A/RES/65/188
South-South cooperation, in support of national plans and strategies in sectors such
as health, education, gender equality, energy, water and sanitation, poverty reduction
and nutrition as a way to reduce the number of maternal, newborn and under-five
child deaths,
Welcoming also ongoing partnerships between stakeholders at all levels to
address the multifaceted determinants of maternal, newborn and child health in
close coordination with Member States based on their needs and priorities and the
commitments announced during the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General
Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals to accelerate progress on the
health-related Goals,
Reaffirming the renewed and reinforced commitments made by Member States
for achieving Millennium Development Goal 5,
1.
Recognizes the interlinkages between poverty, malnutrition, lack of or
inadequate or inaccessible health services, early childbearing, early marriage of the
girl child and gender discrimination as root causes of obstetric fistula, that poverty
remains the main social risk factor, that the eradication of poverty is critical to
meeting the needs and protecting and promoting the rights of women and girls and
that continued urgent national and international action is required to eliminate it;
Stresses the need to address the social issues that contribute to the
2.
problem of obstetric fistula, such as early marriage of the girl child, early
pregnancy, lack of access to sexual and reproductive health, lack of or inadequate
education of women and girls, poverty and the low status of women and girls;
Also stresses that States have the obligation to promote and protect all
3.
human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls, that they must exercise
due diligence in order to prevent, investigate and punish the perpetrators of violence
against women and girls and to provide protection to the victims, and that failure to
do so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of their human rights and
fundamental freedoms;
Calls upon States to take all measures necessary to ensure the right of
4.
women and girls to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health,
including sexual and reproductive health, and to develop sustainable health systems
and social services, with a view to ensuring access to such systems and services
without discrimination, while paying special attention to adequate food and
nutrition, water and sanitation, family planning information, increasing knowledge
and awareness and securing appropriate prenatal and post-natal care for the
prevention of obstetric fistula;
Also calls upon States to ensure the right to education for women and
5.
girls, of good quality, on an equal basis with men and boys, and to ensure that they
complete a full course of primary education, and to renew their efforts to improve
and expand girls’ and women’s education at all levels, including at the secondary
and higher levels, as well as vocational education and technical training, in order,
inter alia, to achieve gender equality, the empowerment of women and poverty
eradication;
Urges States to enact and strictly enforce laws to ensure that marriage is
6.
entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses and, in
addition, to enact and strictly enforce laws concerning the minimum legal age of
consent and the minimum age for marriage, and to raise the minimum age for
marriage where necessary;
3