Women’s Health and Rights at a Crossroads:
The Agenda for Our Next President
Part 2
 Adrienne Germain President International Women’s Health Coalition |
In August 2008 Future Choices continues a conversation with Adrienne Germain. As President of the International Women’s Health Coalition, she has personally witnessed the gloomy impact of the failure of the global community to meet their commitment to women’s health and human rights. When the new President comes into office in January 2009, America will have the opportunity to regain moral leadership in safeguarding the health and welfare of women world wide, she says.
We learned last month from Ms. Germain that:
There was a time when the United States worked hard and effectively for the betterment of the lives of girls and women, and we invested generously in advancing their health and human rights especially in poor countries.
In the last seven years, however, we have abandoned our leadership role and moral responsibility with deadly consequences for girls and women worldwide.
|
This is not a failure of science, not a failure of imagination. It is rather due to politics and ideology that has blocked us, the United States, from investing in those basic health services that women need, so that we can raise new generations in a way that women will no longer be vulnerable to abuse and neglect.The new American President will have a fresh opportunity and profound responsibility to re-energize
U.S. leadership on women’s health and human rights, Ms. Germain pronounces. The Agenda she proposes specifies what the next U.S. Administration should do on Day One to signal the U.S.'s commitment to addressing women's issues.
- Protect the Human Rights of Women
- Invest in Reproductive Health
- Prioritize Prevention and Women in International HIV/AIDS Efforts
In June Ms. Germain focused on the last point referencing the failures of the PEPFAR program.
In Part 2 of “Women’s Health and Rights at a Crossroads – The Agenda for Our Next President” we look more carefully at the first two points. On human rights:
As long as the fundamental human rights of hundreds of millions of other girls and women are violated daily, countries will not end poverty or achieve justice, democracy, or peace. The next U.S. Administration needs to regain our role as a leader in human rights. What better way than standing strong for the human rights of half of the world’s population? |
Ms. Germain asserts that the new Administration can signal a sea change in policy by asking the Senate to ratify the
United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Our
country holds the disgraceful distinction of being one of only eight countries, including Somalia
and Iran, which have not ratified CEDAW. Ratification would send a strong signal to the world
on women’s rights. As important, it would show that the U.S. government fully respects and
supports treaties negotiated by the United Nations.
The second priority area for action by the new President is healthcare for women:
We must help guarantee women’s right to access basic health services. It is past time to ensure that reproductive health is the leading investment we make to meet the health needs of the world’s people—for when women are healthy, so also are their families. Globally, improving the health of women is also an urgent challenge. |
The steps Ms Germain outlines to take up this challenge are concrete:
- to restore funding to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
- to reverse the Global Gag Rule.
Ms. Germain brings to the table 39 years' experience promoting women's opportunities, health, and rights in developing countries, including 20 years with the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), a leading international advocate for women's sexual health and rights.
The "A New Agenda for Girls’ and Women’s Health and Rights" is available on IWHC's website.
 |
This page last updated July 27, 2008 7:39 .