Across South Asia, millions of women and girls are still denied the ability to make decisions about their own bodies and futures. South Asia accounts for nearly 45% of all child marriages globally, and nearly 6,500 adolescent girls in the region die each year in childbirth. These numbers are a stark reminder that gender equality cannot be achieved without addressing systemic oppression rooted in gender and sexuality, and protecting the sexual and reproductive rights of all women and girls.
This International Women’s Day, the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls” calls for urgent action to address the structural inequalities that continue to shape the lives of women and girls, in all their diversities.
Sexual and reproductive health and rights receive less than 1% of official development assistance globally. In South Asia, domestic health budgets rarely prioritise sexual and reproductive health, and where they do, implementation lags decades behind. The chilling effect of global aid volatility, including shifts in US foreign policy on international family planning, has left critical service gaps that local providers are scrambling to fill. When investment in SRHR declines, contraception becomes harder to access, safe abortion services are restricted, and support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence becomes increasingly limited.
At the same time, sexual and reproductive rights are facing growing pressure globally and across the region. Anti-rights movements and attacks on bodily autonomy threaten decades of progress and risk pushing women and girls further away from the care and information they need.
Yet across South Asia, IPPF Member Associations and Collaborative Partners continue to push back. From delivering essential SRH services to underserved communities to reaching women and girls in crisis settings – IPPF is working every day to ensure that sexual and reproductive health services remain accessible, inclusive, and stigma-free.
For the International Planned Parenthood Federation, advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights remains central to the fight for gender equality. Guided by our new Charter of Values, we reaffirm our commitment to dignity, bodily autonomy, and justice for ALL women and girls.
This International Women’s Day, we call on governments, donors and partners to move beyond commitments and take meaningful action: invest in sexual and reproductive health services, protect bodily autonomy, and ensure that no one is left behind.
For more than 70 years, our movement has stood alongside women, girls and marginalized communities in the fight for their rights. And today, as sexual and reproductive rights face renewed challenges, one thing remains clear: IPPF will not back down.
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