On the eve of International Human Rights Day, 250 civil society organizations are publicly declaring their support for the appeal "To advance gender equality, France must invest in sexual and reproductive rights, " launched on September 20 following a high-level symposium entitled "Where is the money for sexual and reproductive rights? " organizedby the UN Women France Committee, Equilibres & Populations, the Fondation des Femmes, the Fonds pour les Femmes en Méditerranée, the Haut Conseil à l'Egalité entre les femmes et les hommes, and Women's WorldWide Web. Signatories include grassroots organizations, national and international organizations such as the French Movement for Family Planning and Médecins du Monde, as well as European, West African, and global associations such as IPPF and Marie Stopes International.
This unprecedented mobilization reflects concern in a context of rising religious fundamentalism and reactionary right-wing movements whose intentions are clear: to exert ever greater control over women's bodies, sexuality, health, and reproduction. Just this week, a report published by the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted the "regressive restrictions" that have led to a decline in women's rights in terms of access to contraception and voluntary termination of pregnancy in Europe.
Today, 222 million women and girls worldwide are denied access to modern contraception, one in four pregnancies ends in unsafe abortion, and more than 300,000 women die from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. the promotion and funding of sexual and reproductive rights are fundamental to saving lives, protecting women from rejection, the cycle of poverty, acute precariousness, and sexual violence, including prostitution, for the development of countries, and finally, to enable equality between women and men.
"We must have this responsible, robust debate on freedom of choice, which goes hand in hand with democracy": In his speechin Ouagadougou last week, the President of the Republic reiterated this point, emphasizing that one of the key factors in development is the freedom for women and girls to choose their own destiny, first and foremost whether or not to marry, whether or not to have children, and at the age they want.
The time has come to turn these words into action. To this end, the Appeal proposes concrete courses of action: • Provide massive funding for policies and projects that promote sexual and reproductive health and rights, the cornerstone of women's rights; • Systematize the gender approach in all policies and programs; • Defend women's rights in all diplomatic relations.
Upcoming deadlines would provide excellent opportunities for engagement: the Ouagadougou Partnership—a movement promoting family planning in nine French-speaking West African countries—will hold its sixth annual meeting next week, and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs will launch its third Gender Strategy in the first quarter of 2018.
See the Appeal and the list of signatories
Press contact: UN Women France Committee – Céline Mas, +33 (0)1 57 27 94 58, celine.mas@onufemmes.org Equilibres & Populations – Nicolas Rainaud, +33 (0)6 73 72 25 37, nicolas.rainaud@equipop.org Fondation des Femmes – Anne-Cécile Mailfert, +33 (0)6 58 47 72 68, annececile@fondationdesfemmes.org Fonds pour les Femmes en Méditerranée – Caroline Brac de la Perrière, +33 (0)6 12 09 58 09, cbdlp@medwomensfund.org High Council for Gender Equality – Margaux Collet, +33 (0)6 09 14 43 06, haut-conseil-egalite@pm.gouv.fr Women’s WorldWide Web – Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke, +33 (0)6 88 27 50 25, lindsey@w4.org
