Innlegg på ekspertmøte om seksuell og reproduktiv helse og likestilling

 

Check against delivery

Ladies and gentlemen, dear participants,

 

It is a great pleasure and an honour to welcome all of you to this international expert meeting in Oslo. I extend this welcome on behalf of all the organisers – the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Norad, together with our colleagues in Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden.

It is no coincidence that the five Nordic countries have joined forces to explore and promote politically sensitive agendas such as sexual and reproductive health and rights, with an emphasis on rights. The five countries share a firm commitment to women’s empowerment and gender equality. This has been a key factor in the organisation of our modern welfare states and has also been a core value in our foreign policy and international development cooperation for many years.

This meeting emanates from the personal commitment of the Norwegian Minister of International Development Erik Solheim and his Swedish colleague Gunilla Carlsson to scale up joint initiatives on women’s rights and gender equality in development cooperation. And when we mentioned this to our Finnish, Icelandic and Danish colleagues, they did not hesitate to join in.

During the UN Commission on the Status of women in February/March in New York, Sweden and Norway organised a well-attended side-event on sexual and reproductive health and rights, with the excellent facilitation of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). Some of you may have been there.

Access to safe abortion, LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] rights, and engaging men and boys as partners for gender equality – these key topics were highlighted at the CSW event and will also be addressed at this meeting. We know that for some they are sensitive and controversial issues. But they are nevertheless important.

They are also areas where the Nordic countries have developed similar policy responses at home as well as policies to promote them internationally and bilaterally. I believe this gives us both the position and the responsibility to spearhead these agendas. 

But in order to do so successfully, we must approach the task of promoting these issues in very diverse cultural and religious settings with prudence and respect. If we are not careful, our efforts may well result in the opposite of what was intended. Therefore, I am very pleased that Thoraya Obaid has agreed to address this meeting. I know that a culturally sensitive approach to difficult issues is a hallmark of her leadership of UNFPA.

I wish to highlight four topics that I believe are important to focus on:

• women’s right to control their own fertility and sexuality;
• sexual and gender based violence is a  major barrier to the achievement of sexual and reproductive health and rights;
• patriarchal structures and perceptions of masculinity; and
• an integrated approach to MDG3 on women’s empowerment and to the health MDGs.

1.    Firstly, women’s right to control their own fertility and sexuality. 

Let me start by a reference to the political debate concerning sexual and reproductive health and rights in Norway. In the 1970s, Norwegian women and some men took to the streets campaigning for safe abortion on demand. This was a highly contentious issue at the time. The slogan “No more knitting needles!” referred to the reality of unsafe abortions.

Following a heated political debate, abortion on demand was granted in 1978. In 1984, a High Court decision established marital rape as a crime. Again, women’s groups and activists had been at the forefront, raising awareness and fostering debate. The very concept of marital rape reflects the understanding that sex is neither a wife’s obligation nor a husband’s right, but subject to mutual consent and a matter of mutual pleasure. 

It is a long way from here to the reality faced by many women across the world. For African women, getting married or becoming sexually active is often not a matter of choice but of social obli­­gation and survival, as testified by Lesley Ann Foster and Amanitare Sexual Rights Network. Reproduction and sexuality are matters of life and death for most African women. One in every 16 women on the continent is likely to die during preg­­nan­cy or childbirth. Spending most of their reproductive years either preg­nant or rearing young children, women have little time or energy to develop other skills and capabilities or participate in public life.

It is this that motivates our commitment to promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality as a cornerstone of our international development policy.

The international debate on sexual and reproductive health is not new. It was a key issue both at the Cairo Conference of Population and Development in 1994 and at the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995.

The ICPD recognised “the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so.”

The Beijing Declaration (paragraph 17) states that “the right of all women to control all aspects of their health, in particular their own fertility, is basic to their empowerment.”

But we need to take further steps. During these two days, you will be taking one more step by addressing another key element: women’s right to control their own sexuality. This means that sexuality should not be linked to fertility alone but also to pleasure, that women should be able to choose their own partner, and enjoy respect for their physical integrity. It recognises, further, that there are differences in sexual orientation and gender identity. Sexual rights is not yet an internationally agreed concept.

2.    My second point: That sexual and gender based violence is a major barrier to the achievement of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

This is a symptom of patriarchal and unequal power and gender relations. Sexual and gender-based violence is a means of gaining control over women’s bodies, reproduction and sexuality. Female genital mutilation is an extreme example of harmful traditional practices to this effect.

