NAIROBI, Sept 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has partnered with UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the government of Denmark to host an international population summit in mid-November, officials said on Wednesday.
The Nairobi population summit that will take place from November 12 to 14 will be attended by world leaders, representatives of multilateral agencies, ministers and researchers to review the status of reproductive health of women and girls.
"We are expecting over 10,000 delegates in the upcoming Nairobi population summit that will review progress towards achieving universal access to reproductive health services among women and girls," said Francis Kundu, an assistant director at National Council for Population and Development (NCPD).
He said the major objective of the three days summit is to galvanize political goodwill required to ensure that women and girls of child bearing age have access to family planning services.
Kenya will convene the high level population summit to mark the 25th anniversary since the inaugural International Conference on Population and Development that took place in Cairo, Egypt in September 1994.
The international community adopted a far-reaching declaration to empower women and girls through enhanced access to reproductive health services during the Cairo summit.
Kundu said the Nairobi summit is expected to mobilize political will and financial resources required to promote access to contraceptives among women and girls in marginalized settings.
"Delegates who include presidents, heads of UN agencies, corporate leaders and civil society advocates will renew commitment towards support for female reproductive health rights," said Kundu.
He said that key highlights of the Nairobi population summit will include high-level political conversations on financing towards reproductive health programs and hackathons to showcase birth control innovations.
"The summit will also discuss strategies to reduce maternal deaths, eliminate gender based violence and harmful practices like child marriages and female genital mutilation," said Kundu.
He said the Nairobi summit will provide a roadmap to revitalize the global reproductive health agenda in line with sustainable development goals.
