Authorities Reaffirm the Relevance of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, a Regional Road Map for Achieving More Inclusive, Productive and Sustainable[...]

• Population and development

Representatives of Latin American and Caribbean countries, of regional and international organizations, academia and civil society inaugurated the Fifth Regional Conference on Population and Development today in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

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The Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development is more relevant than ever and is a critical regional road map for achieving more inclusive, productive and sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean, authorities and country delegates from the region reaffirmed today at the inauguration of the Fifth Session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development, which is taking place through Thursday, July 4 at the Convention Center in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

At the opening session of this event - which has brought together more than 560 people, including representatives of the region's countries, United Nations agencies, and of regional, multilateral and civil society organizations - participants pointed up the achievements of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development and addressed the challenges for its implementation, 30 years after the adoption of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). In addition, they analyzed progress and challenges in relation to ensuring that persons with disabilities can fully exercise their rights - which is one of the meeting's central themes.

The Conference was inaugurated by Luis Gilberto Murillo Urrutia, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia; Javier Medina Vásquez, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), speaking on behalf of the organization's Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs; Susana Sottoli, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Noemí Espinoza, Ambassador-at-large of Honduras for Women's Affairs and Chair of the 57th session of the Commission on Population and Development of the United Nations; and Sergio Cusicanqui, Minister of Development Planning of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (via video).

"Colombia promotes peace in all its expressions. This peace does not mean an absence of conflict, but does entail gender equality and universal access to health, including sexual and reproductive rights. It means old age with dignity and guaranteeing the rights of populations that traditionally have been excluded," Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo affirmed.

He added that "the future is everyone's task, that is why I celebrate the fact that civil society, peoples, and communities are present here. Let's take advantage of this space to create joint solutions, let's reach agreements. Because we face many threats to the rights agenda and we have to coordinate and find at least the five most important shared points that we must fight for."

In his opening remarks, ECLAC's Deputy Executive Secretary, Javier Medina, emphasized that 11 years after its adoption, the Montevideo Consensus keeps encouraging us to strengthen and deepen the human rights approach with a gender, intercultural and intersectional perspective in the drafting and implementation of public policies and programs aimed at improving the population's well-being.

"In light of the results achieved and the challenges we face, it is necessary to focus efforts on furthering the progress already made, while also enhancing the strengths that have made the Montevideo Consensus such a powerful instrument, and made our Regional Conference a space that inspires us to defend the value of diversity," he stated.

Furthermore, he urged countries "to continue building a dream in Latin America and the Caribbean, the dream of more sustainable development, forged on the basis of dialogue, the result of regional cooperation and a shared vision of the future, in which prosperity for all, democracy, the guarantee of human rights, and care for our children go hand in hand."

Meanwhile, UNFPA's Regional Director, Susana Sottoli, said that the evidence reveals the region's progress in the last 30 years in terms of maternal health, family planning and the transformation of discriminatory gender norms. However, the data also shows that millions of people still face obstacles to fully exercising their rights.

"Thirty years since the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo, and 11 years since the Montevideo Consensus, we find ourselves at a critical turning point. We must accelerate efforts if we want the promise of Cairo to become a reality for millions of girls, adolescents and women in our region," she said.

Ambassador Noemí Espinoza urged for keeping in mind what the Montevideo Consensus states: that poverty in all its manifestations represents in itself a denial of rights and that its eradication is a moral imperative for Latin America and the Caribbean that our governments must address.

Finally, in a video message, Bolivian Minister Sergio Cusicanqui highlighted the region's efforts to continue furthering implementation of the Montevideo Consensus, although he acknowledged that much remains to be done, particularly in relation to gender equality, sexual and reproductive health, and the rights of groups in situations of greater vulnerability.

After the inauguration, ECLAC presented the document Population, Development and Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, which constitutes the second regional report on the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development and represents the region's contribution to the five-year global cycle for the review and appraisal of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.

The document reflects the region's progress and achievements on implementation of the Montevideo Consensus from 2018 to 2023 and focuses on the major pending challenges on the population and development agenda, which contribute to Latin America and the Caribbean continuing to be one of the most unequal regions in the world.

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