ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
63rd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (7 September to 9 October 2026)
General Debate on Item 8: Follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
Speaker: Veronica Reyes
Thank you, Mr. President.
As we mark International Safe Abortion Day this week, the gap between human rights commitments in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the lived realities of people seeking to exercise their reproductive rights is stark.
Over the past few decades, more than 60 countries and territories have liberalized their abortion laws.[1] However, recently, we have also seen significant backlash and an emerging anti-rights movement, leading to four countries backsliding on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).[2]
We are increasingly seeing funding flow from the US and Europe into Africa,[3] Asia,[4] and Latin America,[5] from conservative anti-rights organizations opposing abortion, comprehensive sexuality education, and LGBTI+ rights, which civil society in Africa has referred to as neocolonialism.[6] These groups have also been involved in drafting the African charter on family, sovereignty, and values which asserts that African values and culture are under attack from “foreign ideologies” and urges States to withdraw from any agreements which promote gender equality and protect the reproductive and health rights of women and girls.[7] .
We call on all States to act on their obligations under international human rights law, to guarantee safe access to SRHR around the world, and to recognize that sexual and reproductive health is indivisible from other human rights.
[1] https://reproductiverights.org/maps/world-abortion-laws/
[2] https://reproductiverights.org/maps/world-abortion-laws/
[3] https://inkstickmedia.com/how-the-us-christian-right-funds-anti-abortion-activities-abroad/
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/17/trojan-horse-moment-anti-rights-groups-fill-void-us-aid-cuts
[5] https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-agenda-right-against-women/
[6] https://www.the-isla.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/LegalAnalysis_CARA_AfricanCharter_ISLA2026.pdf
[7] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/05/ghana-african-charter-family-values-gender-women-sex-lgbtq-reproductive-rights
'International Safe Abortion Day and Threats From Anti-Rights Actors', Humanists International