– Shamala Chandrasekaran, Programme Manager, ARROW
The Summit of the Future was hosted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) from the 22nd to 23rd September 2024 in the United Nations (UN) Headquarters New York.
On 22nd September, the Summit adopted the Pact for the Future, an inter-governmentally negotiated and agreed outcome document on commitments towards strengthened multilateralism and global governance to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Annexed to the Pact for the Future are the Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations.
The Summit of the Future, also referred to as the “once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate global action” is the UN Secretary-General’s response to the call from Member States for recommendations on ways to better respond to current and future challenges. These challenges concern the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, the risks and opportunities of technological advances, and stagnation on the SDGs[1]. The request was captured in the 75/1. Declaration on the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nation adopted by the UN General Assembly at the 75th Anniversary of the UN in 2020.
A year later, in September 2021, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres in his report titled, Our Common Agenda, proposed the Summit of the Future (SoTF) to strengthen multilateralism and global governance for accelerating the implementation of existing commitments especially the 2030 Agenda.
The Common Agenda is further substantiated by eleven Policy Briefs comprising detailed proposals to accelerate the progress of the SDGs and to address future challenges.[2]
Pact for the Future
Spearheaded by Co-facilitators, the Permanent Representatives of Germany and Namibia to the UN, the zero draft of the Pact for the Future was released in January 2024.
The Pact for the Future encompasses a chapeau and five chapters on sustainable development and financing for development; international peace and security; science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation; youth and future generations; and transforming global governance.
The Pact also includes two annexes which are the Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations.
Pact for the Future – Zero draft
When released back in January 2024, the zero draft had no mentions of sexual and reproductive health and rights. It also had a very weak text around gender equality.
The text failed to recognise the importance of gender responsive approach, especially in the context of ongoing challenges, including but not limited to climate change, emergency situations such as pandemic and conflicts and how these crises have visibly deepened the multidimensional inequalities, reinforced the longstanding gender inequality and exacerbated the scale and severity of the impact for women and young people around the globe especially in the Global South.
Pact for the Future and ARROW
The Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) strongly believes that that the Pact for the Future must speak the language of equality, intersectionality, human rights and gender responsiveness.
ARROW envisions the outcome document to be a progressive outcome document that speaks to the challenges and aspirations of women and young people in all their diversities from Asia and the Pacific region.
We want the Pact to truly reiterate the need to advance gender equality and health including sexual and reproductive health and rights, given the set back by the impact of COVID-19, the climate crises, and various global conflicts.
It is against this background that we have consistently engaged throughout the various consultative processes and spaces, where we made several oral interventions urging the Member States to ensure commitments to gender equality and SRHR in the Pact.
Then came the UN Civil Society Conference
In May 2024, at the UN Civil Society Conference held in Nairobi, ARROW delivered a powerful statement urging Member States to include action points on gender equality and SRHR in the Pact.
This was delivered during the Interactive Dialogue on the five Chapters of the Pact for the Future, Declaration on Future Generations, Global Digital Compact, and cross-cutting issues. The statement was the ONLY intervention on SRHR during the Interactive Dialogue of the Conference.
Let’s reiterate that–it was the only intervention on SRHR.
The Conference gathered more than 2000 individuals from civil society, Co-facilitators of the Pact, government representatives, the UN, young people, stakeholders and academia. Delivered by Sai Jyothirmai Racherla, our Deputy Executive Director, the statement called for a more inclusive Pact to achieve gender equality and SRHR for all.
Sai stressed, “The opportunity is now, and with the Pact for the Future. We call for your leadership to include, within the Pact, action-oriented gender equality and SRHR commitments, political leadership, and investments.”
ARROW also played an active role as a member of the Programme Sub-Committee and Civil Society Sessions Sub-Committee to influence the convening positively.
This statement contributed to put SRHR back into the language of the Pact for the Future along with actions of other civil society organisations that advocated relentlessly for SRHR language in the Pact.
Revision One of the Pact for the Future
A week after the Conference, the first revision (Rev.1) of the Pact for the Future was released. The Pact mentioned, under Action 6: We will promote gender equality and empower and protect all women and girls as essential prerequisites to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
This is followed by, “Sustained and inclusive socio-economic development can only be realized when all women, adolescents and girls have their full human rights respected, protected and fulfilled, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights.”
The language on SRHR stayed in the document up to the fifth revision and the final version that was adopted on 22nd September 2024 during the Summit of the Future. It is definitely a win.
And not to miss–
ACTION 8. We will achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls as a crucial contribution to progress across all the Sustainable Development Goals and targets.
- We recognize that the achievement of full human potential and sustainable development is not possible if women and girls are denied full human rights and opportunities. Sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth and sustainable development can only be realized when all women, adolescent girls and girls have their full human rights respected, protected and fulfilled. We decide to:
(f) Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.
ACTION 34. We will invest in the social and economic development of children and young people so that they can reach their full potential.
- We stress the importance of investing in, and ensuring equitable access to, essential services for all children and young people, especially health, education and social protection, to advance their social and economic development. To fulfil their full potential and secure decent, productive work and quality employment, young people must have access to safe, inclusive, equitable and quality education opportunities, including in emergencies, throughout their lives that equip them with the knowledge, skills and capabilities they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world. We decide to:
(b) Accelerate efforts to achieve universal health coverage to ensure that all young people enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including immunizations and vaccinations and sexual and reproductive health, and address all the challenges faced by developing countries in achieving these goals.
Cliché but this is just the beginning
The journey has just begun. Next on our horizon in ensuring the commitments made in the Pact is implemented in the best interest of women, girls and young people in all their diversities.
