After two weeks of fierce negotiations at the United Nations’ annual Commission on the Status of Women, on March 15 more than 130 governments committed to ending violence against women and girls, and reached strong agreements to promote gender equality and ensure access to sexual and reproductive health services.

The International Women’s Health Coalition and our amazing partners from around the world came out in force to the UN for the negotiations. Our agenda was clear: push governments to commit to concrete strategies to empower women and girls and end gender-based violence.

We met with instant opposition from conservative governments. Countries such as Iran, Russia, Egypt, and Syria joined with the Vatican in what The New York Times called “an unholy alliance.” IWHC staff and our women’s rights caucus of more than 100 activists worked around the clock to support progressive delegations to stand strong and not to cave in to pressure. We would not let a small but vocal minority use culture and religion as excuses to deny women their rights.

Our efforts prevailed and consensus was finally reached to loud applause from supportive governments such as Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, and even the small island of Tonga! As the “agreed conclusions” document was adopted, hundreds of women’s rights activists streamed into the negotiating room to join in the cheers.

For the first time at the UN, governments reached consensus that survivors of rape are entitled to emergency contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancy, and to timely and respectful forensic exams to support prosecution. They called for an end to child marriages. They agreed women’s right to control their sexuality is essential to preventing further violence. And they recognized the role that evidence-based sexuality education can play in reducing the harmful gender stereotypes that lead to violence.

In a sign of just how much was at stake, this year’s meeting received an unprecedented amount of media coverage after the Muslim Brotherhood condemned (and mischaracterized) the negotiations. IWHC featured prominently in many news articles, including in The Washington Post, The Guardian, Associated Press, ABC News, The Globe and Mail, Radio Free Europe, O Estado de S. Paulo, and Reuters.

Once again, we women have shown we’re an irresistible force. But our work is far from over. Now we must be vigilant to ensure that the agreements made at the UN are put into practice in local communities worldwide.

For that to happen, we must continue to support women’s groups to hold their own leaders to account.

Best regards,

“Joan inspired countless numbers of people in her lifelong fight for the rights of women and girls.  Her endless energy, courage and extraordinary wisdom made her a force to be reckoned with as she secured significant and progressive victories for the sexual and reproductive health of women.  Through her warm and endearing personality she was universally respected and loved by all who had the privilege of working with her.  She will be sorely missed, but at the same time happily remembered for the exceptional contribution she made to improving the lives of women and girls around the world,” noted Brian Brink, the Chair of the Board of the Coalition.

Françoise Girard, the President of the International Women’s Health Coalition, will remember “Joan’s unwavering commitment to women and girls, her savvy, vision, determination, dignity, grace… and wicked sense of humor. When Joan came in to ask for your support, you just had to say yes. I and the staff of IWHC will honor and carry on Joan’s important legacy. I will miss her greatly as a friend, adviser and supporter.”

Joan Dunlop was the first President of the International Women’s Health Coalition, from 1984 to 1998. She inherited what was then a small organization funding scattered abortion training and health service projects in a few countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with $17,000 in the bank against a budget of $250,000, and a staff of three. When asked why she left her high-visibility work in Vartan Gregorian’s office at the New York Public Library to take this job, Joan recalled: “I was furious about the Reagan Administration’s policy on abortion…. It was time to get into the trenches.” With promises of funding from the Hewlett and Ford foundations, Joan took the plunge.

Joan was responsible for shaping IWHC’s mission and laying the foundation for the Coalition’s work. A year after she took over, she hired Adrienne Germain as Vice-President. Joan extended IWHC’s reach and visibility and shaped its crucial role in global policy development over her 14 years as President. By the time Joan stepped down, IWHC was playing a leading role in influencing government and UN agency policies to ensure that women’s human rights were at the core of population policies. IWHC had helped mobilize women’s health and rights advocates from around the world at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. It was funding and providing technical support to dozens of women’s groups working as service providers and advocates in Asia, Latin America and Africa. IWHC proudly continues this pioneering and essential work today, 28 years on.

Brazil, a country that in the past has championed women’s human rights, including reproductive rights, at the global level, has failed women in both Brazil and the world over.

