He Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development remains more relevant than ever and is a critical regional roadmap to achieve more inclusive, productive and sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean, authorities and delegates from countries in the region reaffirmed today during the inauguration of the Fifth Session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development which is being held until Thursday, July 4 at the Convention Center in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
At the opening of the meeting, which brought together more than 560 people, including representatives of countries in the region, United Nations agencies and regional, multilateral and civil society organizations, participants highlighted the achievements of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development and addressed the challenges for its implementation 30 years after Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)They also discussed the progress and challenges to ensure the full exercise of the rights of persons with disabilities, one of the central themes of the meeting.
The Conference was opened by Luis Gilberto Murillo Urrutia, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia; Javier Medina Vásquez, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), representing the Executive Secretary of the organization, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs; Susana Sottoli, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Noemí Espinoza, Ambassador of Honduras on Special Mission for Women’s Issues and President of the 57th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development; and Sergio Cusicanqui, Minister of Development Planning of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (via video).
“Colombia promotes peace in all its forms. This peace does not mean the absence of conflict, but also gender equality, universal access to health, including sexual and reproductive rights. It means a dignified old age and the guarantee of the rights of traditionally excluded populations,” said Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo.
She added that “the future is everyone’s task, that is why I am glad that civil society, peoples, and communities are here. Let us take advantage of this space to generate joint solutions, let us reach agreements. Because we have many threats to the rights agenda and we have to come together and find at least the five most important common points for which we have to fight.”
In his opening speech, ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary Javier Medina stressed that, eleven years after its approval, the Montevideo Consensus continues to encourage us to strengthen and deepen the human rights approach with a gender, intercultural and intersectionality perspective in the development and implementation of public policies and programs aimed at improving the well-being of the population.
“In light of the results achieved and the challenges we face, we must concentrate our efforts on deepening the path taken, as well as on strengthening the strengths that have made the Montevideo Consensus such a powerful instrument, and our Regional Conference an arena that encourages us to vindicate the value of diversity,” he said.
He also urged countries to “continue building a dream in Latin America and the Caribbean, the dream of more sustainable development, forged through dialogue, the fruit of regional cooperation and a shared vision of the future, in which prosperity for all, democracy, the guarantee of human rights and the care of our children go hand in hand.”
UNFPA Regional Director Susana Sottoli said the evidence shows the region’s progress over the past 30 years in terms of maternal health, family planning and transformation of discriminatory gender norms. However, the data also show that millions of people still face obstacles to fully exercising their rights.
“Thirty years after the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, and 11 years after the Montevideo Consensus, we find ourselves at a critical turning point. We must accelerate efforts if we want the promise of Cairo to become a reality for millions of girls, adolescents and women in our region,” she said.
Ambassador Noemí Espinoza urged us to keep in mind what the Montevideo Consensus states: that poverty in all its forms represents in itself the denial of rights and that its eradication is a moral imperative for Latin America and the Caribbean that governments must assume.
Finally, in a video message, the Minister of Bolivia, Sergio Cusicanqui, highlighted the region’s efforts to continue promoting the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus, although he acknowledged that there is still much to be done, particularly in relation to gender equality, sexual and reproductive health, and the rights of groups in situations of greater vulnerability.
After the inauguration, ECLAC presented the document Population, development and rights in Latin America and the Caribbeanwhich constitutes the second regional report on the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development and represents the region’s contribution to the five-year global review and appraisal cycle of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.
The document reflects the progress and achievements of the region in the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus from 2018 to 2023 and focuses on the major challenges pending in the population and development agenda, which contribute to Latin America and the Caribbean continuing to be one of the most unequal regions in the world.
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