Item 17: Progress reports

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, as well as the Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Progress reports are an important part of oversight and evaluation. We ask that they be linked to the results chain of the Programme Budget, and that contribution towards the deliverables of WHO be made explicit in the reports.

Regarding Item 17. C(Palliative care)

We commend the progress made by both MS and the Secretariat in developing palliative care.

We look forward to the development of new tools focusing on palliative care for children and monitoring quality of care as well as the results of WHO’s cooperation with UNODC in the development of a model law related to the availability and accessibility of controlled medicines.

Regarding Item 17. D  (sustainable actions across sectors to improve health and health equity.

We welcome the efforts taken to strengthen WHO’s capacities to give guidance and technical assistance in relation to sustainable actions across sectors to improve health and health equity, through continued mainstreaming efforts.

We call for continued support to this activity by WHO leadership.

And we seek clarity on when the casebook to inform country actions will be published?

Regarding Item 17. E (Reproductive health)

We welcome progress made in reproductive health outcomes, but remain concerned about the uneven progress and inequalities, both within and between countries. One example of this is that 12 % of married or in-union women worldwide are estimated to have an unmet need for contraception, but  the least t developed countries it’s almost the double, 22%. And these numbers say nothing about women who are not in a union, nor the high need for safe abortion services and post-abortion family planning.

We note that 35% of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. This is unacceptable.  Urgent action is needed and we look forward to/welcome to the adoption of the Global Action Plan on violence against women and girls, and against children.

The DG’s address as well as the recent Women Deliver Conference in Copenhagen reminds us of the energy unleashed when women are freed from constraints of violence, discrimination and unintended pregnancy.

We underline that sexual and reproductive health and rights are central to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. Legal systems must support human rights of every person, and health care systems must ensure and facilitate the right to make informed choices about all aspects of health and well-being.

Thank you