UN MEMBER STATES AND PARTNERS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR AVOIDING MILLIONS OF UNNECESSARY DEATHS OF ADOLESCENTS
Posted by Kimberley Meijers on September 20, 2017 at 1:48 pm
The Independent Accountability Panel (IAP) for Every Woman, Every Child, Every Adolescent launched its 2017 Report, Transformative Accountability for Adolescents, at the United Nations Headquarters, issuing an urgent appeal for strategic investments in 10 to 19 year olds to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
Adolescents, who number 1.2 billion, or 1 in 6 of the global population, are the key for progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “But today, the health and rights of millions of adolescents are at risk of being eroded”, and “they face a host of threats.”
Every year, 1.2 million adolescents die, often from preventable causes—such as violence, suicide, pregnancy-related complications among girls, HIV/AIDS, road injuries and drowning, as well as diseases and respiratory infections. As the report states, however, high impact, cost effective solutions to improve adolescent health can yield huge benefits and billions in savings that can place them on better tracks for life, reaping demographic dividends.
The IAP, a fully independent body (rare in UN circles), is mandated by the UN Secretary-General to assess progress on the 2016-2030 Global Strategy on Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health in the context of the SDGs from the specific lens of who is accountable to whom, and for what.
Co-hosted by the Governments of Denmark and South Africa, and organized by the IAP in collaboration with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), the IAP’s 2017 recommendations were unveiled by the IAP Co-Chairs, Dr. Carmen Barroso and Kul Chandra Gautam, at a high-level event. The forum engaged government delegates to the General Assembly and leaders of the UN System, civil society, youth groups, public health experts, the private sector and donors in a dynamic exchange of reactions to the IAP’s recommendations for strengthening accountability on the roadmap to 2030.
Please read the whole article here.
