Every day, millions of women and couples make decisions on whether to use a contraceptive method to delay, space or avoid pregnancy. Today, more than 300 million women in developing countries are using contraception, but more than 232 million women who want to plan their families are not using an effective method of contraception. This session will discuss high-impact actions that policymakers can take to accelerate action to end unmet need for family planning. It will highlight commitments, innovations and approaches countries are taking to expand access to reproductive health services, especially family planning, as part of achieving universal health coverage. Countries will be invited to discuss lessons learned, and to share ideas on how the global community can, together, drive progress towards expanding access to rights-based family planning in support of attaining universal health coverage.

Today’s young leaders have a significant role to play in implementing the ICPD programme of action, especially in the context of following up on commitments made at ICPD25. This concurrent session is designed as a participatory workshop to equip young people with experiences and tools – including creative means - to translate the SDGs and ICPD PoA into concrete actions, within their own communities and beyond.

As religion is an essential part of the sociocultural fabric of many communities, religious leaders use their social capital in support of family planning and healthy youth sexuality. In this session, religious leaders from different faiths, ages and genders in Kenya will share how they help shape norms on family planning and young people’s reproductive health in their communities. The religious leaders will showcase lessons learned on promoting healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies through spaces and mediums of their respective faiths at the local level in Kenya. The session is convened by National Independent Churches of Africa, West Pokot Gospel Music Artists and Muslim Intervention for Health Education, and moderated by Faith to Action Network.

What role have sub-national and regional governments played in advancing the ICPD Programme of Action? Understanding and optimizing the relationship between global agendas and national/regional stakeholders is paramount to realizing the full implementation of the ICPD PoA. This concurrent session will offer a forum for sub-national and regional governments to exchange experiences and discuss opportunities to deliver on the ICPD promise of zero unmet need for contraception, zero preventable maternal deaths, and zero gender-based violence and harmful practices. Expect participants to make political and financial commitments that reinforce the importance of carrying out the ICPD Programme of Action at sub-national and regional levels.

Despite significant progress made since 1994 on maternal health, some 295,000 women still die annually due to pregnancy-related complications. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of women also suffer severe and chronic complications from obstetric fistula. Most of these deaths and disabilities occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and are linked to socioeconomic inequality and women’s disempowerment. What will it take for countries to eliminate preventable maternal and neonatal deaths? This session will highlight the significant achievements that select countries have made to achieve maternal health and universal health coverage, leveraging the platform of the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 to facilitate the exchange of lessons learned and best practices between countries. This concurrent session will also take stock of the gaps in access to maternal health care, and offer an opportunity for stakeholders to recommit to the promise made to women and newborns in Cairo 25 years ago.

The private sector is crucial to strengthen women’s health and gender equality and advance sustainable social and economic development. This session will shed light on the business case for investing in women’s health and gender equality in the workplace - for the benefit of women, businesses and society. We are joined by exciting players from the private sector and civil society organisations who will share their experiences and existing opportunities to secure women’s economic empowerment and health, including their sexual and reproductive health and rights, in the workplace. Join us and learn more about current best practice to strengthen female labour force participation, gender equality and health in the world of work. This session is organised by the Danish Family Planning Association, Confederation of Danish Industry, Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries and Federation of Uganda Employers.

Despite recent strong economic growth, several countries in the Sahel have not seen a commensurate increase in per capita income nor in equality between men and women. Fertility remains the highest in the world, and the pace of the demographic transition in the region has been slow. There is strong evidence that empowering women and youth is a main catalyst to trigger a “demographic dividend,” which would greatly benefit these countries. This session will share best practices and innovative approaches to supporting women’s and girls’ empowerment and men’s contributions to gender equality from the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) initiative.This session is convened by CREFAT-CREG University of Thiès Senegal and Promundo.