By: Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Ms. Saro Imran an activist & social entrepreneur represented Pakistan at “Youth Model ICPD” held in Cairo, Egypt from 16 to 17 October 2019. The forum aimed at bringing the youth advocates from around the globe, working for adolescent and youth reproductive health and rights.
Saro Imran a transgender activist is running a community based organization ‘Activists Alliance Foundation‘ in Multan, South Punjab Pakistan. The event was hosted by UNFPA – The United Nations Population Fund in collaboration with the Egypt Ministry of Youth & Sports.
Saro while talking to the ‘The Dayspring‘ shared the proceedings of the forum as;
The first session of the Youth Model ICPD tackled topics of adolescent and youth reproductive health, where country delegates presented progress made with regards to these topics since 1994. The session aimed at generating youth recommendations to promote awareness of the importance of reproductive health and family planning. Delegates then voted on five sub-areas from which they generated commitments to be sent to the Nairobi Summit. The five topics the delegates voted on included: reproductive health education, youth-responsive (friendly) services, removing legal barriers, equality in access (leaving no one behind), youth engagement and participation in program design and implementation. The voting was followed by a “caucus time,” during which the delegates were divided into six groups to formulate commitments. The commitments will be presented to the Nairobi Summit during the concurrent session on Youth Model ICPD as global youth commitments.
The second session kicked off with country delegates presenting progress made with regards to gender equality and harmful practices, and data and demographic dividend since 1994. The session aimed at generating youth recommendations on how to take full advantage of the large population of youth to strengthen development efforts, as well as recommendations to promote gender equality and eliminating harmful practices. Delegates then voted on five sub-areas from which they will generate commitments to be sent to the Nairobi Summit. The topics the delegates voted on included: equality in political representation, equality in education and employment, decision making on sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, child marriage, demographic transition, social protection programs, employment and skills development, governance, and migration, urbanization and conflict. The voting was followed by a “caucus time,” during which the delegates were divided into six groups to formulate commitments. The commitments will be presented to the Nairobi Summit during the concurrent session on Youth Model ICPD as global youth commitments.
On the second day, A document compiling a list of commitments towards advancing the ICPD Program of Action was unanimously adopted on October 17, the second day of the Youth Model ICPD. The youth committed to supporting the development of e-learning/social media platforms on reproductive health education, using innovative means to engage a wide array of populations. The commitments will be presented to the Nairobi Summit during the concurrent session on Youth Model ICPD as global youth commitments. The delegates were divided into five groups to participate in five parallel working sessions to translate the commitments through creative modes Dance4ICPD A group of delegates interpreted their understanding of some of the most pressing sexual and reproductive health issues in a dance number. Art4ICPD The group of artists worked together to produce three paintings tackling population and development issues. Theatre4ICPD The group of theatre enthusiasts portrayed gender-based violence and harmful practices issues through a powerful piece. Social Media4ICPD Several delegates joined UNFPA’s #IMarchFor campaign, producing their own videos advocating for issues that they feel strongly about including youth engagement, safe public spaces for women and girls and access to reproductive health information. Film4ICPD The group of filmmakers worked on shooting a film compiling testimonials from the delegates themselves related to issues that affected them personally. The film group was led by prominent Egyptian director Hani Khalifa, who said that the film will take 48 hours to edit and will be ready for screening at the Nairobi Summit (An International Conference on Population and Development) in Kenya that is going to happen on 13 to 15th November 2019.