Cross-party call for investment in sexual and reproductive health in the Pacific

Wellington, Monday 11 July 2016: Pacific governments are being called on to prioritise sexual and reproductive health (SRH) as they plan how they will implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The call has come from the New Zealand Parliamentarians’ Group on Population and Development (NZPPD) today – World Population Day.

The 2016 World Population Day theme - Investing in Teenage Girls – is particularly appropriate for the Pacific which has some of the highest unmet need for contraception in the world, as well as some of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the world.

In the Marshall Islands teenage pregnancies are the highest in the region with 85 in every 1,000 teenage women becoming pregnant (24 per 1,000 in New Zealand and 14 per 1,000 in Australia). Teenage pregnancies are also high in Nauru, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands (between 60-80 per 1,000).

SDG target 5.6 commits to universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. By investing in SRH-services, women are supported to decide if they want children and if so, how many children they would like, and when to have them. When girls and women have access to SRH-services they stay in school longer, earn a better income and report better health outcomes for themselves and for their children.

“We know that access to modern family planning methods has improved in many Pacific countries but there is still much more that can be done to make sure that young Pacific women are fully able to realise their sexual and reproductive health and rights”, says Barbara Kuriger (MP), NZPPD Chair.

To ensure that Pacific girls and women can access their right to SRH, NZPPD urges Pacific governments to follow through on their commitments to adopt the SDGs and to take concrete steps to prioritise SRHR in their national implementation plans.

“With national implementations of the SDGs, Pacific leaders have a real opportunity to support Pacific girls and women to access their right to SRH. While this requires a careful consideration of how funds are being prioritised, we know that investing in SRH is a cost-effective approach to development with both immediate and long term benefits”, Mrs. Kuriger says.

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