In 1994, governments, advocates, health organizations, women’s and youth activists gathered in Cairo for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). There, women’s reproductive health and rights took center stage in national and global development efforts.  This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ICPD and a renewed emphasis on reproductive health, women’s empowerment and equality will be discussed later this year in Nairobi as it pertains to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

At the recent High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Secretary General António Guterres  said that there needs to be a ratcheting up of empowerment and gender equality in order to reach the 17 sustainable development goals. And, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed said, ” A recent report found that no country is on track to fully achieve Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality by 2030.  And despite some important progress, we are far short of attaining the elusive “gender balance” goal in leadership established in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.

While gender equality has been a major topic of discussion of late in international circles especially at this year’s Women Delivers Conference there is still much work to do. The Nairobi Summit co-convened by Kenya, Denmark, and UNFPA. which will be held between November 12 – 14. The summit will wrap up an entire year of high-level meetings and workshops that have taken place around the world regarding women, reproductive health and gender equality. Additionally, it will piggy back off of the Programme of Action declaration that was created 25 years ago with principles designed to create a more sustainable development and equal rights for all people.

Learn more about the Nairobi Summit at www.nairobisummiticpd.org. Registration is open now.