Sexual and Reproductive Health is Key to the MDGs

Washington DC - June 20, 2005

Civil society is taking center stage this week in New York at the United Nations General Assembly hearings. Only months away from the 2005 World Summit – the five-year anniversary of the Millennium Declaration and an opportunity to review progress made toward achievement of the MDGs – the sexual and reproductive health community is taking every opportunity to advance one message: universal access to sexual and reproductive health services is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly those related to gender equality, maternal health, HIV/AIDS and environmental sustainability.

Debates over UN reform and global security threaten to distract the international community from its development agenda. Civil society must take back the conversation this week and remind governments of the roles development and reproductive health play in creating a safer and more secure world.

The MDGs offer an achievable framework for reducing poverty and promoting global development, but they must incorporate other international agreements – particularly the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – and they must acknowledge the critical and underlying role of sexual and reproductive health.

Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.