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Foro Político de Alto Nivel - IPPF ACRO - Gestos

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The High-Level Political Forum: Let’s rewrite the rules

Sustainable Development Goals are critical to achieve Reproductive Justice. Are governments and multilateral stakeholders committed enough?

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The High-Level Political Forum:

Let’s rewrite the rules

 

From Monday, July 8th, to Wednesday, July 17th, IPPF ACRO, in collaboration with Gestos, our partner organization in Brazil, participated in the United Nations High-Level Political Forum, to continue advocating for increased investment by governments in initiatives that are centered on and led by marginalized communities.

The High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) serves as a critical platform for member-states, UN agencies, and civil society to evaluate progress, address challenges, exchange best practices, and promote policies aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year it represents a significant advocacy opportunity to engage with the roadmap leading to the Summit of the Future, a pivotal United Nations debate scheduled for September, and offers a chance to enhance collaboration on essential issues around women and youth’s rights, in their diversity, and address gaps in global governance.

The 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are deeply intertwined with the mission and objectives of IPPF as a Federation. Achieving reproductive justice globally requires that women, girls, and all individuals have control over their sexuality, gender, and reproduction. However, for this to become a reality, the basic human rights of all must be guaranteed and protected, including the right to a healthy environment. And only by making progress toward achieving the 17 SDGs, we can move closer to realizing this vision.

As a monitoring body for the SDGs, during the High-Level Political Forums, governments present their National Volunteer Reports (VNRs). This facilitates the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges, and lessons learned, with the aim of accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. In 2024, eight countries from our region—Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru—presented their VNRs. These reviews enable civil society, including IPPF ACRO, to closely monitor how governments have progressed in advancing the Sustainable Development Agenda, particularly in relation to the populations we work with, such as women, youth, LGBTQI+ individuals, sex workers, and other marginalized communities.

 

Gestos- HIV, Communication and Gender, IPPF Collaborative Partner in Brazil, is the Latin America and the Caribbean Operative Partner of the Women’s Major Group and has been following the Agenda 2030 roadmap closely, as part of their country’s official delegation.

 

For Germana Aciolly, journalist and policy adviser at Gestos, this is a special year. Brazil is presenting their VNR for the second time and it responds directly to the reports that the Civil Society Working Group for the 2030 Agenda in Brazil has been publishing since 2017. “There is no VNR presented here with such a level of democratic dialogue between civil society and government. This is an important example because, at the same time, we are here to launch our own CSO Spotlight Report that monitors all SDG targets and, unfortunately, it shows that in Brazil only around 7% of the goals are making satisfactory progress. It opens the opportunity, for instance, to debate with the government the immense challenges for women and youth, in all their diversity, in our country that particularly increased by the actions from the previous government.”

 

when

country

Brazil

region

Americas & the Caribbean

Subject

Gender equality

Related Member Association

Gestos - Brazil

"Unfortunately, in Brazil only around 7% of the SDGs are making satisfactory progress. It opens the opportunity, for instance, to debate with the government the immense challenges for women and youth, in all their diversity, in our country that particularly increased by the actions from the previous government.”

Besides that, representing the Women’s Major Group at the Science, Technology and Innovation Forum at the HLPF, Gestos urged governments to implement people-centred sustainable development initiatives: “From evidence in access to medicines and vaccines, as well as food security and technologies for just climate-change transition, it is urgent to recalibrate the balance of human rights and public good against private rights – and it requires rewriting the rules on intellectual property protection at the global and national levels.”

Rewriting the rules is not only a call related to intellectual property process, though. For us it means changing the economic and programmatic rules that block governments to deliver efficient policies to achieve the SDGs. In access to services, for example, IPPF has more than 35,000 delivery points worldwide, but it is very concerning than in 70% of the countries we work in, IPPF is the main provider for sexual and reproductive health services. “This indicates that governments are not doing their homework in reaching out to those who need the most,” explained Alessandra Nilo, External Relations Director in IPPF ACRO, in her speech at the “Advancing Women's Sexual and Reproductive Agency” with UNFPA and governments from Colombia, Sierra Leone, Nepal, Georgia, Spain, as well as Tulane University, USAID, and the Guttmacher Institute.

Even in countries with good reproductive health laws and monitoring systems- or countries that have made progress regarding abortion, like Colombia and Mexico- “IPPF continues to face challenges in implementation and effectiveness of those legal frameworks, due to scarcity of resources allocated to SRHR, and narratives disseminating fear, stigma, and confusion,” she continued.

It is very concerning than in 70% of the countries we work in, IPPF is the main provider for sexual and reproductive health services. This indicates that governments are not doing their homework in reaching out to those who need the most.

In this regard, despite the rapidly approaching 2030 deadline, significant progress remains elusive, so IPPF ACRO and its membership across the region are deeply concerned about the lack of accountability from both the private and government sectors in genuinely advancing to eradicate poverty and hunger, guarantee universal access to health and education, and curb the levels of inequality and gender-based violence in the Americas and the Caribbean Region.

At this crucial moment, we invite all stakeholders to examine the mounting evidence that highlights the inefficiencies of the economic and social rules our world has followed for the past decades. Inequalities cannot continue to be a byproduct of development. The private sector must be regulated and made accountable for the negative externalities they cause, and governments must take back the lead in driving progress toward sustainability, equality, and well-being for all.

To achieve the transformation we need, IPPF will continue working to promote rights-based and evidence-based inclusive policies at global, regional and national level and, at the geopolitical arena, continue challenging the unbalanced of power among countries and our presence at the 2024 High-Level Political Forum was an excellent platform to continue calling for urgent actions and recommending solutions capable of, in real terms, leave no one behind.