SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - Over the weekend, Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams traveled to Geneva on invitation of the European Parliamentary Forum (EPF) for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. In Geneva, the agenda will consist of an International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) Consultation and the ICPD 2024 Steering Committee meeting.
“Last May I attended the “Caribbean – African Dialogue: Investing in young people’s health and futures, ensuring equitable access to reproductive health information and services” in Barbados and was one of the speakers at that conference.
The Barbados event was held under the auspices of the Global Parliamentary Alliance (GPA) for Health, Rights and Development”, MP Wescot explained.
“In 2024, the groundbreaking 1994 Cairo ICPD Program of Action will ccommemorate 30 years of ICPD achievements and “a growing understanding of the importance and significance of human-centred sustainable development, setting the stage for a recommitment to the ICPD agenda and positioning for the post-2030 population and development agenda.”
“The Program of Action, which was adopted by acclamation on September 13, 1994, endorsed a new strategy that emphasizes the integral linkages between population and development and focused on meeting the needs of individual women and men, rather than on achieving demographic targets. It transformed global thinking on population and development issues and defined a bold agenda, placing people’s dignity and rights at the heart of sustainable development.”
“Forums such as these are opportunities to further push for healthcare for all, respect for human rights, and sustainable development for our people,” said MP Wescot, herself a strong advocate of universal healthcare and health screening, especially for women and girls.
EPF organises MP Forums at international conferences, where parliamentarians can benefit from expert presentations, stories from the field, workshops as well as best practices from other parliamentarians to inspire MPs to become even stronger SRHR advocates.
The Global Parliamentary Alliance for Health, Rights and Development (GPA) is a flexible parliamentary initiative aimed at boosting parliamentarians' efforts to deliver on the SDGs, specifically in the areas of health and human rights. They provide a platform for parliamentarians from around the world to advocate for better health care, expanding human rights and to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) both in their home countries and abroad, the MP explained.
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