Introduction
The date 22 October 1947 will forever remain a Black Day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. On this day, Pakistan, i
Amidst anti-gender push, hope pins on ICFP 2025 to shift gears towards SRHRJ for all. By SHOBHA SHUKLA
Despite right to health and gender equality being fundamental human rights, the world is off the track from delivering on these goals in next 62 months (by 2030). Anti-rights and anti-gender pushbacks have made the situation even more grim. Activists are pinning hope on an upcoming global meet to galvanise a stronger and equitable response to deliver on these goals.
World’s largest meet on sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice (SRHRJ) would open in next two weeks in Colombia on the theme: Equity through action, advancing SRHRJ for all. Formally called the International Conference on Family Planning or #ICFP2025, this meet also marks 30 years since Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action were adopted in 1995.
80th United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting was held last month to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 4th World Conference on Women (where Beijing Declaration 1995 was adopted along with its Platform for Action).
“The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is the most ambitious global political commitment on women’s rights ever achieved. It affirmed that the rights of women and girls are not separate, secondary, or negotiable - they are human rights. It has helped to power advances in some critical areas — legal protection, political participation, education, maternal mortality, recognizing the need to tackle violence against women as a global priority, and more. But progress has been slow and uneven, and no nation has achieved full equality for women and girls and gender diverse peoples,” said Shobha Shukla, Host of SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights) and Lead Discussant for SDG-3 at the United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF 2025).
Separating signal from the noise
“International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP 2025) has received a record number of 5174 abstract submissions – highest-ever in its history. This means that there were many more ideas competing for attention. Bigger responsibility was for the organisers and different ICFP committees to separate the signal from noise itself. There are signals emerging across the scientific programme and community agenda from the ICFP 2025. For example, you will see there are topics around climate SRHRJ popping up everywhere and from the heat supply chains or displacements to financing, resilience, shrinking civic spaces, among others. Topics like youth leadership has moved into the core ICFP 2025 programme. There are a lot of youth-focused sessions including a youth pre-conference which is 100% led by the young people from all over the world. Youth sub-committee
meetings have taken place every month in the lead up to ICFP 2025,” said Dina Chaerani, Host of Sex O'Clock News, Family Planning News Network (FPNN) and YIELD Hub.
“There are many more pre-conferences happening around ICFP 2025. For example, on youth, comprehensive sexuality education, and other issues,” said Dina.
SRHRJ trends turning into actual practices
“ICFP 2025 is doubling up on the accessibility. There are plenary sessions, ICFP Live stage sessions, and select high impact sessions will be live streamed on YouTube as well and recorded to an online library, so people that cannot be there physically can also watch them online or virtually. If you want deep technical dives into ICFP 2025 programme, then there is a paid virtual scientific stream as well,” added Dina.
Dina was one of the keynote speakers for SHE & Rights session held ahead of International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP 2025) on the theme: “It is time for accountability and action after UNGA High Level Meeting around Beijing+30.”
80th UNGA saw progress but also pushbacks
At 80th UN General Assembly this year, there were attempts made by USA to “torpedo” gender equality and human right to health. USA government categorically said at UN High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health (on 25th September 2025) that it does not recognise “constitutional or international right to abortion.”
However, at the United Nations Economic and Social Council, decision to revitalise United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was adopted by consensus, which gives hope. It was also decided that first United Nations High Level Meeting on ending violence against women and girls would be held at 70th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in 2026.
“CSW revitalisation process is an effort by the UN to strengthen the mandate of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). We put out an advocacy brief that made 3 clear demands,” said Shiphrah Belonguel, Global Advocacy Officer, Fòs Feminista (International Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice - SRHRJ). Fos Feminista also serves as co-convener of Women’s Rights Caucus (WRC), a global self-organised feminist space that engages with CSW process.
