Weaving a path forward

Weaving a path forward

We must ensure that the next 30 years of progress includes everyone. Our vision for the future must be a future for all.

SWOP 2024

A new vision of the world is gaining momentum, one in which strengthening the rights and welfare of individuals reinforces those of the collective, and vice versa.

Collective action offers the only path forward when it comes to many of the world’s largest concerns, from climate change to increasing demographic diversity to the digital revolution. Collective efforts that reinforce individual rights are also essential when it comes to sexual and reproductive health.

We know that sexual and reproductive health and rights are necessary enablers for the large-scale liberation of women and girls as empowered economic actors.

SWOP 2024

“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

— Lilla Watson, an indigenous activist from Australia, at the 1985 UN Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi.

When crises cut off health care, community members fill the gaps

Before the earthquake, sexual and reproductive health work was more hidden, it was a kind of secret – now men are more understanding about these issues.

Ceylan Güzey, Türkiye Read story
Economic returns

Economic returns

Significant gains are unlocked when sexual and reproductive health programs receive investment.

  • Each additional dollar spent on contraceptive services for adolescents above the current level reduces the cost of pregnancy-related and newborn care by $3.70
  • Globally, intimate partner violence costs 5 per cent of worldwide gross domestic product, and nearly 15 per cent of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa
  • It has been estimated that a $1 investment in family planning would result in a $60 to $100 return, over time, in the form of economic growth
  • Globally, the limited educational opportunities for girls cost $15 to $30 trillion in lost lifetime productivity and earnings

Every additional $1 spent on contraceptive services reduces the cost of pregnancy-related and newborn care by $3

Safe, culturally sensitive, empowering childbirth for Colombia’s Afrodescendent women

As I have told several doctors… you do not have the experience I have – I started attending births before you were born.

Francisca Córdoba, Colombia Read story

Comprehensive sexuality education

Access to comprehensive sexuality education is a precondition to enabling reproductive autonomy for all – and to unlocking all the attendant social and economic benefits. Comprehensive sexuality education is associated with delays in the age of first sexual intercourse, an increase in the utilization of contraceptive methods and a reduction in adolescent pregnancy rates.

Programmes that link comprehensive sexuality education with accessible, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services have been shown to be particularly impactful in reducing unintended pregnancy.

When women use contraception to avoid unplanned births, the subsequent decline in fertility eventually leads to a smaller proportion of dependent children in the population relative to the size of the working-age population. This demographic shift can lead to what is commonly referred to as the demographic dividend: the increased rates of productivity and economic growth.

Local leadership reaches girls most in need

Albinism being a genetic phenomenon, I also fight for my children.

Maïmouna Déné, Burkina Faso/Côte d’Ivoire Read story
The need for data

The need for data

Historically, many countries have claimed that certain population subgroups simply do not exist within their borders – and there may be good reasons for such claims, as stigma and discrimination often force people to hide their identities, making data collection extremely challenging. But there are other reasons that disaggregated data are not collected and published. Challenges include cost and capacity, as well as political sensitivity and risks.

Choosing not to collect data can even reflect a lack of commitment to understand and reach the most marginalized and excluded, or can suggest that leaders are putting short-term political advantage above long-term development and inclusion. As some experts have asserted, “no data is data”.

Solidarity works

The evidence brought to light shows that the achievements since 1994 have been many but they must go further. Time and again, the world has seen that efforts to eliminate poor health outcomes and end preventable maternal deaths are simply not enough to overcome the barriers posed by inequality, discrimination, bias and stigma.

Yet this fact offers us perhaps the best chance at achieving our agreed goals – those from both the ICPD and from Agenda 2030 – to realize the rights and choices of all people. We know what has to be done. Now we must do it.

The fabric of humanity is vibrant and beautiful, but it is only as strong as its most fragile thread.

Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works
Solidarity works

Artwork

Textiles blur the boundary between art and function, practicality and beauty. Women’s movements have long used textiles to draw attention to a range of issues – from body positivity to reproductive justice and systemic racism. Contemporary artists and women-led textile collectives continue this tradition by producing artwork which reflects their local environments and traditions. As it has for thousands of years, textile art continues to offer women around the world the means to connect with previous and future generations of women in their families and communities.

We would like to thank the following textile artists who contributed to the artwork for this report:

  • Nneka Jones

    Nneka Jones

  • Rosie James

    Rosie James

  • Bayombe Endani, represented by the Advocacy Project

    Bayombe Endani, represented by the Advocacy Project

  • Woza Moya

    Woza Moya

  • The Tally Assuit Women’s Collective, represented by the International Folk Art Market

    The Tally Assuit Women’s Collective, represented by the International Folk Art Market

  • Pankaja Sethi

    Pankaja Sethi