Connection Between SDGs and Safe Abortion

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a new road map to improve the lives of people throughout the world over the next 15 years. Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights issues are currently featured on the SDG agenda expands their presence at both the global and national levels, by establishing SRHR specific indicators to measure progress toward the SDGs.

For the field of SRHR, the SDGs include several relevant goals and targets such as those related to health, education and gender quality. The goals and targets encompass many key aspects of SRHR, including access to SRHR services, comprehensive sexuality education, ensure reproductive rights, achieve gender equality as a matter of women’s and girl’s human rights, and the ability to make decisions about one’s own health. The SDGs are ambitious in their size and scope, consisting of 17 goals and 169 targets that are applicable to all countries equally, and take into account the economic, social and environmental challenges of our world.

The major component of SDGs SRHR related target is to advance women’s access to safe and legal abortion, in accordance with the new SDGs focused on health and gender equality.

SDGs Targets By 2030:

TARGET 3.1: By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio less than 70 per 100,000 live births: The 2030 target calls for a two-thirds reduction in maternal mortality, based on the latest estimate for the maternal mortality ratio globally, at 210 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. This is well known facts that leasing cause of maternal deaths is unsafe abortion. A report by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2013 highlighted that numbers of unsafe abortion will continue to increase unless women’s access to safe abortion and contraceptives are questioned. Unsafe abortion is entirely preventable through ensuring women’s access to effective contraception together with safe and legal comprehensive abortion care in all regions, countries and among poor, young and vulnerable women. Nepal has announced free abortion service in 2015, and yet not implemented. This decision will definitely push the nation to achieve the target to reduce maternal mortality by 2030.

TARGET 3.5: By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs: Contraception is an essential component of family planning and SRH that allows individuals to determine if and when to have a child.

Unmet need among the adolescent and young is particularly high for spacing with 37.5 and 23.3 percent respectively (NDHS 2011).

Ensuring that SRH services are made available along with other basic health care e.g.immunization services or treatment for TB may increase access to care and information, especially for disadvantaged populations, such as adolescents, people with disabilities and those living with HIV. Access of services especially SRH related is difficult due to geographical areas in Nepal. SGDs planning and implementation will help Nepal Government to identify geographical areas where and types of services for which availability is lagging can help better target resources and technical assistance.

Access to safe, legal abortion has been recognized by the global community as an essential intervention in a package of comprehensive sexuality and reproductive health services that should be available to all women regardless of age, ethnicity, gender identity, geographic location, marital status, race, religion, socio-economic status or migrant status. 

Improved SRHR knowledge can help young people make healthy, informed choices about their reproductive loves. Understanding levels of knowledge among adolescents can help identifying gaps in preparing young people for this important part of life.

“Only 38% of women know about abortion is legal in Nepal-NDHS 2011. Knowing the adolescent birthrate and whether those births were planned can help quantify challenges facing young people, including their unmet need for contraception and lack of access to education, information and services appropriate for them. For very young adolescents (ages 10-14), early childbearing can be a marker of forced marriage and abuse.”

And also adolescents in particular need universal access to youth-friendly and non-judgmental sexual and reproductive health services that respect their sexual and reproductive health and rights and their rights to confidentiality, privacy and informed consent.

TARGET 5.6: Gender Equality: Lack of gender quality affects almost every facet of life for women and girls around the world. Gender equality includes recognition of women’s autonomy and capacity to make informed and independent decisions about their sexuality and reproduction through laws and policies allowing access to safe and legal abortion. Women’s access to safe and legal abortion is as relevant to gender equality as women’s equal access to education, employment, adequate food and housing.

In order to protect women’s health and lives, it is critical to promote access to safe abortion and to reduce the incidence of and complications from unsafe abortion. Better data collection is necessary in this area to improve the medical and legal environment for providing safe abortion care and to reduce the stigma surrounding the procedure.

The success of key SDGs will depend in significant part on the extent to which important stakeholders-including governments, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations take seriously the specific SRHR targets and fully implement the relevant policies, services and programs to attain them. All the stakeholders should realize that the success of SDGs depend upon women’s & girl’s access to safe and legal abortion in all region equally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letz talk #contraceptivechoicematters

Introduction: 

#contraceptivechoicematters when it comes to young people’s healthy sexual behaviors. Half the population on Earth are under 25. More than 1.8 billion are between 10 and 25 years which indicates history’s largest generation of adolescents and 85% live in the developing world.

The current situation among young people using modern contraceptives is very low. Some of the situation among young people and contraceptives are:

• Young people in developing countries do not have privacy. Most of them live with their parents and share rooms with their siblings. Even if young people use or carry condoms in their bags or pockets. There are high chance of their parents once a week or twice a week inquiring their bags. Mothers and sisters might question them if they saw condom in the pocket while washing his/her pants.
• Sex before marriage is social taboo and highly stigmatized.
• Young unmarried girls likely to reject idea of using Long Acting Reversible Methods like Implant or IUD.
• There are many myths and misconception regarding Long Acting Reversible Methods that might impact on their fertility. Therefore the only option for young people in developing countries like Nepal is CONDOM.

We are not sure where young people go and enjoy their sexual relationship. Still today young people have to face awkward moments trying to get condoms. Even if they realize the importance of safe sex and carry CONDOM on their pockets they fear that their parents might enquiry. Therefore contraceptive choice matters for young people.

Although most people become sexually active during adolescence, young people often have no access to the family planning services and education they need. Some of the biggest barriers are culturally taboos about young people’s sexuality. The main effort globally is to address population issues, combat maternal deaths and deal with unmet need of young people. To improve this issues and meet Millennium Development Goals adolescents and youth should be give accurate information and services on sexual and reproductive health. Family planning information and services must be promoted, and changes in policies and regulations should be encouraged.

Aim of Campaign 

Nepal is celebrating its first National Family Planning Day on 18th Sept, 2014.  Bhaktapur Youth Information Forum believes Adolescents’ access to family planning can increase their opportunities throughout their lives, starting with longer education, fewer pregnancies, a later and healthier start to childbearing and more opportunities to engage in income producing activity. Therefore BYIF organizing series of event for the day.

Activities

• Join Bhaktapur Youth Information Center through social media campaign to scroll the message with #contraceptivechoicematters. Here is the link to support the campaign. Thunderclap Campaign http://thndr.it/1Av1CmG
• Selfie, wefie and groupie campaign with message on youth and family planning and why contraceptive choices matters to young people. Join the youth group. Post your selfie or wefie or groupie in their timeline in facebook. 
• Flashmob and rally