Dr. Nafis Sadiq, currently serving as the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General with additional responsibilities as Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia, and former head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), made an insightful keynote address at the Airlie House Consultation this March. In June 1990, the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed Dr. Sadik Secretary-General of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), 1994, and has been involved in efforts “to find the balance between individual rights and responsibilities on the one hand, and the rights and obligations of the wider society on the other”. Focusing on the theme “Uniting for Safe Legal Abortion”, Dr. Sadiq’s key points drive home what activism and advocacy surrounding Safe Legal Abortions have sought to achieve over the past 20 years.

Some of the key take home points from Dr. Sadiq’s address are as follows:

  • Diplomacy and hard work on the field have been immense tools in fighting for the cause of access to safe and legal abortions, and for making them available for the masses.
  • The ten years between the 1974 World Population Plan of Action and the Mexico City Population Conference culminated in finding consensus on some old controversies. In the process, great strides were made in putting women at the centre of population questions, and at the heart of rights-based development.
    • The ICPD PoA Paragraph 8.25, as amended in 1999, remains the international consensus position on abortion. In its time, it was a breakthrough, the first-ever global consensus on abortion – but it is unsatisfactory in many respects (Marge Berer, the editor of Reproductive Health Matters writes about this Cairo compromise in an excellent article that can be read here).
    • The debate over these few sentences was long and hard-fought. The opposition was very determined and firmly entrenched in their position: that is still the case, but the vast majority of countries agree on the broad principles.
    • I think it’s important to stress this last point – because the opposition on 8.25 came from a small handful of countries, largely led by the Vatican, which for these purposes has the status of an observer state at the United Nations. Without that factor, the wording of 8.25 would have been much more definitive.
    • Unsafe abortion now kills an estimated 47,000 women every year, and injures millions more. Abortion remains heavily restricted by law in many countries, with severe penalties in some cases for women who seek abortion as well as those who provide it. Even where it is broadly legal, it is often without strong support, even from some service providers, and access is often limited.
    • Conditions exist today for a renewed, extensive and enlightened discussion about legalising abortion, as an issue with profound effects on public health, on family life and on the health of women.
    • Women themselves are in a stronger position to speak up: compared with 20 years ago they wield more economic and political power in many countries, and they are very clear that reproductive health is a prime concern.
    • Diplomacy on sensitive questions has been very successful up to now. Let us look at the successes:
      • Voluntary family planning is universally accepted as a normal part of life, even in countries where it was outlawed only a few years ago;
      • HIV and AIDS does not bear the stigma that held back prevention and treatment in so many places for so many years;
      • Many countries, with some unfortunate exceptions, recognise that human gender and sexuality comes in many flavours;
      • Female genital mutilation or cutting is no longer defended as some sort of religious or cultural value, and in many places is on the decline;
      • All countries recognize girls’ right to education to help them protect their sexual and reproductive health.

To read Dr. Sadiq’s speech in detail, click here.