At this year’s annual U.N. meeting on women’s rights, the pro-choice community was alive and well — its resilience on clear display in the halls of the United Nations. Thirty years on from the landmark agreement that enshrined sexual and reproductive rights in the fight for gender equality, we must not give up on the battle for women and girls to have control over their own bodies.
At the 69th Commission on the Status of Women, or CSW69, which concluded last week, governments, civil society organizations, and activists came together once again to reaffirm that women’s rights are human rights. Despite facing fierce pressure from anti-gender and anti-rights groups, the declaration that emerged from CSW69 signals an ongoing global commitment to advancing gender equality. Yet it was a bittersweet moment.
While the political declaration was agreed on by consensus by all governments in the world and a win in and of itself, there was a notable absence of the mention of sexual and reproductive health and rights, or SRHR. Thirty years ago, reproductive rights were recognized as human rights and explicitly included in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark agreement on the empowerment of women and girls, positioning SRHR as central to gender equality. The fact that these rights are now being disputed is both alarming and deeply concerning, particularly considering the critical challenges in access to health care, in particular for vulnerable groups in low- and middle-income countries.
About the authors
Memory Kachambwa
Memory Kachambwa is executive director of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network, or FEMNET, and a leading advocate for women’s rights with over 20 years of experience. A Pan-African intersectional feminist, she champions gender equality, social justice, and human rights. She co-leads the Generation Equality Action Coalition and serves on influential boards, including SheDecides Guiding Group and the Feminist Foreign Policy Coordinating Group.
Karin Nilsson
Karin Nilsson is the executive director of SheDecides — a global political movement standing up for sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. She holds 20 years of expertise working in international development cooperation and global policy on gender equality, human rights, health, education, and research within the U.N., civil society organizations, and governmental partnerships —with a particular focus on abortion, comprehensive sexuality education, and young people’s SRHR.
