Reflections on
my generation
THIS IS A NEW GENERATION'S VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF THE ICPD
by Esenam Amuzu
ESENAM AMUZU
Gender expert, ICPD30+ Delegate, Ghanian SRHR advocate, FPNN Community Reporter
I dedicate this to my generation, whose work and efforts continue to spur us on.
I hope this serves as both a reminder and a source of motivation for all the progress we made over the past three decades. The next one, two, and three decades hold the promise of bigger and greater wins for us all.
A Personal Journey & Reflection
Esenam is a 30-year-old youth and gender advocate from Ghana. Born in November 1994, the ICPD holds a personal interest to her as a passionate SRH and FP advocate.
Esenam celebrates the 30-year journey of the ICPD PoA and all the life's it has impacted. Including herself.
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Using herself as a benchmark, it will be easy to say the ICPD has achieved all that it set out to do. But that is far from true as many adolescent girls and young women continue to have unmet need for family planning. When young people do not have access to reproductive health and information. When gender-based violence continues to wreck the life's of many women globally.
Having participated in this years ICPD @ 30 youth summit, Esenam believes the journey is far from over, she seeks to celebrate the trailblazers who worked hard and fought to see today’s progress. But the mantle now falls on today’s generation. To continue the progress and keep the fight on. For today’s generation and the generation unborn. For today’s adolescent girl and boy, to live in a world free and fair. To enjoy fully their sexual and reproductive health rights. To dream and see those dreams come true.
THREE DECADES LATER: A Promise to My Generation
By Esenam Amuzu
Hello, my name is Esenam, I was born in November 1994, I live in Accra Ghana, but this is not about me. It’s about a historic agenda that will impact and change the trajectory of my life and that of many girls and women, let me tell you why and how.
Cairo, 1994
The month was September; the year was 1994 and the location was Cairo Egypt. It was the maiden ever International Conference on Population and Development. a global revolution had just started when 179 world leaders met, adopting a Plan of Action that would set the ball rolling giving more attention to population and development.
This conference was the beginning of our future, it was the game changer that marked a significant shift in how the world addressed population, development, and human rights. The PoA called for women’s reproductive health and rights to take centre stage in national and global development efforts and called for all people to have access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including voluntary family planning, and safe pregnancy and childbirth services. It recognized that reproductive health, gender equality, and women’s empowerment are intertwined and are necessary for the advancement of society. These were ambitious goals, but they reflected a new commitment to putting people at the centre of development.
A new paradigm
30 years on, I am a reproductive health advocate and gender champion from Ghana. Over the last decade, I have volunteered and worked to forge meaningful partnerships advocating for young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights at the community, national, and international levels. Can I be a benchmark for the achievement of the ICPD programme of Action, certainly YES, and for my journey, I am thankful for the work and effort that preceded me. These goals reflect in the empowered life and voice that I have.
The ICPD has been a game changer.
Today, we celebrate the fact that many more countries have passed laws and invested in services to safeguard bodily autonomy and enable women and girls to enjoy equal opportunities to thrive. More measures are in place than ever before to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. My generation has benefitted and is living proof of what the ICPD stood for and what it has achieved.
Challenges
Yet, there is still much work to do. Today, millions of women and girls in all their diversities continue to be denied their fundamental human rights. Only 56 percent of women are able to make their own decisions over their sexual and reproductive health and rights. One in three women and girls globally experiences gender-based violence during her lifetime.
We see rollbacks in legislation, policies, and financing.
The Work is far from over
In February 2024 when I participated in the ICPD@30 global youth dialogue, it was not just about a gathering. It was for me a matter of history repeating itself 30 years ago. There I saw myself in the next 10, 20, or 30 years.I saw a new generation's vision for the future, with hope for the future of women, girls and everyone… to leave no one behind.
The possibilities of what happens with the right investment in SRH and FP can be seen in today's world, BUT the work is far from over. What is the call for the next 10, 20, and 30 years to come? . Who leads? Who takes charge?
Today's young people have shown their readiness, and we have proven our readiness.
We tell the story of possibilities. To make the world a better, safer, and fairer place for today's generation and the generation yet unborn.
This is a new generations vision for the ICPD.
THE BATON PASSES ON TO CONTINUE FULFILLING THE PROMISE OF CAIRO
