Over 9,500 delegates from more than 170 countries attended the global Summit on ICPD25 organized in Nairobi, Kenya, on 12-14 November 2019. Moldova was represented at the Summit by a large delegation composed of members of the Government, Parliament, civil society, religious leaders, academia, young people, and mass-media, who voiced the commitments of the country towards the full realization of ICPD agenda until 2030. The pledges should improve the lives of all citizens, eliminate problems related to the development of young people, reproductive health, and aging of the population.
Among the commitments made by Moldovan delegates are:
- improving access to family planning
- reducing the number of pregnancies in adolescence
- ensuring health education for young people
- improving access for people with disabilities to medical and social services
- reducing maternal mortality
- eliminating domestic violence
- addressing the demographic structure and providing a quality life for all generations
- extending the network of youth centers at the local level.
The realization of the commitments made at the Nairobi Summit are due in 2030, and will help the country achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The Nairobi Summit represents a renewed, re-energized vision and community working together to act and deliver. Together, we will make the next ten years a decade of action and results for women and girls, keeping their rights and choices at the centre of everything we do,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem at the end of the Summit.
The Summit, co-convened by the governments of Kenya and Denmark with UNFPA, unveiled critical new data about the cost of achieving these goals. It mobilized more than 1,200 commitments from around the world, including billions of dollars in pledges from public and private sector partners. It also raised the voices of marginalized communities, youth and grassroots advocates, who were able to directly engage heads of state and policymakers about how to realize the rights and health of all people.
“There will be no ICPD50. Women and girls around the world have waited long enough to have rights and choices,” said Ambassador Ib Petersen, Denmark’s Special Envoy for ICPD25. “Looking towards 2030, we now enter a decade of delivery during which we will walk the talk and hold all of us to account for the commitments we made in Nairobi.”
The same way the original 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo was a turning point for the future of women and girls, the Nairobi Summit will be remembered as a watershed moment that set in motion actions that saved lives, lifted millions of women and girls, their families and communities from exclusion and marginalization, and enabled nations to harness the demographic dividend to grow their economies.