Women's bodies have become political "battlegrounds", putting at risk 30 years of progress on sexual and reproductive health for women and girls, the UN warned Wednesday.
Though maternal mortality rates and unwanted pregnancy rates have been steadily falling, progress is now slowing or even flatlining on key measures, said the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN's sexual and reproductive health agency.
Thirty years ago, at a conference in Cairo, 179 countries agreed to put reproductive health at the heart of sustainable development, which "paved the way for decades of progress," said UNFPA chief Natalia — who herself attended the conference.
Since then, the rate of unintended pregnancies has fallen by almost 20 per cent worldwide and the number of maternal deaths decreased by 34 per cent between 2000 and 2020, UNFPA said in its flagship annual State of World Population report, which has been published yearly since 1978.
The number of women using contraceptives has doubled, and at least 162 countries have passed laws against domestic violence.
However, "the rights of women, girls and gender-diverse people are the subject of increasing pushback," Kanem told a press conference.
