ROLE OF WOMEN AND IMPOWERMENT BIRUTĖ VĖSAITĖ MP, Lithuania European Parlamentary forum 12 Noverber 2010, Vilnius

Women, who were trapped in violent families and marriages are burning themselves in suicide attempts. (International Herald Tribune) 45% of Afghan women marry before they are 18, a large percentage before they are 16. Sometimes they are engaged in 8 and married in 12. It is not normal that children and giving birth to children and women dying because of sex.

Many girls are still given as payment for debts, which sentence them to a life of servitude and almost always abuse. In Afghanistan women and girls are still stoned to death. Violence in the lives of Afghanistan's women comes from everywhere – from her father or brother, from her husband, from her father in – law.

These are everyday realities of Afghan women. It seems that they are living in other dimension of time. The international community must prevent sexual and gender based violence by promoting gender equity and gender equality and the economic, social and political empowerment of women. Gender based violence prevention and protection of women should be incorporated into all aspects of humanitarian assistance and ODA.

In order to improve situation of Afghan women its seems that the traditional methods are not appropriate. The target groups should be not only the women, but the community leaders, the entire family members – husband,fathers in law, mothers in law, brothers, etc. In Afghanistan infant mortality (total per 1000 live births) is 152, maternal mortality ratio – (UNFPA, state of word population 2010 ).

Although the EU Gender Action Plan recognizes sexual&reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as important component to gender equality, SRHR does not appear in the Action Plan’s operational framework. There is the great importance to include SRHR as well as family planning programs and services as a crucial precondition for gender equality in ODA.

Over women die every year around the world as a result of pregnancy. From the estimated 123 million women giving birth every year, only half receive prenatal, delivery an newborn care – and 99% of these women live in developing countries. 215 million women do not have access to family planning services and do not have the means to freely decide.

The consequences of this especially affect women and newborns in vulnerable situations, and each year there are 75 million unintended pregnancies, 20 million women resorting to unsafe abortions and estimated 3,8 newborn deaths. According to the UN Commission on Population and Development, donor countries should provide one third of the necessary funds for population assistance, while developing countries themselves provide the remaining two-thirds of the effort.

The financial crisis have constrained the ODA budgets of European donors. The year 2010 marks crucial moment where only five years remain to accomplish MDGs, the current state of global ODA, health ODA and population flows remain critical to realizing Millenium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6.

We as MPs from national parliaments advocate for universal access to comprehensive SRH information, education and services. Improve access to Reproductive Health Supplies with a particular emphasis on the provision of a variety of family planning methods to suit different populations.