During meetings to finalize the Rio+20 document, Heads of State will adopt in the next few days at Rio+20, delegates agreed on a plan short on vision and big on compromises. After three days of long, drawn-out negotiations, marked with lack of clarity about the process, a document to be signed off by heads of government was presented. Quickly gaveled through by the Brazilian chair, one after another government thanked Brazil for facilitating this document and largely expressed how this was the best they could do. By all accounts, despite the attempts to spin the outcome as a success, this document is neither “the future we want” nor what future generations deserve. In an effort to get consensus at whatever cost, Brazil forgot Rio: the vision and commitments of the Rio Earth Summit held 20 years ago.

From the start of the negotiations, gender equality and women’s human rights, including reproductive rights, have continuously been challenged by a few governments, claiming that [these] had “nothing to do with sustainable development.”

This debate continued until the last few hours of the negotiations. In the end, the text includes a re-affirmation of both the Cairo and Beijing agreements, but it falls short by failing to recognize that reproductive rights are also critical to the achievement of sustainable development. If a woman cannot decide if and when to have children and if she is not provided with the reproductive health care that is her human right, it is challenging to contribute to sustainable solutions for the planet.

Opposition to women’s human rights per se was concentrated among a few countries, with the un-holy alliance of the Holy See and oppressive governments such as Syria and Egypt insisting on marginalizing women. And since there was so much at stake for “more important issues,” such as trade, financing for sustainable development, and the green economy, other governments in the end traded away women’s reproductive rights, giving the Vatican what it wanted in the first place. But even if reproductive rights had been reaffirmed, the lack of real commitment by the international community to eradicate poverty, address urgent environmental concerns, and to chart a clear path for implementation of sustainable development, makes it difficult for women– and for the world — to  achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment in this context.

Norway, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Mexico, Iceland, Switzerland, Israel and many others fought to the end to retain the reference to reproductive rights and expressed disappointment that this was not incorporated in the final text. However, it is expected that they will speak of their continued commitment through their leaders during the High Level Segment that begins today.

The Brazilian failure: selling out women’s human rights in this negotiation, has not gone unnoticed. Brazilian feminists quickly mobilized and demanded an explanation from their government. In an interview with local media following the agreement on the text, the Brazilian Foreign Minister expressed disappointment that “reproductive rights” had been kept out of the document, but went on to explain that this was done out of the need to reach a compromise. Immediately following the adoption of the text, women gathered and protested at Rio Centro, the main venue for the conference, chanting “reproductive rights are not for sale”, “governments have failed women and the planet” and “women’s rights are human rights.” Finally, in a meeting with Michelle Bachelet, the head of UNWomen, and the Brazilian Minister for the Environment, Brazilian women presented their declaration to Rio+20 which fittingly ended with these words:

“We defend women’s rights to equality, autonomy and freedom in all the territories where we live, particularly in our bodies, which are our first territory.”

For now, governments attending Rio+20 have failed both territories.

Women wave scarves at Rio+20 protest. Photo courtesy of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD).

Professor of International Health and Co-Founder of the Gapminder Foundation Hans Rosling agrees: we DO decide. And those decisions are often made in the bedroom.

“The world is run from the bedrooms.” Rosling explains.  The ability to refuse unwanted sex, negotiate condom use or facilitate protection from unwanted pregnancy and STIs, including HIV, is crucial to the health and well being of women, young people, and communities, in the United States and the world over.

Data backs up this assertion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, women’s health initiatives like the Title X funding that provides family planning and prevention services across the United States, can actually help boost the national economy by helping women avoid unintended pregnancies and promoting their health and wellbeing.

Yet, counter-intuitively, these initiatives are still under attack and at risk of being de-funded based on a misguided argument for fiscal responsibility.

According to National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) President Nancy Keegan, this logical fallacy is driven by a desire to control women’s actions and decision-making process in the bedroom.

Yesterday she told the crowd that those that oppose funding for family planning and other sexual and reproductive rights and health services do so because they “want a government that’s small enough to fit in your bedroom and medicine cabinet.”

As if this weren’t enough, the attacks aren’t limited to the US. The proposed cuts extend beyond this country, and to the health and human rights of countless women and young people on every continent.

