Holy See: ‘Birth control is not the key to sustainable development’

By Lisa Zengarini

Nearly thirty years have passed since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt, which transformed the global approach to population and development issues and set a bold agenda for sustainable development.

The Cairo Program of Action

The conference was held in the Egyptian capital from September 5 to 13, 1994, bringing together some 20,000 delegates and resulted in the adoption of a historic Program of Action (PoA), which affirmed that inclusive sustainable development t is not possible without prioritizing human rights and addressing the issue of human rights. inequalities as well as the needs of women and men.

Its ambitious goals included eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and women's empowerment, reducing child mortality and improvement of maternal health.

The UN 2030 Agenda

Since then, significant development progress has been made, including the adoption in 2015 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aimed at eradicating poverty, achieving gender equality and ensuring healthy health. and the well-being of all. The 17 global goals, known as the 2030 Agenda, call for collective effort across a wide range of areas – including environmental action, public health, human rights, education and more – to pave the way for a new era of development in the world.

Poverty eradication faces new challenges

However, thirty years later, growing inequality, protracted crises and the retreat from multilateralism threaten the legacy of this historic achievement, and progress risks stagnating or even reversing.

“It is obvious that many challenges persist, particularly in the pursuit of the eradication of poverty,” noted Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, on Wednesday.

Birth control and abortion do not help stem poverty

Speaking at an event in New York to mark the anniversary, the Vatican Observer lamented that over the past three decades, implementation of the ICPD Program of Action has become “more narrower”, with a “consequent shift” to resolve development problems.

Archbishop Caccia spoke specifically of the importance given by United Nations agencies to birth control policies, including abortion, as a means of stemming poverty and promoting development, a controversial issue since the Cairo Conference.

“This is not just a misunderstanding of the PoA, but also of development at large,” he said. “It also leads to the erosion of respect for the sanctity of human life and the inalienable dignity of the human person. »

Population control is not the key to sustainable development

In conclusion, Bishop Caccia once again rejected “the idea that population control is the key to sustainable development.” Instead, he said “it is essential to ensure that all men, women and children have the opportunity to realize their full potential.”

The Holy See has engaged extensively in United Nations negotiations on issues concerning sexual and reproductive health rights as they have emerged and evolved into a dynamic global agenda over the past three decades and has stated that suggesting that reproductive health includes a right to abortion explicitly violates the right to abortion. language of the ICPD and challenges moral and legal norms.