UNFPA in the Philippines launched the State of World Population
Report and commemorated the World Population Day together with POPCOM
10 JULY 2020, MANILA, the Philippines – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the Philippines, together with the
Philippine Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM), commemorated the
World Population Day (11 July) through a virtual event broadcasted online.
Featuring eminent policymakers such as the Secretary of Health Dr. Francisco
Duque III, Philippine Commission on Women Chairperson Ms. Rhodora M. Bucoy, and
Commissioner on Human Rights Ms. Karen Lucia Gomez-Dumpit, the joint event of
UNFPA Philippines and POPCOM unpacked and discussed major vulnerabilities and
harmful practices experienced by women and girls, and how the COVID-19 pandemic
has intensified these. The online event also featured a virtual hand-over of
UNFPA’s global State of World Population (SWOP) Report 2020 to Undersecretary
and Executive Director of POPCOM, Dr. Juan Antonio “Jeepy” Perez III.
Every year, millions of girls are
subjected to practices that harm them physically and emotionally, with the full
knowledge and consent of their families, friends, and communities, according to
the SWOP Report 2020, published by the headquarters of UNFPA, the United Nations’
sexual and reproductive health agency.
The UNFPA report entitled “Against My Will: Defying the Practices That
Harm Women and Girls and Undermine
Equality” has identified at least 19 harmful practices, ranging from breast ironing to virginity testing, as human
rights violations, and focused on the three most prevalent ones: female genital
mutilation, son preference, and child marriage.
“Harmful practices against girls cause
profound and lasting trauma, robbing them of their right to reach their full
potential,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem.
While progress had been made in ending some
harmful practices worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to reverse gains.
A
recent analysis revealed that if services and programmes remain shuttered for
six months, an additional 13 million girls may be forced into marriage.
“In the Philippines, even before
the outbreak of COVID-19, 1 out of 6
Filipino girls married before 18. And because the effects of this pandemic and
quarantine measures are disrupting those
efforts to end child marriage, we may actually see even a further increase in
child marriage,” Mr. Iori Kato, UNFPA Country Representative in the
Philippines, alerted. “Maternal deaths, unintended pregnancies, unmet need for
modern contraceptives, and gender-based violence could all increase
significantly, compared to pre-COVID in 2019”.
On the occasion of this year’s
World Population Day with the theme of “Putting
the Brakes on COVID-19: How to safeguard
the health and rights of women and girls now,” Mr. Gustavo González, the
newly-appointed United Nations Resident Coordinator and the Humanitarian Coordinator in the
Philippines, underscored:
“What we have been observing in the country
and globally, is the tremendous impact of the pandemic on women and girls.
Looking after the health of women does not only mean ensuring their protection
from the coronavirus; but also ensuring that women are able to access a wide
range of services, including reproductive health and family planning
information and services as a matter of choice and human right.”
The online event presented the
preliminary results of an analysis that the University of the Philippines
Population Institute (UPPI) had recently conducted with UNFPA about the impact
of COVID-19 and quarantines on Filipino women’s and girls’ sexual and
reproductive health and freedom from violence. The study revealed that the
COVID-19 pandemic and disruptions in access to essential services could result
in increasing the annual maternal deaths to 3,200, 26% higher than the
pre-COVID 2019, as well as in a significant increase in unplanned pregnancies,
including among thousands of teenage girls. Domestic violence is also expected
to increase as women and girls are stuck in the same home as their abusive
partners, although many of them would be unreported.
POPCOM Executive Director Dr. “Jeepy” Perez
emphasized, “Despite the challenges, there are policies, measures, laws and
numerous other efforts in place adherent to the Philippines’ commitments made
in the Nairobi Summit on the International Conference
on Population and Development (ICPD) where the Philippines was a staunch supporter as a signatory 25
years ago. While there are observable great
strides in our population and development goals, more needs to be done,
especially at this time when COVID-19 can derail the work we have strived so
hard to accomplish.”
On World Population Day 2020, POPCOM and UNFPA
vow to strengthen their partnership to support women’s and girls’ unique needs
faced during the pandemic, working with various national, regional, and local
governments and NGOs in the Philippines. To enable this, UNFPA Philippines is
appealing for USD 11 million or 549 million Pesos of additional resources as
part of the UN Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19.
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