Rio+20 Conference
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20-22 June 2012
Post Rio+20 debate in the news
Rio+20 Earth Summit results in nonbinding declaration with moderate goals
The global environment summit concluding Friday, which drew nearly 100 world leaders and more than 45,000 other people to Rio de Janiero and cost tens of millions of dollars, may produce one lasting legacy: Convincing people it’s not worth holding global summits.
World Health Organization: Rio+20 declares health key to sustainable development
22 JUNE 2012 - The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) has adopted a series of measures that have the potential to contribute to a more equitable, cleaner, greener, and more prosperous world – and recognizes the important linkages between health and development. "The Future We Want" conference outcome document, agreed upon by member states attending the 20-22 June conference, highlights the fact that better health is a “precondition for, an outcome of, and an indicator of sustainable development”.
The document states: “We are convinced that action on the social and environmental determinants of health, both for the poor and the vulnerable and the entire population, is important to create inclusive, equitable, economically productive and healthy societies. We call for the full realization of the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”.
IPPF condemns Rio's alarming disregard for reproductive rights
RIO DE JANEIRO – There were few unanimous voices emerging from the Rio+20 summit on “Sustainable Development”. Sadly, one that was unanimous was that of the Reproductive Rights (RR) community: united in its disappointment and outright anger that once again RR had been sidelined and alluded to in only the most cursory fashion in the outcome document. IPPF (the world’s largest Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights NGO) has long maintained (in common with other groups) that the capacity for women to make free and open choices about whether, when and how often they have children is absolutely central to any consideration of sustainability.
The issue of reproductive rights is one which Rio+20’s outcome document barely acknowledges. It offers some faint rays of hope: it re-affirms various existing agreements in the International Conference on Population and Development’s (ICPD) programme of action (PoA); its language with regard to reproductive health and women’s empowerment is generally positive; and with regard to the full and effective implementation of the ICPD PoAs, it includes “the promotion and protection of all human rights in this context”.
Women Deliver: Rio+20 Conference Concludes Without Significant Mention of Reproductive Health and Rights
New York, New York, 22 June 2012 – The “Future We Want” outcome document from this week’s United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20, lacks meaningful inclusion of reproductive health and rights. While the document includes promising language on women’s empowerment and family planning, leaders missed a historic opportunity to affirm the central role of women and their reproductive health and rights in global sustainable development goals.
EWEC news on Rio+20
Recent articles, blog posts and news items centered on Rion+20 and health are published on Every Woman, Every Child website