We the women of Kenya, working under grassroots women organizations, join you today, welcoming the ICPD+25 Conference co-hosted by Kenya, Denmark and the UNFPA. While we celebrate the milestones achieved in the last 25 years since the Cairo agreement that set a Programme of Action seeking to empower women and girls,we believe that there’s still far too greater segment of the population that is left behind and particularly women and girls in low income neighbourhoods in Third World countries.

We also believe that the gains that have been achieved in the last 25 years are in danger of being swept away as patriarchal systems seek to undo the gains for women and girls.

As we seek to strengthen the need for states party to the ICPD agreement to urgently devote resources, political will and commitment to the course of achieving the goals stipulated in the ICPD Programme of Action, we believe that we need commitments from the state parties to the ICPD by;

• Commitment to gender equality by eliminating all barriers to the effective

participation and contribution of women to society socio-economically and politically by eliminating electoral violence, enhancing the women’s access to funds, and fighting retrogressive cultural practices such as female genital mutilation

• Enhancing the universal access to family planning, contraceptives and reproductive healthcare by devoting resources, capital and human, as well as political will in order to reduce the gaps in access to family planning, contraceptives and reproductive healthcare
• Eliminating obstacles that stand in the way to the empowerment of women and

young girls by fighting obstacles such as femicide, sexual and gender based violence, teenage pregnancies and child marriages

• Formulating and operationalizing a national sexual education framework Addressing the issue of unsafe abortions and enhancing the access and coverage to post-abortion care
• Reducing maternal, infant and under-five child mortality  Addressing the issue of population displacements and forceful evictions particularly in low and income neighbourhoods
• Committing to a safer and cleaner environment by addressing pollution and devoting resources to efficient waste management systems in order to reduce environmentally induced reproductive complications
• Enhancing the access to proper sanitation and clean and safe water particularly to the low income neighbour.