Among the harmful restrictions in the House-passed FY 11 funding bill is an effort to enact into law the Global Gag Rule, a policy that bars organizations receiving U.S. funding to provide family planning services if they also use their own, non-U.S. funds to provide legal abortion services, advocate for abortion law reform, or provide accurate medical counseling or referrals.

So, the government needs to give Americans and non-Americans alike the information and resources they need to make decisions about what happens in the bedroom.  And once that bedroom door is shut, the government shouldn’t try to open it.

What you may not know is that at this year’s CSW, the sexual and reproductive rights of women and young people became the target of incredibly organized assaults by U.S.-based organizations.

Under the radar and over-the-top, these predominantly conservative and anti-choice groups descended upon the Commission and its participants in advance of the CSW to ensure that issues such as women’s rights, gender equality, sexual and reproductive health, and sexuality education, experienced major setbacks on the global scene.

Among the most blatant perpetrators was Family Watch International (FWI). Unable to wait until the meeting in March, they sponsored 26 UN delegates from 23 different countries to attend their first annual “Global Family Policy Forum” in Phoenix, Arizona. As their website proudly states, the January forum was organized specifically to provide UN diplomats that negotiate social and family issues at the UN two days of “expert presentations on family issues, briefing sessions and discussions on how to better protect and promote the family and family values at the UN.”

The content of the conference, which FWI lists on its website as “the single most important thing that Family Watch has ever done”, included sessions featuring “scientific and clinical evidence” that “homosexuality is not genetically determined” and that “in many cases, individuals who experience same-sex attraction can be helped by therapy”, as well as information on a searchable electronic database that would allow diplomats to quickly and easily access previously agreed upon “family-supportive language” from past UN documents.  Much of the time was spent developing strategies; discussing anti-woman, anti-choice tactics for the CSW and similar upcoming conferences; and opportunities for the diplomats to network, schmooze, and sightsee (including a trip to the Grand Canyon). Conference organizers are already planning a similar event for 2012, which they predict could “easily include diplomats from more than 50 countries”.

As a result of this conference and similar initiatives, advocates and delegates who oppose women’s rights and health in the global sphere were well prepared for the 55^th CSW. Although relatively few in number, reps from the Holy See, Benin, Iran, and Syria voiced strong opposition, while the usual progressive allies such as the U.S. and Europe were less vocal.

“As a result of strong opposition at the 55^th Session of the CSW, both inside and outside the negotiation room, progressive advocacy efforts failed to achieve strong reference to concepts including women’s empowerment, gender equality, and human rights in the agreed conclusions,” said Sarah Kennel, Program Officer for the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights. “Having participated in the CSW as a youth advocate on behalf of the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, opposition groups both out-numbered us and out-powered us throughout the negotiation process. As a result of their strong presence, we were forced to fight for the inclusion of already agreed upon (moderately progressive) language, rather than breaking boundaries and advocating for the inclusion of truly progressive language, with a focus on gender equality and human rights.”

The “controversial” language Kennell refers to includes concepts such as “gender”, “gender mainstreaming”, “gender equality”, “gender based analysis”, “sexuality education”, “sexual and reproductive health”, “maternal health”, and “women’s rights”, which have longstanding precedent at the UN by virtue of their presence in a number of agreed-upon UN documents and treaties. A statement by the  European Union (EU) delegation mirrors Kennell’s concerns:

“We note with disappointment the concerns expressed throughout the negotiations by some delegations with regard to concepts such as ‘gender’ and ‘gender stereotypes’. This language has been fully agreed in the past, including in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and is entirely consistent with efforts to promote the realization of gender equality. As such we were, and will remain, unwilling to go back to pre-Beijing concepts. Mr President, we hope that in the future, delegations can in fact move forward from agreed language and continue to further the overriding objective of the Commission, which is to accelerate and develop the full enjoyment and unhindered exercise of equal rights for women and girls all over the world.”

So what is to be done with the experience of this year’s CSW? We certainly can expect a bit of a bumpy ride.

