Explanation of position by Tara Soomro, UK Ambassador to
ECOSOC, at CPD58.
Thank you, Chair. The UK aligns itself with the statement
delivered by South Africa.
We extend our appreciation to you and the co-facilitators for
your commitment and steadfast efforts to progress this important
agenda.
Despite the broad cross-regional commitment and goodwill
demonstrated by many in this room, we are disappointed to have
not achieved a consensus outcome that upholds and advances the
mutually reinforcing principles and ambitions of the
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and
Agenda 2030.
Neisha, the UK's youth delegate to the CPD, came before this
Commission and spoke with passion and conviction about the
realities young people face, the unmet sexual and reproductive
health needs of adolescent girls, the devastating impacts of
humanitarian crises on their futures and the urgent need for
policies that reflect their lived experience.
The inability to achieve consensus on this year's CPD resolution
is not just a procedural failure, it is a failure to uphold the
commitments we have made to people around the world.
The ICPD Programme of Action recognises that investing in human
rights, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive health and
rights is central to sustainable development.
That truth has not changed.
Yet today, we stand at a crossroads where previously agreed
principles are being questioned and hard-won rights are being
chipped away.
Let us be clear, universal access to sexual and reproductive
health services and reproductive rights are not an abstract
debate.
This is about whether women and girls can make decisions over
their own bodies, whether young people have access to
comprehensive information that can save their lives, and whether
those most at risk, especially in humanitarian crises, receive
the care, justice and services they need.
Over 700 women a day die from preventable causes.
This is the reality of the issues we debate here in this
room.
We are letting these women and girls down.
A text that weakens these commitments does not reflect progress,
it signals retreat.
Ignoring the links between health, climate change, and inequality
does not make them disappear.
The world's most vulnerable populations, women and girls,
migrants, those facing humanitarian crises continue to bear the
brunt of these overlapping global challenges.
The UK and our many cross-regional partners, remain steadfast in
our commitment to gender equality, human rights and the
Sustainable Development Goals.
These are not just words on a page, they are promises we have
made to future generations and to each other.
We recognise the progress made at all levels by grassroots
organisations, civil society, national governments and also
commend UNFPA's leadership and remain committed to supporting
this, making real change for women and girls around the world.
As we reflect on this outcome, we must ask ourselves, what kind
of world are we building? One that advances dignity, equality,
and progress? Or one that turns its back on those most in
need?
The UK chooses to stand on the side of ambition, rights and the
future we all committed to in 2015 when we pledged to leave no
one behind.
