[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 734 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 734
Recognizing 30 years since the International Conference on Population
and Development in Cairo, Egypt, and reaffirming the goals and ideals
of the International Conference on Population and Development Programme
of Action, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and
rights.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 13, 2024
Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Ms. Duckworth) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing 30 years since the International Conference on Population
and Development in Cairo, Egypt, and reaffirming the goals and ideals
of the International Conference on Population and Development Programme
of Action, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and
rights.
Whereas the United States played a central role in the creation of the United
Nations in 1945 following World War II to promote international
cooperation;
Whereas the United States encouraged the establishment of the United Nations
Population Fund (in this preamble referred to as ``UNFPA'') in 1969 and
continues to serve on the Executive Board of the UNFPA;
Whereas the International Conference on Population and Development (in this
preamble referred to as ``ICPD''), which was attended by officials from
the Executive Office of the President, Congress, and United States civil
society and private sector organizations, was convened by the UNFPA and
the Population Division of the United Nations Department for Economic
and Social Information and Policy Analysis in Cairo, Egypt, from
September 5 to September 13, 1994, for the purpose of addressing
critical issues regarding population, development, and human rights;
Whereas the resulting ICPD Programme of Action, to which the United States is a
signatory, asserts that the focus of development policy must be the
human rights and dignity of individuals and the improvement of
individual lives, measured by progress in addressing inequalities;
Whereas civil society played an indispensable role in shaping and executing the
ICPD Programme of Action and continues to do so today;
Whereas, since the adoption of the ICPD Programme of Action in 1994, significant
progress has been made towards universal access to sexual and
reproductive health and rights, including--
(1) a global increase in voluntary access to modern contraception by 25
percent;
(2) a decline in the number of deaths due to unsafe abortion from
69,000 in 1990 to 22,800 in 2014, due to liberalization of abortion laws
and increased access to safe, and effective methods of abortion across the
globe;
(3) a decrease in maternal deaths by 34 percent globally; and
(4) enhanced access to medical advances, such as the development of
antiretroviral therapies, which 29,800,000 people living with human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) accessed in 2022, contributing to significant
decreases in HIV acquisition and transmission;
Whereas gaps and challenges in achieving the goals of the ICPD Programme of
Action remain as progress has been unequal and fragmented and new
challenges have emerged, such as--
(1) the 218,000,000 women globally who have unmet contraceptive needs;
(2) the 287,000 women who die annually from complications during
pregnancy and childbirth globally, nearly all of which are preventable and
1 out of 4 of which could be prevented by access to contraception;
(3) the approximately 11 percent of maternal deaths that can be
attributed to unsafe abortion;
(4) the more than 1,000,000 sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that
are--
G (A) acquired globally every day because access to education about
STIs and STI testing is not universally available due to a lack of trained
personnel, comprehensive sexual education, laboratory capacity, and
medicines;
G (B) too often untreated, as an estimated 133,000,000 women of
reproductive age in low to middle income countries need but do not receive
treatment for 1 of the 4 major curable STIs-- chlamydia, gonorrhea,
syphilis, and trichomoniasis; and
G (C) exacerbated by the separation of STI services from other
services, such as primary health care or family planning;
(5) the reduction in maternal mortality that has stalled in 133
countries and increase in maternal mortality in 17 countries from 2016 to
2020;
(6) the individuals living with HIV or at risk of HIV transmission,
including the--
G (A) 1,700,000 individuals who became newly infected with HIV in
2022, 54 percent of which are among key populations, and their sexual
partners, whose risk of acquiring HIV is 22 times higher among men who have
sex with men, 22 times higher among people who inject drugs, 21 times
higher for sex workers, and 12 times higher for transgender individuals;
and
G (B) adolescent girls and young women (ages 15 to 24), who are at a
higher risk of becoming infected with HIV and who account for 4 out of 5
new infections among all adolescents (aged 15 to 19) in sub-Saharan Africa;
(7) the 35 percent of women globally who have experienced physical or
sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence, or sexual violence by
a non-partner at some point in their lives, a vulnerability that may
increase as a result of characteristics such as sexual orientation,
disability status, HIV status, and pregnancy, or contextual factors, such
as humanitarian crises and conflict; and
(8) the 48,000,000 women and girls of reproductive age who are in need
of humanitarian assistance;
Whereas the ICPD Programme of Action and other international human rights
standards recognize that access to evidence-based, comprehensive sexual
and reproductive health care, including abortion, is an essential human
right, and that ending gender-based violence and the prevention and
treatment of HIV are key priorities to advancing sexual and reproductive
health and rights for all people, and attaining the ICPD Programme of
Action milestones and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United
Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs;
Whereas the ICPD Programme of Action calls for the right of all people to have a
satisfying and safe sex life, the capability to reproduce, and the
freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so;
Whereas the ICPD Programme of Action calls for the right of all people to be
informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and
acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, free of coercion,
violence, misinformation, and discrimination;
Whereas the ICPD called on governments to commit, at the highest political
level, to achieving the goals and objectives of the Programme of Action
