Health is life. Life is health. This was the general consensus of most speakers at the start of the Network of African Parliamentary Committees of Health (NEAPACOH two-day conference in Maseru, Lesotho in February.

Most speakers expressed the need for the lives of individuals and communities in the African continent to be preserved through access to health services and accelerating implementation of the 1994 people-centered International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agenda.

Officially opening the conference, which was attended by African Members of Parliament, Development Partners and Heads of United Nations (UN) agencies, the Speaker of the National Assembly in the Kingdom of Lesotho Honourable Tlohang Sekhamane underlined the pertinence of the ICPD Cairo conference of 1994 and the Nairobi summit of 2019 which reaffirmed that sexual and reproductive health are intrinsic to human rights.

He called upon Members of Parliament to dedicate time to discuss matters relating to the health of their communities. “Begin to discuss matters of health, difficult as they may be. It does not always have to be familiar to be on your remit. As Members of Parliament, it is your fundamental remit,” he emphasized.

Speaking on behalf of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund’s Regional Director, Ms Lydia Zigomo, the fund’s Representative to Lesotho Mr Innocent Modisaotsile highlighted the meeting on progress over the past 30 years of the ICPD and 10 years of the Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development (AADPD) which was adopted to accelerate progress towards the ICPD’s people-centered goals and provides region-specific guidance on population and development in Africa.

The Representative, who was delivering a keynote address, stated that as part of the 30th anniversary of the ICPD Program of Action, the African Union Commission in collaboration with UNFPA and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) assessed how far Africa has progressed towards achieving AADPD and ICPD goals.

“Overall, the review suggests that the ICPD Agenda, the people centered rights-based development approach, has enabled impressive gains in Africa. Use of modern methods of contraception has increased by (nearly) three times since 1994. Maternal mortality has declined by over 50%. Significantly higher number of young people are able to access age-appropriate health and life skills education,” he added.

However, he pointed out that despite progress, the promise of the ICPD and AADPD still remains to be fulfilled for millions in Africa. “One in five women’s need for family planning remains unfulfilled. Maternal mortality remains unacceptably high. Gender based violence and prevalence of other harmful practices affecting people-centered development remain high. Teenage pregnancy rate in Africa is twice the global average and this is evident across all countries,” he further stated.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Lesotho Ms Amanda Khozi Mukwashi also emphasized the importance of access to health services for pregnant women, survivors of gender based violence and women in Africa.

The conference, under the theme, “towards ICPD 30 and achievement of Universal Health Coverage: Imperatives for accelerated implementation and the role of Parliamentarians” is expected to end with presentation and adoption of the Maseru Call to Action for accelerated implementation of the ICPD agenda and achievement of Universal Health Coverage.