“Looking ahead,” said Kenell, “it is clear that member states, NGOs and youth with progressive agendas will face increasing opposition when advocating for the inclusion of language related to gender equality, women’s empowerment, reproductive health and rights, comprehensive sexuality education and human rights.”

But the fight isn’t over yet.  Reflecting on this experience, the progressive youth movement needs to be better prepared and better funded. For Kennell, this involves “knowing the issues, knowing how to use international agreements, treaties and declarations that support our issues as advocacy tools and knowing how and when to work with ally member states.” By establishing stronger links and connections among progressive organizations, individuals, and networks, a strong movement can be build to advocate for the rights of all girls and women. The upcoming Commission on Population and Development will be a crucial site for the continued development of these issues.

To learn more about IWHC’s work at the UN, click here. To download the Agreed Conclusions in their entirety, click here.  To download the full EU statement on the Agreed Conclusion, click here.

We’ve been reflecting lately about ways to improve Akimbo as we enter our third year, and in the coming weeks we’ll be shifting to a schedule with less frequent but more in depth posts. Last fall, when we surveyed our readers and other folks who interact with IWHC online, we got many requests for more in depth reporting on the issues we care about, as well as stories from our partners and colleagues around the world. So that’s going to be our focus in year three.

But for now, let’s spend a few minutes looking back at our favorite posts from the last year:

Kelly Castagnaro, Director, Communications Program

• No Excuses: A Living Experience of the Struggle for Rights: Meena Seshu’s speech on human rights and the HIV/AIDS pandemic is perennially moving and inspiring.
• Sex, Culture, and Human Rights: An African Leader Breaks the Silence: Advocate and IWHC Board Member Josina Machel doesn’t shy away from the truth: “We can talk about gender, we can talk about HIV education, but when it comes down to it, we tiptoe around the influences our cultures have…in our bedrooms.”
• “Prostitutes of God:” Film Mocks, Belittles Sex Workers: How SANGRAM, a non-profit in rural India, used social media to respond to Western media—interesting in terms of the limitations and biases of mainstream media, and also indicative of how rapidly our media landscape has changed.

Lori Adelman, Program Assistant, Communications

• The Reason I Left School: Children of Indian Sex Workers Speak Out: The first video produced by Sangli Talkies, the newly-launched video unit of SANGRAM / VAMP.
• Ten Myths About Sex and Virginity Debunked: This post received a high number of hits and brought information about sex and sexuality to a wider audience. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to highlight ways in which over-emphasis on virginity and purity harms women and girls around the world.
• New Study: Young People Use Condoms more Frequently Than Adults: This post highlighted findings that young people use condoms at nearly twice the rate at which young adults used condoms, and nearly four times that of adults over 40, debunking the oft-cited idea that young people are reckless and careless when it comes to sex.

Audacia Ray, Program Officer, Online Communications and Campaigns

• World Cup and Women’s Health Series: Last summer we covered the World Cup IWHC-style by tracking the records of World Cup countries when it comes to the health and rights of women and girls.
• Brazilian Youth on Their Experience of Comprehensive Sexuality Education: This video features two of our young colleagues from Brazil talking about the impact of our partner Grupo Curumim on their lives.
• In the Interest “Equality,” Malawian Woman’s Identity is Erased: Last spring, when gay rights groups started reporting on a fourteen year sentence a “gay” couple had received in Malawi, we were one of the few voices setting the record straight – the couple was actually straight and included a transgender woman.

The honor recognizes Germain’s 40 year commitment to the health and human rights of women and girls, as well as her ground-breaking work in prompting a “sea-change in global health priorities, bringing the health and rights of women front and center.”

“The work of these heroes is informed not just by boundless vision, but also by pragmatism,” said Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women in a written release. “They both understand and defy current power structures – and they will stop at nothing to make changes that improve the daily existence of women everywhere.”

