Call to Action on Accelerating Progress in Sexual and Reproductive Health in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Call to Action adopted by the participants of the regional conference “Accelerating Progress in Sexual and Reproductive Health in Eastern Europe and Central Asia” held in Tbilisi on 26-27 September 2023.

The conference was co-hosted by UNFPA, the Government of Georgia and ANSER.

see publication

Sexual and reproductive health and rights must remain top priority in a fast-changing region, participants say at ICPD30 event in Tbilisi

TBILISI, 26 September 2023 – Sexual and reproductive health and rights are a key enabler of development and individual well-being and must remain a top priority, in light of a range of challenges that have threatened to undermine or even reverse progress, participants said today at the opening of a conference co-hosted in Tbilisi by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, the Government of Georgia, and ANSER, the Academic Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Policy. The event brings together some 100 representatives of governments from across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as civil society, academia and international organizations. It is being held in the run-up to a regional ICPD30 conference on 19-20 October 2023 in Geneva reviewing the 30-year progress towards implementation of the landmark Programme of Action adopted by the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994. “We’re at a crossroads: today, more than ever before, we need to acknowledge the progress made and accelerate our efforts and reposition sexual and reproductive health and rights as central for addressing the social and demographic challenges we are facing in the region,” said Giulia Vallese, UNFPA’s Deputy Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

read more

The road to Nairobi: Celebrating 25 years of ICPD in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Twenty-five years ago, world leaders committed to a landmark global agenda addressing population dynamics, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and adolescent and youth issues. Since governments adopted this Programme of Action at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994, remarkable progress has been achieved in these areas. But there are still millions of women and girls in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and around the world, who have not benefited from the promise of ICPD. This 25th-anniversary year is dedicated to celebrating the achievements, reenergizing the movement and finishing the unfinished business of Cairo, with significant events throughout 2019 culminating in the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 in November. In April, UNFPA launched its flagship annual report, State of World Population 2019, titled Unfinished business: the pursuit of rights and choices for all. World Population Day in July will be another opportunity to focus on how not everyone has benefitted from the progress made so far in equal terms—and on what can be done to ensure no one is left behind.

read more

CSO consultation on Population and Development: Ensuring Rights and Choices

A one-day CSO Consultation on Population and Development: Ensuring Rights and Choices will be held at the Palais des Nations, 14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday 18 October 2023 from 08.00 – 18.00. It will precede the UNECE Regional Conference on ICPD30, to be held on 19 and 20 October also at the Palais des Nations, and will provide an opportunity for CSO input into the process.

view resource

Call for applications: Young professionals on the road to ICPD30

We are looking for young, unpublished researchers or other professionals who have recently conducted research into youth-related issues in the wider European region to submit a paper presenting their research. Selected papers will feed into a synthesis report on key concerns of young people which will be developed for the Global ICPD30 dialogue in 2024, and up to three authors will be invited to participate in the regional ICPD30 review conference in Geneva in October 2023.

view resource