PMNCH Statement on the United Nations Pact for the Future

As the Summit of the Future approaches, we, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), commend the United Nations and its Member States for their unwavering commitment to advancing global cooperation. The Pact for the Future holds great promise. As we approach this pivotal Summit in September 2024, PMNCH emphasizes the need for bold, transformative action for the health and well-being of women, children, adolescents, and youth worldwide.

The Summit is a unique opportunity to accelerate efforts toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to take concrete steps to meet emerging challenges, and, at the same time, to develop a clear vision for the post-2030 agenda. The Pact for the Future must not only reaffirm existing commitments, but also catalyze meaningful change. We must ensure that women, children, adolescents and youth are not left behind. The latest draft provides strong foundations, but Member States must go further to ensure that this document delivers tangible, transformative results for the post-2030 agenda by upholding the following principles:

1. Inclusivity and Equity: The Pact must move beyond rhetoric to include concrete measures that guarantee the universal human rights of all to health and well-being, education, and economic opportunities amongst others. We call on Member States to commit resources to prioritize the most marginalized and vulnerable, including women, children, and adolescents and support cross-sectoral initiatives and partnerships, that operationalize a holistic approach at the implementation level.
2. Gender Equality: While the draft emphasizes gender equality, it must include stronger commitments to dismantling structural barriers that perpetuate inequality. We call on Member States to ensure that the Pact includes tangible, measurable targets and timelines for advancing gender equality, reducing maternal mortality and violence against girls and women, including via legislative reforms, gender-sensitive budgeting, and specific initiatives focused on increasing access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities for women and adolescent girls.
3. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR): Comprehensive SRHR and the fulfillment of bodily autonomy are fundamental to health and underpin human well-being. Improved SRHR outcomes contribute to economic growth, poverty eradication, gains in education, reduced inequalities, and environmental sustainability. We urge Member States to commit to ensuring delivery of comprehensive SRHR through strong, accessible, and resilient health systems to meet the full range of SRHR needs of all.
4. Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement: The Pact must recognize young people not just as beneficiaries, but as leaders and change-makers. We call on Member States to establish clear frameworks for adolescent and youth engagement, ensuring that they are included as active participants in shaping and implementing the Pact’s commitments at the country level with dedicated roles in decision-making processes.
5. Partnerships: Strong partnerships across different sectors of society are key to realizing the Pact. These partnerships must be clearly defined with roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders—young people, governments, the UN, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector— playing their part.
6. Accountability: The success of the Pact hinges on robust accountability. We call on Member States to ensure independent accountability to ensure monitoring, review, and remedy for the commitments made under the Pact. This should include mandatory progress reports, independent evaluations, and mechanisms for civil society involvement in monitoring the Pact’s implementation.

The Pact for the Future presents a historic opportunity to realize our shared vision of a world where every woman, child, adolescent, and youth can survive and thrive. As global challenges continue to mount, the health, well-being and rights of these populations must remain at the heart of our collective action. We must come together to counter the pushback against human rights and democratic values. This moment demands nothing less than bold transformative measures across different sectors, to address systemic inequalities, and ensure the delivery of and access to essential health services, including comprehensive SRHR. This can only be done by putting human rights at the centre of the responses and by promoting interventions that address intersectoral issues such as nutrition, education, infrastructure, energy, transport and digital technology.

It is shocking that women and girls continue to die in childbirth due to preventable causes. We urge Member States to take urgent action to address maternal, newborn, and child mortality and morbidity. It is an affront to humanity that mothers and babies continue to die of, and suffer from preventable causes. This demands multi-stakeholder action and accountability across different sectors.

We also urge Member States to seize this moment and ensure that the Pact for the Future is not only a declaration of intent but a roadmap for action. It is imperative that this political outcome document, alongside the Declaration on Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact, reflects an unwavering commitment to the rights and well-being of women, children, adolescents, and youth. These documents must explicitly outline the radical, yet necessary, steps needed to achieve our global health goals.

The Pact for the Future must be a living document that drives accountability and fosters collaboration across sectors and borders. It is our collective responsibility to deliver on the promises made, and to do so with urgency and determination.

As PMNCH, we stand ready to support the implementation of the Pact for the Future and to work alongside governments, civil society, and all stakeholders to turn these commitments into tangible reality. Together, we can and must rise to meet the challenge, securing a healthier, more equitable future for all women, children, adolescents, and youth.