Shiphrah lists out the 3 key asks:
1. Defending and strengthening the mandate of the CSW as a robust normative platform for gender equality.
2. Ensuring that the agreed conclusions that come out of the process remain a central and ambitious normative framework, reaffirming member states’ commitments to the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action, and
3. Safeguarding civil society participation and preventing any rollback of civic space.
“So, demand-3 has been a particularly contentious point of advocacy especially with several member states who have pushed back against institutionalising practices related to civil society participation, such as the civil society town hall. Since our collective advocacy, the revitalisation resolution has already been adopted within the framework of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC),” said Shiphrah.
Women's rights, bodily autonomy and SRHRJ are not negotiable
“It is also important to contextualise all of this - like all of these processes that are happening in the UN helps us understand how governments are pushing gender equality. We have seen that during the UN High Level Meeting, some are twisting gender equality language to push for more pronatalist agenda framing women's lives only through the lens of fertility and population. And we know that's deeply dangerous,” added Shiphrah.
“When we get to ICFP 2025, we need to be clear. We need to come together as a community and really think through and about how family planning is being tied to ‘panic around fertility crisis’ or demographic panics. We have to insist as a community of SRHRJ advocates that women's rights, bodily autonomy and reproductive justice are not negotiable - and they will always be integral to any family planning programming and activities,” rightly added Shiphrah. “For now, our priority is to keep feminist movements inside these processes and monitoring them and disrupting as necessary, making sure that UN reform does not hollow out civil society space and does not sideline gender and human rights, but elevates them.”
SHE & Rights session was together hosted by Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI), International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) 2025, Y-PEER Asia Pacific, Y-PEER Laos, Family Planning News Network (FPNN), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), Asia Pacific Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media) and CNS.
Despite promises made by all the governments to deliver on gender equality and right to health, progress remains patchy and sketchy - and fragile - at best. We need to walk the talk on commitments enshrined on so many UN legally binding treaties, agreements, declarations and other instruments along with the UN Charter.
Shobha Shukla – CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla is a feminist, health and development justice advocate, and an award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service). She was also the Lead Discussant for SDG-3 at United Nations inter-governmental High Level Political Forum (HLPF 2025). She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College; current President of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health, Gender and Development Justice (APCAT Media); Chairperson of Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA received AMR One Health Emerging Leaders and Outstanding Talents Award 2024); and Host of SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights). Follow her on Twitter/X @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
World’s largest meet on sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice (SRHRJ) would open in next two weeks in Colombia on the theme: Equity through action, advancing SRHRJ for all. Formally called the International Conference on Family Planning or #ICFP2025, this meet also marks 30 years since Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action were adopted in 1995.
80th United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting was held last month to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 4th World Conference on Women (where Beijing Declaration 1995 was adopted along with its Platform for Action).
“The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is the most ambitious global political commitment on women’s rights ever achieved. It affirmed that the rights of women and girls are not separate, secondary, or negotiable - they are human rights. It has helped to power advances in some critical areas — legal protection, political participation, education, maternal mortality, recognizing the need to tackle violence against women as a global priority, and more. But progress has been slow and uneven, and no nation has achieved full equality for women and girls and gender diverse peoples,” said Shobha Shukla, Host of SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights) and Lead Discussant for SDG-3 at the United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF 2025).
Separating signal from the noise
“International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP 2025) has received a record number of 5174 abstract submissions – highest-ever in its history. This means that there were many more ideas competing for attention. Bigger responsibility was for the organisers and different ICFP committees to separate the signal from noise itself. There are signals emerging across the scientific programme and community agenda from the ICFP 2025. For example, you will see there are topics around climate SRHRJ popping up everywhere and from the heat supply chains or displacements to financing, resilience, shrinking civic spaces, among others. Topics like youth leadership has moved into the core ICFP 2025 programme. There are a lot of youth-focused sessions including a youth pre-conference which is 100% led by the young people from all over the world. Youth sub-committee
meetings have taken place every month in the lead up to ICFP 2025,” said Dina Chaerani, Host of Sex O'Clock News, Family Planning News Network (FPNN) and YIELD Hub.
