TO
KAYORO
Bringing Reproductive Health to a Village in Ghana
MARGARET CATLEY-CARLSON
POPULATION COUNCIL
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FROM TO KAYORO Bringing Reproductive Health to a Village in Ghana
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Cairo, two major messages: reproductive health care and the empowerment of women Two major messages were crafted at the Cairo Conference—the importance of reproductive health (including family planning) and a new emphasis on the empowerment of women as a centerpiece of social, economic, and demographic development. Although much media attention was focused on high-profile religious confrontations over parts of the Consensus, there was remarkable agreement by all delegations on most of it.
Most delegates concurred that the goal of family planning services should be to support individuals’ and couples’ reproductive health and reproductive rights. The acceptance of these two major areas of agreement meant that those of us who work in the population field have had to examine and sometimes revise our agenda. While recognizing that contraception and family planning are necessary components of any reproductive health program, Cairo signaled that the world had to complete the paradigm shift with respect to the way contraceptives should be provided: no longer to achieve any national target or community goal but to offer a range of good quality services to meet the specific needs of the individual. This meant great change for some programs, less for others. A related recognition was that the achievement of other demographic goals, such as reducing rapid population growth, required improving the situation, educational levels, and status of women around the world. This understanding was particularly vital for women in poorer countries who cannot effectively exercise their reproductive rights or achieve reproductive health without greater bar-gaining power within their families and with their partners. Fine words and fine thoughts, to be sure. But how do these new concepts stand up to the reality test of a remote and poor village?
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