Opening Remarks by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem at the Commission on Population and Development

Opening remarks by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem at the 58th session of the Commission on Population and Development in New York.

Madam Chair,
Your Excellency Ms. Harini Amarasuriya, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Your Excellency, Mr. Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, Minister of State for Planning and Development of Benin 
Under-Secretary-General for Policy, 
Excellencies, 
Distinguished delegates, leaders of civil society,
Dear colleagues, dear young people, dear friends,

I greet you in peace, the noble purpose of the United Nations and the fervent wish of women and girls everywhere that UNFPA serves.

Happy World Health Day! What better day to begin our deliberations on ICPD progress and the important theme of health and well-being for all at all ages.

Health is the very cornerstone of sustainable development, human dignity and prosperity. 

What do we wish for a precious 10-year-old girl? She is growing up in her village home, or in a busy urban landscape, on the cusp of adolescence, full of promise for a bright future. Her chances for a better life very much hinge on the choices she, with the guidance of her family, is able to make.

If this girl can get a good education, avoid the hazards of child marriage, or early pregnancy, and be availed of good nutrition, her prospects of good health and a good life improve. Her ability to be gainfully employed, and to avoid violence, increases. Her chances of passing on benefits to her future children, when and if she decides to have them, go up.

In truth, healthy longevity depends largely upon the influence of factors that begin pre-natally, in the womb. Brain development, strong bones, a healthy heart. A healthy older age starts with a healthy pregnancy and birth, a strong, healthy childhood, and the opportunity to thrive throughout the journey to adulthood.

In a world where crises and inequalities continue to undermine progress, prioritizing health has never been more urgent. 

As an eternal optimist, I’ll start with the good news. Over the past three decades, the world has seen remarkable gains:

• Globally, life expectancy at birth has increased.
• More people have access to essential health services.
• Women are more likely than ever to survive pregnancy and childbirth.
• According to new data released today by WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, the World Bank and UNDESA Population Division, maternal deaths have fallen by 40 percent globally since the year 2000 – proof of what is possible when we act and invest. 
• For the first time, no country is estimated to have an ‘extremely high’ maternal mortality rate of over 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births, and no region falls into the ‘very high’ MMR category.
• Since the beginning of the SDG era in 2016, least developed countries and landlocked developing countries have reduced their MMR by 25% and 31%, respectively.

Still, despite this progress, the pace of improvement globally has slowed, and a sobering picture remains: 

• Every two minutes, a woman dies from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes, 
• another dies from cervical cancer, 
• and two more die of breast cancer. 
• Most of these deaths are preventable.

Behind every death is a clinic without essential medicines, a community without skilled midwives, and a crisis in which basic health care is out of reach.

This is one of the world’s gravest injustices, and it demands the world’s urgent attention. These deaths are not inevitable. We know what works. Topping the list – investment in midwifery. Midwives save lives! 

Today, there is a global shortfall of nearly a million midwives. Closing this gap could avert two thirds of maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths. And UNFPA and our partners are working to do just that.

Overall, the gap in health care access between low- and high-income countries remains significant. Increases in catastrophic health spending and shortfalls in the number of health workers continue to undermine health outcomes. In conflict-affected and fragile settings, the situation is even worse.

The growing burden of non-communicable diseases reflects success in reducing deaths due to infectious and parasitic diseases. Yet it also points to insufficient progress in prevention, early diagnosis and treatment, especially in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Investing in health is the right thing to do. It’s also wise, smart economics – particularly investments in sexual and reproductive health and rights, leading to stronger economies, healthier populations, and more resilient societies. 

• Every dollar spent yields a return that multiplies across generations – improving maternal health, expanding access to family planning, reducing child marriage, and fostering gender equality. 
• Investing in maternal and newborn health offers significant returns, including through a healthier workforce that could boost the global economy by as much as US$400 billion annually. 
• Preventing maternal hypertensive disorders alone, a leading cause of maternal deaths, could avert 70,000 deaths a year and yield US$1.4 billion in economic gains.

These investments are the bedrock of inclusive development, sustainable peace, and human rights.

Friends, it has been said that we rise by lifting others. 

Today, let us redouble our efforts to lift the many millions of us who continue to be left behind.

Let’s not forget the women and girls that crisis puts in harm’s way. Today, there are more refugees and displaced people on planet Earth than ever before, and women and girls are the ones whose lives become most precarious. They depend upon bodies like this Commission for protection.

The poet Warsan Shire puts it this way:

“You have to understand,

that no one puts their children in a boat

unless the water is safer than the land”

Excellences, distinguished delegates,

To make progress towards our shared goals and fully realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we must place people’s health and well-being at the centre of our development efforts.

Investments in the health and rights of women and girls have changed the world. Today, we are closer to equal voices and expanded choices than ever before. 

Yet, in many parts of the world, millions of women and girls still lack access to basic health services. 

Too many face barriers to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights, including voluntary family planning, safe childbirth, and protection from violence. 

We cannot afford to lose momentum. Women have taken giant strides forward – and they are not going back.

This Commission has been a consistent driver of change, a place where global cooperation has turned into real progress.

Your debates and commitments shape national policies, influence international agreements, and galvanize partnerships that make a real difference on the ground, in people’s lives.

Your presence here today is a testament to the growing recognition of just how vital it is that we invest in women’s health. It is encouraging to see women’s health finally receiving the attention it so rightly deserves.

As wisdom from Africa tells us: Even the loftiest mountain begins on the ground.

The challenges are vast, but there’s reason to be hopeful. We are beginning to scale that mountain.

In speaking before this Commission, the only global space for reviewing and advancing the ICPD Programme of Action, UNFPA represents the legitimate aspirations of millions upon millions of women and young people, older people, and families pushed to the brink by humanitarian calamities.

Today, I plead with you in an urgent call to consensus for action, actions which must not be postponed: Let us continue to build on the legacy of the ICPD and ensure that health and well-being – especially sexual and reproductive health and rights – remain at the forefront of our global agenda.

Now is the time to be bold, to be ambitious, and to work together to lift up those furthest behind

The journey is far from over, 

and it will continue until every woman and girl everywhere lives free and equal in dignity and rights. This is the birthright of each of us, laid out the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As we begin this critical session, let us renew our shared commitment to improving health and well-being for all—because the future we want, the future we deserve, begins with health. 

UNFPA will continue to work with partners and allies, with governments and civil society, to uphold women’s health and rights. 

We will not rest until everyone can make their own choices about whether and when to have children. Until no woman dies while pregnant or giving birth. Until every girl can stay in school and out of marriage.

We are committed to finding that common ground to advance common objectives towards a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future. That is the surest way to transform our world, for people today and tomorrow, for the benefit of all.

I wish you fruitful deliberations towards the adoption of a consensus-based outcome.