HIV/AIDS remains the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age and young adolescents. This session will give young people a platform to identify challenges they have faced and solutions that work for them to address the epidemic. First, young panelists of diverse backgrounds will name the specific challenges they encounter in accessing integrated HIV and SRHR services and information. Second, decision-makers and key stakeholders will reflect on the barriers and solutions put forward. This session will be convened by AfriYAN.

Political initiatives that entirely oppose SRHR at the normative and programmatic level have recently increased in their resolve despite 25 years of progress on the ICPD. This session considers the design and plot of thefar-right policy agend onn SRHR, based on the value system of those who advocate viewpoints that restrict rights and choices for all. The session will contextualize the phenomenon in the wider anti-gender movement and uncover the proliferation, tentacles and tactics of opposition movements against SRHR worldwide. It provides a platform for progressive actors to consider solutions that can respond to and counter ideologies that seek to inhibit ICPD and undermine progress towards the SDGs.This session is convened by African Parliamentary Forum on P&D; EPF; South Africa Development Community Parliamentary Forum.

Twenty-five years on, the reality of the ICPD Programme of Action is that its agenda has too often taken a global focus at the expense of local-level progress. The aim of this session is to bring together an inter-generational group of leaders and change-makers to exchange best practices, policy objectives and strategies that inspire change at the local level, and to apply these lessons to better implement the ICPD Programme of Action at the local level. This concurrent session will move ICPD25 from global to local by empowering young people to be the drivers of change in their own communities and have their sexual and reproductive health and rights fulfilled. This event will be convened by Rutgers, HIVOS, Choice of Youth and Sexuality and Dance4Life.

In fragile settings, where existing infrastructures are strained and there is a breakdown of social support, access to SRHR and mental health often is deprioritized. This session will take an interactive approach to equip participants with the tools and frameworks to improve access to SRHR and mental health care in such environments, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Participants will learn from select case studies drawn from these areas, followed by a collaborative exercise to develop concrete action plans, recommendations and strategies to address the greatest challenges in their own communities. Organizers will compile the results of the session into a practical handbook of winning strategies for implementation and advocacy for mental health and SRHR in fragile settings.This event will be convened by Postpartum Support Network Africa, Ghent University, Medicins Sans Frontieres Belgium and the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights, Philippines.

After more than eight years of conflict and crisis in Syria, the response in Jordan has moved from an acute phase to a more protracted response approach. Though extremely challenging, this situation also has presented a special window of opportunity for Jordan to responds to and prevent gender-based violence (GBV) among Syrians, as well as women and girls in the host community Jordan’s experience demonstrates that initial emergency interventions open up opportunities to develop of longer-term policies and created a more robust national system on prevention and response to GBV. This session will showcasing lessons learned that attendees can apply in their home communities as well as the contexts in which they serve. This session is convened by the Institute for Family Health/King Hussein Foundation; Jordan River Foundation; Royal Health Awareness Society

In many Arab States in the MENA region, youth-friendly health services have been provided for several years, operated thanks to partnership between the organizations and youth. This concurrent session will demonstrate a successful example of advocating for youth-friendly health services, drawing on the experience of The Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) and Y-PEER Network. The session will showcase the importance of peer education within mobile clinics as well as university health centers, both of which improve accessibility to sexual and reproductive health and rights and help mitigate the negative norms and factors that impede young people’s access to SRHR. The session will also engage audience participants in a lively discussion to highlight the challenges and opportunities related to applying this model to other contexts. This session is convened by Palestinian Medical Relief Society; Y-PEER - Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Syria.

The recent release of the World Health Organization’s consolidated guidelines on self-care interventions for health on sexual and reproductive health and rights was a pivotal moment for the SRHR community. This interactive session will address why self-care interventions for SRHR matter to individuals and countries, and what we can do together to empower people, cultivate strong political and financial will, and build an effective and accountable health system for self-care. Participants will also discuss the challenges and opportunities for self-care to take hold as an integral component of health systems and as a critical pathway to achieving universal health coverage, which can move the needle on lifting the next generation out of poverty. This session will be convened by Population Services International, the International Youth Alliance for FP (IYAFP) and the White Ribbon Alliance.

As the single most important global social institution to provide comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), schools play a vital role in enabling sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. Education is a catalyst for change, particularly for girls; but if education is to be truly transformative, it has to be of good quality, challenge negative gender norms and stereotypes, empower all people, and provide children and youth access to CSE. This session will highlight relevant experiences with CSE, gender-transformative education and pedagogical methods that support girls’ empowerment. This session is convened by Oxfam IBIS; UNGEI - UNs Girls Education Initiative; Kenya Ministry of Education.

Twenty-five years after the adoption of the the landmark ICPD Programme of Action, teenage girls in Africa still face myriad reproductive health challenges, despite policies and programmes already in place to advance SRHR. This session aims to give African teenage girls an international platform to share their stories and urge the global community to act. Through poetry, skits, the spoken word and a panel discussion, the session will showcase the progress these girls have seen and made, the constraints they still face in their daily lives and the solutions they have identified for themselves and their communities. The event is convened by FEMNET and member organizations.

Obstetric fistula, one of the most serious and tragic childbirth injuries, is a major public health issue worldwide — especially in developing countries. Nigeria in particular accounts for more than half the prevalence and incidence of throughout Africa, and unmet need for treatment could be as high as 98%. Ending fistula in Nigeria is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), improving maternal and newborn health and ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights as part of universal health coverage.This session aims to place obstetric fistula as a priority discussion point towards achieving the SDGs and ICPD Programme of Action, and will also make a case for renewed investments in prevention, treatment and reintegration of fistula survivors. This session will be convened by the Center for Population and Reproductive Health; the International Society of Media in Public Health; and Fistula Foundation Nigeria.