From 26th to 28th October, an International Symposium on ODA for Population and Development, was held in Suzhou, initiated by the Chinese government.

Over 200 high-level participants, including about 60 from 24 countries, mainly in Africa, including health, development and finance ministers, representatives of bilateral donors, UNFPA, IPPF and European Commission, international NGOs, as well as experts and academics, attended.

In the session of Case Studies "China Experiences," Huang Yao, Deputy Secretary, China Communist Party, Guizhou Provincial Committee, told the participants of the success of the China FPA -implemented poverty deduction project supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in collaboration with JOICFP in Sandu County, calling the achievements 'impressive.'

He also cited the 4th and 5th cycle IP in Duyun City and Huishui County in cooperation with JOICFP, saying "…the project effectively promoted development of mother and child health in rural China…"

The symposium issued the 'Suzhou Declaration', in which commitment to the ICPD Program of Action and the MDGs was reaffirmed. The declaration stressed the need for greater investment in SRH information and services including family planning, the promotion of gender equality, combating HIV/AIDS, and the critical need to invest in the health and education of adolescents and young people.

A view of the symposium

From 29th October to 1st November, an International Workshop on Population and Development for Senior Officials from 19 Africa countries under South-South cooperation, considered various topics, including NGO roles in international assistance for reproductive health (RH) was held in the new training center in Taicang. For more details of the training center, click here.

At the workshop

Sumie Ishii, Executive Director, JOICFP, spoke about JOICFP’s background and its role in RH promotion, and the future challenges in the field for NGOs concerned with RH, especially those from the northern hemisphere.

Drawing on JOICFP's experience, Ishii illustrated her point by saying that international donor coordination was rapidly evolving, and that high level funding tends to exclude NGOs. This left little opportunity for NGOs, which were actually reaching people at the grassroots.

Ishii also voiced her concern that because of the wording of the MDGs, ‘reproductive health’ as a topic would disappear. However, in order for the goals of the 1994 Cairo ICPD to be achieved this must not happen, and so further advocacy efforts were required she said.

Sumie Ishii, "…universal access to reproductive health
must not be neglected in the MDGs."