Sexual and gender-based violence punishes unauthorised sexual orientations and gender identities. It increases women’s vulnerability to HIV and AIDS, and has serious emotional, health and socio-economic consequences at individual, family and wider community levels.

Sexual violence in armed conflict is now high on the multilateral agenda. Recently, important steps have been taken to improve the ability of the international community to address this issue. These include the adoption by the UN Security Council of new resolutions.

SCR1888 requests the UN Secretary General to appoint a Special Representative (SRSG) on sexual violence in armed conflict; SCR1882 opens the field for documenting the parties to armed conflict who perpetrate rape and other sexual violence against children; and SCR1889 calls for a monitoring mechanism to strengthen the implementation of efforts in the broader field of women, peace and security.

Sexual violence in armed conflict and the wider agenda of women, peace and security are also high on the Norwegian Government’s agenda. This is witnessed by the fact that the International Conference on Monitoring SCR1325 and SCR1820 is being held these very days by the Norwegian umbrella organisation FOKUS, together with INSTRAW and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I opened that conference yesterday. I regret the overlap of these two events and hope that it does not pose a problem for you. The convergence does however testify to the strong interest in gender equality and related issues both internationally and here in Norway.

Security Council resolution 1820 (2008) recognises that rape and other forms of sexual violence are all too frequently used as a weapon of war in armed conflicts. Women’s bodies become a battleground and whole communities are shattered. We must not allow this to continue, but take action and forge strong partnerships to assist and compensate the victims and end impunity. The perpetrators must be held accountable.

3.    To my third point: The need to question patriarchal structures and perceptions of masculinity.

We need to consider that not only women but also men are subjected to rape in armed conflict. The motivation appears to be the same: to weaken the enemy’s fighting capacity and spirit. The ability to protect on the one hand, and sexual assertiveness and aggression on the other, are seen as marks of masculinity and male prowess.

By raping women and girls the aggressor demonstrates that the men on the other side are unable to protect “their” women. Their manhood is scorned and undermined. When men are raped, their masculinity is taken away from them and they are “reduced” to the status of “women”.

To get to the root causes of sexual and gender based violence – whether as a weapon of war or in general terms – we need to address not only the plight of the victims but also patriarchal structures and notions of masculine identity.

How do we move towards more supportive and peaceful perceptions of masculinity and manhood? I do not think anybody has the full answer. It is crucial however that we start with the young generation. We need to instil attitudes of reciprocity and equality in young boys and girls. Access to education, including sexuality education, is key. So are the quality of teachers, a gender sensitive curriculum and a conducive school environment.

4.    My fourth and final point is that we need an integrated approach to achieving MDG3 on women’s empowerment and the health MDGs.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights is also a matter of gender-sensitive health care and budgetary priorities at various levels of decision-making. Norway is a champion of child and maternal health and survival, and of the MDG4&5 Global Campaign. Without access to healthcare services, sexual and reproductive health and rights have little real value. The delivery of health services must be scaled up substantially.  At the same time, these services need to be gender-sensitive and cater to the health needs of the poor, of both women and men, of both young and old.

How can we best encourage pregnant women to seek professional care? How can we convince husbands and in-laws to give priority to women’s reproductive health needs when financial resources are scarce?

These are reasons why it is important to explore the links between MDG3 on women’s empowerment and MDGs 4, 5 and 6, which this expert meeting will do.

Reproductive health and survival is obviously a precondition for women’s empowerment. But at the same time, women’s political, economic and social empowerment greatly enhances the health and wellbeing – and thus survival –of women and children. We need to adopt an integrated approach that links our efforts to achieve these Millennium Development Goals.

Therefore, I am very pleased that this meeting aims to explore the interfaces of the global processes and agendas 15 years after Cairo and Beijing and to move towards a joint, and an even more ambitious, agenda for SRHR and gender equality.

This was four issues that I believe are crucial. There are more. But on all these issues we need your input to explore these areas properly and identify key messages and recommendations to the Nordic countries.

What should our priorities be? How should they be framed and promoted?  In international and multilateral forums and processes?  Through state to state dialogues and cooperation?  Civil society partnerships?  Financial support mechanisms?  Or by other means?  What partnerships and strategies should we pursue for gender-sensitive promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights in diverse cultural and religious settings?

You will be tackling complex and urgent issues. But I am confident that you will help to deepen our understanding, improve our ability to tailor and spearhead responses to global challenges, and achieve better results. I wish you a fruitful and productive meeting.

Thank you.