NAIROBI, 12 November 2019 – From 12-14 November 6,000 high-level delegates from Member States, civil society, celebrities, private sector and international organizations have gathered in Nairobi, Kenya to renew their commitments towards achieving the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) - a bold vision agreed to 25 years ago putting each and every person's right to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights at the heart of development and acknowledging that gender equality and women's empowerment are essential to achieve sustainable development. The Summit is being co-convened by the governments of Kenya and Denmark along with UNFPA to galvanize partnerships and political and financial commitments to urgently finish the unfinished business of the ICPD as essential to achieving the 2030 agenda.
The national delegation of Kazakhstan is headed by Ms. Gulshara Abdykalikova, the Chairperson of the Committee for social and cultural development of Mazhilis of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Ms. Lyazat Aktayeva, Vice-Minister of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Mr. Olzhas Toguzbayev, Deputy Director of the Multilateral Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Mr. Baurzhan Baiserkin, Director of the Kazakh Scientific Center of Dermatology and Infectious Diseases of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ms. Kamila Tuyakbayeva, representative of National Y-PEER volunteer network.
Prior to the opening of the Nairobi Summit a Kazakhstani singer KALIYA performed her song “Kyz Tagdyry” (Kaz. “Her Future”) on the need to protect the girls’ future and the challenges of early pregnancies. KALIYA (Akmarzhan Kusherbayeva) is the voice of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Kazakhstan and an activist who advocates for gender equality, women’s empowerment, sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights for women, girls and youth in Kazakhstan.
“Our country has undoubtedly made tremendous progress in reducing maternal mortality and advancing on gender equality. We need to continue investing in strengthening sexual and reproductive health,” said Head of Delegation Ms. Gulshara Abdykalikova. - Our country will change funding model to the compulsory social health insurance by January 2020. Within this transition, the Government of Kazakhstan takes upon itself an obligation to increase healthcare spending. Government spending on healthcare is expected to be doubled in the next five years, rising from the current 3.2% to 5% of GDP by 2025. This will be made possible due to the reform in medical insurance. The transition will help Kazakhstan from 2020 onwards to cover an additional 91 outpatient services costs to protect sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and youth under 28 years of age.”
Vice-minister of Health Ms. Lazzat Aktayeva emphasized the importance of systemic actions in Kazakhstan that in the past 10 years have led to the decrease of maternal mortality by 2.6 times, decrease of infant mortality by 2.3 times, the indicator of still births has dropped by 1.2 times, teenage pregnancies decreased by 35%. Kazakhstan also makes an important legal commitment to reduce the age of obtaining medical services without parental consent from 18 to 16 years, except for abortions. “Government policy actions on maternal and child health are one of the priority tasks of the state. Systemic and comprehensive measures to strengthen reproductive health of the people of Kazakhstan will be continued, as reflected in the new 2025 Government Healthcare Programme,” said Vice-Minister of Health.
During the Summit Kazakhstan will announce its commitments to finance youth-friendly reproductive health services through the compulsory social health insurance; to reduce the age at which adolescents can obtain medical services without parental consent from 18 to 16, except for abortions; and promote “zero tolerance” to violence against women and children.
The Summit will focus on five main issues: sexual and reproductive health as part of universal health coverage, the funding required to realize all goals of the ICPD’s Programme of Action, demographic diversity and its power to drive economic growth and sustainable development, measures to end gender-based violence and harmful practices, and the right to sexual and reproductive health, even in humanitarian and fragile contexts.
Discussions at the summit will also highlight the power of gender equality, youth leadership, political and community leadership, innovation and data, and partnerships to accelerate change.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with hashtags #NairobiSummit, #TheRightToChoose #ReproHealth #ICPD25 and leave your likes and comments to help us realize the vision promised 25 years ago in Cairo. More about the Nairobi Summit can be found at website http://www.nairobisummiticpd.org/.
For more information please contact UNFPA communications specialist Dina Teltayeva tel.: +7 7172 696538; +77017654010 or by e-mailing to teltayeva@unfpa.org
