In order to achieve sustainable development, women must be given the information and means to control their sexual and reproductive lives in order to actively participate in public life. Alexandra Garita, the senior programme officer of International Women’s Health Coalition speaks at press conference at Rio+20 conference in Rio on 14th June. Read the transcript of Alexandria Garita’s Speech Below:

“Women make up half of the world’s population and most of the world’s poor. In order to achieve sustainable development, women must be given the information and means to control their sexual and reproductive lives in order to actively participate in public life. Twenty years ago, women’s rights to control their fertility and access vital reproductive health care were agreed by the international community. Today, we are facing backlash by certain governments that jeopardize women’s autonomy, our bodily integrity, and our human rights. This is unacceptable. If we are speaking about The Future that We Want, we also need to make sure that the 1.8 billion adolescents and young men and women alive today, who are making choices about their sexuality and reproduction, are given the voice, health services, and rights in order to access employment opportunities. We call on governments to protect the commitments agreed to for the past twenty years to enable women to exercise freely and without discrimination, violence or coercion, their rights to access sexual and reproductive health services, and their right to control all matters related to their sexuality. Without women who are healthy and able to participate in public life, there can be no sustainable development.”

To view Alexandria Garita’s video footage click HERE.