NAIROBI / BANGKOK, 8 November 2019 -- Actions to save mothers’ lives, meet the global demand for contraception and stop violence against women and girls by 2030 are the primary focus of a three-day global summit that takes place in Nairobi, Kenya next week, from 12-14 November.

The Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 is happening 25 years after the groundbreaking International Conference on Population and Development, or ICPD, in Cairo where 179 governments  unanimously called for the empowerment of women and girls in all spheres of their lives, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.

At the Nairobi Summit, top government officials, including heads of state, parliamentarians and representatives from non-governmental and civil society organisations will announce financial and programmatic commitments, policies and other initiatives with a view to achieving all the goals laid out in the Programme of Action stemming from the ICPD in 1994.

Today, an estimated 232 million women want to prevent pregnancy but are not using modern contraception. Each day, more than 800 women die from preventable causes during pregnancy and childbirth - that’s about 80,000 women each year in the Asia and the Pacific region alone. Each day, an estimated 33,000 girls are forced into marriage. And every year, more than 4 million girls are subjected to female genital mutilation.

The Summit is bringing together an unusually diverse group of people including top government officials, thought-leaders, technical experts, religious leaders, activists and community organizers, young people, business leaders, indigenous peoples, international financial institutions, people with disabilities, academics and many others committed to sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as media partners.

Five main issues are the focus in Nairobi: sexual and reproductive health as part of universal health coverage; the funding required to realize all goals of the ICPD Programme of Action; demographic diversity and its power to drive economic growth and sustainable development; measures to end gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls; and the right to sexual and reproductive health care, even in humanitarian and fragile contexts.

As well, the Summit will address other issues of importance in Asia and the Pacific and globally, including population ageing, low fertility and gender-biased sex selection.

Discussions in Nairobi will be framed by the absolute necessity and the power of gender equality, youth leadership, political and community leadership, innovation and data, and partnerships to accelerate change – recognising that without achieving ICPD the world will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals that underpin the 2030 Agenda.

The governments of Kenya and Denmark along with the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, are co-convening the summit, which is also receiving financial or in-kind support from other governments and private partner organizations.