Millennium Development Goals

Viscount Craigavon Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Craigavon (CB)]

My Lords, I will go straight to what I believe—which the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge, also seems to believe—is the most important part of the MDGs and an integral part of sustainable development: population dynamics and reproductive health. In the recent special event meeting in September, heads of state and government confirmed that they will target the existing most off-track MDGs and those where progress has stalled, such as,

“universal access to reproductive health, including maternal health”.

That wording again emphasises the importance of reproductive health, and confirms that the existing goals have not been forgotten.

For post-2015 goals in this field, there has been widespread advocacy of a stand-alone target on universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Those in this field believe that sustainable development can only be underpinned by meeting the widely acknowledged, unmet need for reproductive health services and by giving women the choice in freely planning the size of their families. At the same time, it has to be acknowledged that another side of sustainable development is reflected in our western overconsumption and excesses. However, to put it rather simply at this stage, the benefits of family planning do not have to wait until levels of education have improved or stable economies are in place. As Marie Stopes International in particular has shown, reproductive health provision, if provided in the right way at any stage of development, can be successful and beneficial to all.

For the new goals and the debate over the coming months, the UN Population Fund has produced a short and highly readable document entitled The Future UNFPA Wants for All. This contains seven key points, each summarised in a few sentences, for the post-2015 development agenda. In the time available, I can only recommend it and say that it demonstrates, in so many ways, how population and reproductive health matters must be an integral part of sustainable development.