UNFPA hosts panel on women’s health and reproductive rights for sustainable development

From left: Sivanthani Thanenthiran, Tina Solomons, Prof. Anuruddhi Edirisinghe, Prof. Hemantha Senanayake, Ritsu Nacken and Dr. Sujata Samarakoon

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) brought together international and national experts at a panel discussion as part of the first South East Asia Regional Group Meeting of the International Epidemiological Association, held in conjunction with the 24th Annual Academic Session of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka (CCPSL). The panel discussion titled ‘Beyond ICPD – Ensuring Women’s Health and Rights for Sustainable Development’, focused on the achievements and gaps that remain for Sri Lanka, since the International Conference on Population and Development. 

While almost every mother in Sri Lanka delivers her child in a health facility, significant controversy continues to revolve around issues relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and young people. Sexual and reproductive health and rights is more than anatomy – it is about identity, bodily integrity, and a person’s ability to choose if, when, and how many children to have. It has major implications for national development processes and a country’s capacity to advance its sustainable development goals. 

To uphold these rights, women and girls need access to accurate information and comprehensive health services including contraception. In 1994, 179 governments, including Sri Lanka, met in Cairo at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) to collectively recognise that reproductive health and women’s empowerment are both intertwined and necessary for sustainable development.

Delivering the welcome address, UNFPA Representative in Sri Lanka Ritsu Nacken said, “This month marks exactly 25 years since the ICPD. While a lot of progress has been made in women’s health around the world and in Sri Lanka, many challenges remain. These must be overcome to ensure all women and young people have access to sexual and reproductive health services and information, so that they can lead healthy and dignified lives and fulfil their potential. This is a prerequisite for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

While 360,000 women become pregnant each year in Sri Lanka, one in three of these pregnancies are unplanned. When a pregnancy is unplanned or unintended, it can pose an added burden to the woman and her family. Yet, 35% of currently married women do not use contraception in Sri Lanka.

Sharing experiences from the region, Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) in Malaysia Executive Director Sivanthani Thanenthiran said, “It is important that myths and misconceptions relating to contraception are debunked and that the need to plan pregnancies is taken seriously. It is of utmost importance that a mother is ready for her pregnancy, emotionally and physically, as well as socially and economically, in order to enjoy motherhood and to be able to provide the best for her child.”

Local experts in the panel included University of Colombo Obstetrics and Gynaecology Chair Prof. Hemantha Senanayake, University of Kelaniya Forensic Medicine Cadre Chair Prof. Anuruddhi Edirisinghe, and General Sir John Kotelawela Defence University Faculty of Medicine Clinical Psychologist and Senior Lecturer Tina Solomons. The panel was co-moderated by Ritsu Nacken and Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria local funding agency Price Waterhouse Coopers’ Public Health Specialist and M&E Specialist Dr. Sujata Samarakoon.

The discussion provided a platform for open dialogue between policy makers, health professionals, academics, civil society, media and other stakeholders, as it explored Sri Lanka’s progress and way forward in relation to the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, the ICPD and Universal Health Coverage.