This article is part of a series created by Friends of UNFPA in the lead-up to Rio+20.
Children in Leyte, the Philippines, where large families are still the norm. (Photo by Glen McBethlaw.)
Days from now, some 130 heads of state and tens of thousands of activists from around the world will gather in Rio de Janeiro for the “Rio + 20” Earth Summit. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently laid out his vision for the conference in a New York Times article entitled “The Future We Want.”
Ki-moon expressed hope that the meeting will inspire new thinking, focus on people, and issue a “clarion call” for smarter resource use. He gave a nod to the importance of women, who “hold up half the sky,” and of young people, “the very face of our future.”
Still, one crucial ingredient went without mention: sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The inclusion of SRHR and access to family planning completes the jigsaw puzzle of a just and sustainable world.
To understand why, consider the lives of the women who sell dried fish in my province — Leyte, in the Philippines. The women ... Read more
