Editorial: The Reproductive Health and Rights Agenda Under Attack
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3/27/03
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development. Copyright © 2003 Society for International Development (www.sidint.org). 1011-6370 (200306) 46:2; 3–5; 033473. NB When citing this article please use both volume and issue numbers. SAGE Publications (www.sagepublications.com)
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Editorial The Reproductive Health and Rights Agenda Under Attack WENDY HARCOURT
The reproductive rights and health agenda negotiated through agreements made at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), in 1994 and at the five-year review in 1999, is undeniably under attack in the uneasy world of 2003. There are a number of common explanations offered for why. The first is that there is just not enough money. Stringent economic policies imposed by the global economic order are not concurrent with the recommendations of the ICPD and other instruments that aim to put in place a pro-people health policy. Then there are issues around governance. Wavering democratic systems in many countries fail to provide the robust institutions to ensure promises are kept and local needs heard and respected. Then there is the concern about the growing uncontrollability of the unwieldy globalized world. The commodification of sexuality – in advertising, on the Internet, the trafficking in women and girls, the spread of HIV and AIDS – are among the disturbing features highlighted by the press and others that explain the undermining of the reproductive health and rights agenda. However, as many of the articles in this journal reveal, the situation is in fact far more complex. Certainly no one can deny that having enough money, good governance, and a more democratic and just global order that respects women’s rights are all necessary. And in this sense, very few people would speak out against good public health systems, the end of trafficking of girls and women, universal education and better governance systems. But when it comes to committed money, to the priorities of good governance and how far women’s rights can be exercised, many would start to talk about the need for priorities. Here the ‘real’ issues emerge: the need to support trade, resolve the financial crisis, stop wars, prevent ethnic conflict, end environmental degradation and cope with climate change. In this discourse, women’s reproductive rights and health diminish into the periphery – or at best become one of the, eventual, benefits of development.
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As such, the problem is much more deep-seated than the ICPD process suggests. Is it enough to learn how to respond to official development agendas that mention women, reproductive rights and health in a few paragraphs, if at all? Would better, more convincing advocacy tools, more timely strategies, better lobbying, more appealing arguments for legal reform, be able to tackle completely such rejection of the reproductive rights and health agenda? The answer from the articles is clearly no. While lobbying and advocacy activities are certainly necessary a
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