“There are many more pre-conferences happening around ICFP 2025. For example, on youth, comprehensive sexuality education, and other issues,” said Dina.
SRHRJ trends turning into actual practices
“ICFP 2025 is doubling up on the accessibility. There are plenary sessions, ICFP Live stage sessions, and select high impact sessions will be live streamed on YouTube as well and recorded to an online library, so people that cannot be there physically can also watch them online or virtually. If you want deep technical dives into ICFP 2025 programme, then there is a paid virtual scientific stream as well,” added Dina.
Dina was one of the keynote speakers for SHE & Rights session held ahead of International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP 2025) on the theme: “It is time for accountability and action after UNGA High Level Meeting around Beijing+30.”
80th UNGA saw progress but also pushbacks
At 80th UN General Assembly this year, there were attempts made by USA to “torpedo” gender equality and human right to health. USA government categorically said at UN High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health (on 25th September 2025) that it does not recognise “constitutional or international right to abortion.”
However, at the United Nations Economic and Social Council, decision to revitalise United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was adopted by consensus, which gives hope. It was also decided that first United Nations High Level Meeting on ending violence against women and girls would be held at 70th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in 2026.
“CSW revitalisation process is an effort by the UN to strengthen the mandate of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). We put out an advocacy brief that made 3 clear demands,” said Shiphrah Belonguel, Global Advocacy Officer, Fòs Feminista (International Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice - SRHRJ). Fos Feminista also serves as co-convener of Women’s Rights Caucus (WRC), a global self-organised feminist space that engages with CSW process.
Shiphrah lists out the 3 key asks:
1. Defending and strengthening the mandate of the CSW as a robust normative platform for gender equality.
2. Ensuring that the agreed conclusions that come out of the process remain a central and ambitious normative framework, reaffirming member states’ commitments to the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action, and
3. Safeguarding civil society participation and preventing any rollback of civic space.
“So, demand-3 has been a particularly contentious point of advocacy especially with several member states who have pushed back against institutionalising practices related to civil society participation, such as the civil society town hall. Since our collective advocacy, the revitalisation resolution has already been adopted within the framework of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC),” said Shiphrah.
Women's rights, bodily autonomy and SRHRJ are not negotiable
“It is also important to contextualise all of this - like all of these processes that are happening in the UN helps us understand how governments are pushing gender equality. We have seen that during the UN High Level Meeting, some are twisting gender equality language to push for more pronatalist agenda framing women's lives only through the lens of fertility and population. And we know that's deeply dangerous,” added Shiphrah.
“When we get to ICFP 2025, we need to be clear. We need to come together as a community and really think through and about how family planning is being tied to ‘panic around fertility crisis’ or demographic panics. We have to insist as a community of SRHRJ advocates that women's rights, bodily autonomy and reproductive justice are not negotiable - and they will always be integral to any family planning programming and activities,” rightly added Shiphrah. “For now, our priority is to keep feminist movements inside these processes and monitoring them and disrupting as necessary, making sure that UN reform does not hollow out civil society space and does not sideline gender and human rights, but elevates them.”
SHE & Rights session was together hosted by Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI), International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) 2025, Y-PEER Asia Pacific, Y-PEER Laos, Family Planning News Network (FPNN), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), Asia Pacific Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media) and CNS.
Despite promises made by all the governments to deliver on gender equality and right to health, progress remains patchy and sketchy - and fragile - at best. We need to walk the talk on commitments enshrined on so many UN legally binding treaties, agreements, declarations and other instruments along with the UN Charter.
Shobha Shukla – CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla is a feminist, health and development justice advocate, and an award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service). She was also the Lead Discussant for SDG-3 at United Nations inter-governmental High Level Political Forum (HLPF 2025). She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College; current President of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health, Gender and Development Justice (APCAT Media); Chairperson of Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA received AMR One Health Emerging Leaders and Outstanding Talents Award 2024); and Host of SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights). Follow her on Twitter/X @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
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