Since her pioneering work for women’s equality in the 1970s and 80s with the Ford Foundation, including four years in Bangladesh as the Foundation’s country representative, Adrienne Germain has reshaped global policy on women’s health and human rights. A skilled strategist and negotiator on U.S. government delegations to world conferences on population, women, and development from 1993 to 2000, and again in 2009, she has helped revolutionize the way the world views population policy and funding by making women’s sexual and reproductive rights and health central.  Under Ms. Germain’s leadership, the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) has created international policy innovations, led global advocacy for sexual and reproductive rights and health, and helped strengthen local organizations in countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

“Women need to stand up for other women… This is the way it should be. Until every woman and every young person can stand up for themselves and lead just and healthy lives, our work is not done and we cannot go back to the comfort of our silence.”

-Ishita Chaudhry, founder of the YP  Foundation and speaker at IWHC’s 11th annual gala (pictured with IWHC President Adrienne Germain)

This past Tuesday February 8th, IWHC held its 11th annual gala event at 583 park Avenue in New York City. The theme was “Strong women: healthy communities”. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners In Health and the evening’s nominee, spoke passionately and optimistically about IWHC’s mission and work:

“IWHC is creating a climate in which it is not tolerable—or less tolerable, at least—to accept gender inequality as a matter of course. That means that anybody who fights for gender equity in the field, whatever their field is—United States, Afghanistan, Haiti, you name it—you  make our lives easier. You make our lives better. You make us more effective.”

And later, when addressing IWHC’s mission statement of working to realize every woman’s right to a just and healthy life, Dr. Farmer remarked:

“I just want to thank you for letting me be part, to bathe in the light of a statement like that because I believe in it with all my heart. I don’t see, in fact, how we can advance our work without embracing such bold, if simple, principles.”

We were also joined by our partner Ishita Chaudhry, the founder of the YP Foundation, a youth led and run movement for social change in India. Ishita spoke of her work to support and enable young people to create programs and influence policies at all levels, in the areas of gender, sexuality, health, education, the arts, and governance.

New York Social Diary covered the gala, and published more photos of the event as part of their wrap up on fundraising galas. The gala was also featured in Guest of a Guest. Scroll below for more photos of the event!

Luiza Helena de Bairros, a board member of IWHC partner ELAS Fundo de Investimento Social has been appointed Minister for Racial Equality in Brazil’s new Government. IWHC has been working with Fundo Elas for two years.

In her acceptance speech Ms. Bairros gave a special shoutout to the black movement in Brazil, noting her continued dedication to demanding policies to combat and eliminate racism, a factor that still excludes the black community’s access to many rights and opportunities in Brazil.

In addition to this exciting appointment, Gilberta Santos Soares, former general coordinator of our partner Cunha, is now the Deputy Secretary for Women and Human Diversity in the Government of the State of Paraiba, Brazil.

President Dilma, Brazil’s first woman president, who has made a point to have a larger number of women on her Cabinet than have served in year’s past (they currently make up about 25% of the Cabinet members).

Dilma has reiterated her commitment to addressing women’s rights in international relations, and despite the controversy around abortion during the Presidential campaign, her Minister of Women has not shied away from speaking her views about the theme. We’re hopeful and optimistic that these two appointments will result in the further creation and promotion of laws and policies that are good for Brazilian women’s health and will have a tangible benefit in their lives.

As of today, mobile phone users in India can send a text to 529222 and, for a small fee, receive sexual and reproductive health information discreetly through their phone. This service could help millions of women and young people in India, who are discouraged from discussing sexual matters in public or who live in remote areas and do not have access to a health clinic.

Programs like this one have been experimented with in the last few years , but with cell phone sales increasing exponentially each year—even among extremely rural communities that lack internet access or reliable electricity—they have the potential to reach more people with sexual and reproductive health information than any other method. Mobile phone sex ed campaigns have even seen success in the U.S.—a  program in North Carolina invites adolescents to text  sexual health questions to “BrdsNBz”. Each question receives an informative, non-judgmental, confidential, and free response within 24 hours. The program provides an outlet for students who might be too shy to ask personal questions in their school’s sex ed class or whose parents put filters on their home computers that filter out sexual content.

While text-a-question programs and pay-per-minute sexual health advice can’t be nearly as comprehensive or helpful as an in-person visit with a doctor or other medical professional, they do help fill a dangerous gap in health information dissemination and offer a peek into the future of best practices for sexual and reproductive health.

To learn more about IWHC’s work on comprehensive sexuality education, click here.