10 Member States opposed the hijacking of the ICPD25 Summit to impose abortion and gender ideology in a historical statement, together with political representatives, religious leaders and civil society
The Summit has been held from November 12 to 14 in the capital of Kenya, on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo.
The Vice President of the Political Network for Values, Rodrigo Iván Cortés, participated in the Summit, where he declared that “there has been a historic Joint Declaration, in which 10 Member States have denounced that Nairobi negotiations are outside the framework of the United Nations. None of the procedures for reaching an international agreement have been respected and the discussions have taken place without the participation of many countries”.
The Summit has been financed by multimillionaire lobbies such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Open Society Foundation, who tried to impose an agenda that is not based on the Cairo agreements and that seeks to introduce, without the support of the countries, the so-called sexual and reproductive rights, which include abortion. This is a new cultural imperialism that is not motivated neither by the interests of development nor those of the population, ignoring their real needs.
The U.S. Special Representative for Global Women’s Health Issues, Valerie Huber, read the Statement submitted by the United States, Brazil, Belarus, Egypt, Haiti, Hungary, Libya, Poland, Senegal, Saint Lucia, and Huganda.
Huber stressed that developing countries “are still facing serious economic difficulties and an unfavorable international economic environment, and the number of people living in absolute poverty is still too high”. “Population growth predictions included in the ICPD Program of Action have not come to pass. Indeed, in most regions of the world today, fertility is below population replacement rates. As a result, family planning should focus both on the voluntary achievement of pregnancy as well as the prevention of unwanted pregnancy”.
“We do not support references in international documents to ambiguous terms and expressions, such as sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), which do not enjoy international consensus”, continued Mrs. Huber. “There is no international right to abortion; in fact, international law clearly states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security and that the family is the basic unit of society and as such must be strengthened”.
The Cairo Conference made it clear that “abortion in no case should be promoted as a method of family planning” and that “the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Programme of Action is the sovereign right of each country, consistent with national laws and development priorities, with full respect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of its people, and in conformity with universally recognized international human rights”.
More than half a hundred political representatives from Europe, America and Africa had joined their voice to that of the leaders of the main religious denominations in Kenya (Christians, Muslims and Hindus), who in the days prior to the Summit had denounced its Agenda as contrary to the moral values of their people, promoting abortion and attacking the rights of parents to educate their children. Civil society has joined this demand by demonstrating at the entrance of the Summit throughout the two days sessions.
The Vatican delegation declined to participate in the controversial Summit.
