Early in July Members of the European Parliament’s Development Committee were called to vote on an opinion on the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM). The vote passed with a three-quarter majority.

The text was authored by a British Member of the European Parliement (MEP) Michael Cashman who stated that “Today’s vote is an affirmation of where the parliament stands and its support for a really progressive set of policies”.

1. Insists on the fact that universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is a fundamental human right.
2. Urges the European Commission to maintain SRHR in the development priorities of the EU;
3. Calls for a specific line on SRHR under the Development Cooperation Instrument thematic lines, as well as sufficient funding for the broad SRHR agenda in all appropriate instruments;
4. Urges the EU to ensure that population dynamics and inclusive and sustainable development linkages, and SRHRs are a priority in shaping the post-2015 global development framework;
5. Calls on the Member States to ensure the integration of the ICPD+20, Beijing+20 and Rio+20 processes within the post-2015 framework
6. Calls on the EU and its Member States to keep their commitments to the full and effective implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the outcomes of their review conferences;

This opinion will be voted in the FEMM committee in September and in the plenary in October.

To download the text of the opinion click here.
Read the article “Michael Cashman: Take a ‘blitzkrieg’ approach to SRHR” here.

Source: EuroNGOs