment
Association Songui Manegré/Aid for Endogenous Development (NGO ASMADE)
BOCS Foundation
BURCASO
Coordination of associations for the right to abortion and contraception Paris
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for the Promotion and Defense of Sexual and Reproductive Rights y Reproductivos
CeRADIS
Center for Health and Gender Equity
Club of Young Women Leaders of Guinea
National Council of French Women National Council of French Women
Coalition PLUS
National Advisory Council for Children and Youth of Mali National Advisory Council for Children and Youth of Mali
Convergence for Sustainable Development
Danish Family Planning Association
Directorate for the Promotion of Inclusive Education, Girls' Education, and Gender
DSW
EngenderHealth
Together Let's Secure the Future
Equipop
European Youth Network on Sexual and Reproductive Rights (YouAct)
State Family Planning Federation
Femnet Senegal
Awesome Green Africa
Health Education and Research Association
Humanity Diaspora
Pananetugri Initiative for Women's Well-being (IPBF) The Pananetugri Initiative for Women's Well-being (IPBF) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that promotes women's rights and well-being through education, training, and advocacy. The IPBF works with women in rural and urban areas to empower them and improve
International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion
International Planned Parenthood Federation, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
International Youth Alliance for Family Planning
Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning
JCI Bamako University
Youth and Development
Latvia’s Association for Family Planning and Sexual Health
The African Support and Advisory Office for Achievements
The cheeky ones
Family Planning
Free MarianneS
Marie Stopes International
Doctors Without Borders
Missions Burkinabe Humanitarian Aid
NGO Namané Coalition of Nawa
NGO Children in Need
NGO MESSI
NGO ORASUR
NGO SongES Niger
Organization of Young Africans for Development and Emergence
Oxfam France
PAI
Children's Parliament Children's Parliament
Platform for Young Francophone Women Leaders in Africa
Department of Cultural, Musical, and Oral Arts Initiatives
Network of champions advocating for adequate health financing in Côte d'Ivoire
Ivorian Network of Young People Against AIDS Réseau Ivoirien des Jeunes contre le Sida
RFSU/IPPF Sweden
Rutgers
Sensoa
Serbian Association for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Ivory Coast
Solidarity AIDS
SOLTHIS (Therapeutic Solidarity and Health Initiatives)
TERRAM PACIS
The International Civil Society Action Network
Uhuru Community Development Project
UNFM France Europe
Universe of Burkinabe Truck Drivers for Health and Development
WAVE Foundation
Women Deliver
Women Included
Youth Women for Action