and to take a leading role in coordinating the implementation,
monitoring, and evaluation of follow-up actions;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly--
(1) endorsed the ICPD Programme of Action in 1995;
(2) affirmed that governments should commit themselves to the goals and
objectives of the Programme of Action; and
(3) called upon all governments to give the widest possible
dissemination of the Programme of Action and seek public support for the
goals, objectives, and actions of the Programme of Action;
Whereas 400 youth delegates from 60 countries, including the United States--
(1) met for the ICPD30 Global Youth Dialogue in Cotonou, Benin, on
April 4 to 5, 2024, to reaffirm the pivotal and active role young people
have played globally in promoting, protecting, and delivering the ICPD
Programme of Action and through the resulting Cotonou Youth Action Agenda;
and
(2) called on all United Nations Member States, duty bearers, and
stakeholders to implement, resource, and institutionalize global
commitments that provide youth-centered, accessible, safe, gender-
responsive, quality sexual and reproductive health services, and supplies
within universal health coverage programs, including menstrual health
management, the full range of modern contraceptives, comprehensive abortion
care services, HIV services, and self-managed care;
Whereas members of parliament from all regions of the world, with presence from
the House of Representatives, met in Oslo, Norway, on April 10 to 12,
2024, for the eighth International Parliamentarians' Conference on the
Implementation (in this preamble referred to as ``IPCI'') of the
International Conference on Population and Development and through the
resulting Oslo Statement of Commitment, members expressed deep concern
about the global backlash against the sexual and reproductive health and
rights agenda that has been observed in multiple countries, including
the lack of agency for women and girls, which deepens social
inequalities and undermines human rights, democracy, gender equality,
and the collective efforts to build more inclusive and resilient
societies;
Whereas, in the 2024 State of the World Population Report, UNFPA reviewed
progress in achieving the ICPD Programme of Action, indicating that
significant progress has been made, but entrenched inequalities deprive
millions of individuals from fundamental sexual and reproductive health
and rights;
Whereas the inability of the international community to reach the most
marginalized individuals globally is largely due to unwillingness to
confront the legacies of gender inequality, racial discrimination, and
misinformation that underlie health systems;
Whereas the United States Government, in its Statement at UN Commission on
Population and Development's 57th Annual Session on April 30, 2024,
affirmed that reproductive rights are central to an inclusive, thriving
society, and that seeking to achieve such rights unequivocally
transforms the lives of women and girls, in all of their diversity,
around the world, for the better; and
Whereas the Blueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice
calls on the United States Government to mark the 30th anniversary of
ICPD with a high level event that recommits the United States Government
to the ICPD Programme of Action and delivers sexual and reproductive
health and rights for all through rhetoric and action on programs,
policy, and funding: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) commends the notable progress made in achieving the
goals set in 1994 at the International Conference on Population
and Development (referred to in this resolution as the
``ICPD'') and the follow up and outcomes of subsequent review
conferences;
(2) recommits to the achievement of the goals of the ICPD;
(3) champions the right to bodily autonomy and self-
determination for all people;
(4) recognizes that sexual and reproductive health and
rights, including safe abortion, are human rights, and that
sexual and reproductive health and rights are a precondition
for the empowerment of women, gender equality, and the well-
being and prosperity of all people;
(5) commits to advocating for and providing comprehensive
and factual information and a full range of sexual and
reproductive health care services that are accessible,
affordable, acceptable, of good quality, and convenient to all
individuals;
(6) acknowledges that without a clear commitment to a human
rights-based approach to development, reproductive health, and
gender equality, meeting the goals of either the ICPD or the
Sustainable Development Goals will not be possible;
(7) acknowledges and condemns the recent backsliding that--
(A) has occurred domestically and the egregious
impact such backsliding has had globally, particularly
regarding abortion access and the rights of the
LGBTQIA+ community; and
(B) is contrary to evidence-based health practices
and established human rights norms and could set back
the progress made on reducing unsafe abortions,
reducing maternal mortality, and reducing stigma
against treatment for the human immunodeficiency virus
and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome;
(8) accepts the responsibility of the United States, as the
largest funder of global health, to uphold the goals of ICPD
and set a global example through United States funding and
policies, which affirmatively advance Federal development
commitments and the realization of human rights;
(9) supports the urgent need to scale up funding for
bilateral international family planning and reproductive health
programs and the United States contribution to United Nations
Population Fund, which have been flat funded for 14 years, and
to permanently end harmful policies like the global gag rule
and Helms Amendment, which undermine global access to
comprehensive health care information and services and the
ability to achieve the vision laid out in the ICPD Programme of
Action;
(10) opposes and condemns reproductive coercion in all
forms, consistent with the ICPD Programme of Action,
including--
(A) the use of incentives or disincentives to lower
or raise fertility;
(B) the use of incentives or targets for the uptake
of specific contraceptive methods;
(C) withholding of information on reproductive
health options; and
(D) forced abortion, forced sterilization, and
forced pregnancy; and
(11) calls on the Administration of President Joseph R.
Biden, Jr., to fully implement the National Strategy on Gender
Equity and Equality, including the strategic priority to
``Protect, Improve, and Expand Access to Health Care, including
Sexual and Reproductive Health Care''.
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