Members of the New Zealand Parliamentarians’ Group on Population and Development (NZPPD) hosted a breakfast meeting on 27 November with Members of Parliament from Fiji, Tonga, Niue, New Caledonia and the Cook Islands who were visiting New Zealand for the Pacific Parliamentary Forum (PPF). Despite the PPF coinciding with recess, several NZPPD members flew to Wellington for the opportunity to meet with their Pacific colleagues. 

The topic for discussion was on parliamentarians’ role in addressing the unfinished business of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) – a conference often described as ‘ground breaking’ as it put women’s reproductive health and rights in the centre of national and global development efforts for the first time.

Participants shared country-specific examples of programmes addressing the ICPD, with the purpose of learning from each other. Several MPs recognised that high rates of gender-based violence (GBV) compromises women’s rights including women’s ability to realise their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Ms Priyanca Radhakrishnan MP  who led the meeting in the capacity of NZPPD Chair responded to requests for an Open Hearing on GBV, saying that she would like to see NZPPD host another hearing in the future with strong Pacific participation. 

Minister Poto Williams, who delivered New Zealand’s commitment at the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 in November, highlighted the global support for sexual and reproductive health and rights as shown in the 1,200 concrete commitments and approximately US$ 9 billion that were pledged for sexual and reproductive health and gender equality programmes during the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25.

For more information on the Nairobi Summit, follow this link.