"As we are looking ahead to 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this month, my call to African leaders is that countries cannot afford polite promises any longer. We need our commitment honoured. The promises of SDG-3 and SDG-5 are the promises of dignity, life, and equality. We need the leaders to deliver on it. We need protection of health and gender equality financing even in time of austerity. Do not balance budget on the backs of women and girls. We need action with urgency. We need to set measurable milestones, reduce maternal mortality by half by 2027. We must move to end child marriages within a generation, guarantee universal access to essential sexual and reproductive health and rights services," said Benedicta Oyedayo Oyewole of IPPF Africa.
"This is not charity. This is justice. It makes economic sense. It is the foundation of the African countries that we want. The time for political rhetoric is over. What we need now is courage, financing and political will to ensure that by 2030 no woman dies from giving birth, no girl is forced into marriage, no one is denied health and dignity because of who they are," she added.
Shobha Shukla CNS
(Shobha Shukla is a feminist, health and development justice advocate, and an award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service). She was also the Lead Discussant for SDG-3 at United Nations inter-governmental High Level Political Forum (HLPF 2025). She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College; current President of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media); Chairperson of Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA received AMR One Health Emerging Leaders and Outstanding Talents Award 2024); and coordinator of SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights). Follow her on Twitter/X @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
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