The 2nd Annual Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health: Critiques, Challenges, and Cautious Optimism

Abstract

From October 6-10 2003 almost 1500 delegates primarily from Asia and the Pacific gathered in Bangkok for the 2nd Annual Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health (APCRSH.) With only a handful of attendees from the United States and Europe the debate at the APCRSH provided unique insight into what are perceived to be the overarching issues and challenges to achieving reproductive and sexual health in Asia. Because many of the issues that were raised in Bangkok have global implications or were specifically targeted at donor countries the following summary is intended to share the central points of this debate with a broader international audience. The overall tenor of the APCRSH was one of cautious optimism where the progress of the reproductive health approach over the past decade was juxtaposed against the present challenges posed by growing fundamentalism and shifting global priorities. An undercurrent of disappointment also ran through the proceedings as delegates recognized the regions failure to achieve the ambitious goals set out at the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). Much of this disappointment took the form of frustration with the Bush Administrations policy and funding shifts that have taken place since the Cairo conference. Perhaps because of this disappointment even though it was a conference intended to address the theme of Moving into Action prescriptions for reproductive health activism were less forthcoming than were assessments of current challenges. This article documents the most important of these challenges that were identified by participants and highlights the strategies that were put forth to help overcome them. Following a brief overview of the composition and theme of the APCRSH the discussion below details the major themes of the conference. It begins by outlining the numerous critiques that were lodged against American reproductive health policy provides an overview of the other central points of the conference and concludes with a look at the strategies proposed for pursuing reproductive and sexual health and rights in the current political environment. (excerpt)