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ChapterD
UNIVERSALACCESSTOSEXUALANDREPRODUCTIVEHEALTHSERVICES
This chapter of theMontevideoConsensus onPopulation andDevelopment recognizes sexual rights
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and
reproductive rights as an integral component of human rights, representing a step towards the recognition
of reproductive rights made in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population
and Development
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and places Latin America and the Caribbean ahead in terms of rights recognition on
the world stage. As a result, sexual rights, reproductive rights, sexual health and reproductive health
overlap, sometimes intricately, in the prioritymeasures.
Progress towards the target of universal access to reproductive health services, as set forth in the
Cairo Programme of Action and reiterated in target 5.b of the proposal on sustainable development goals,
has been insufficient and uneven. As an example, the target on maternal mortality contained in the
MillenniumDevelopment Goals is one of those that have not beenmet inLatinAmerica and theCaribbean.
According to the 2014 report, maternal mortality in the Caribbean remains high, at a rate of 190 maternal
deaths per 100,000 live births in 2013, compared to a goal of around 80maternal deaths per 100,000 live
births. InLatinAmerica, theMMR ismuch lower, at 72maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in2010, but
it too is very far from the target. Moreover, these averages mask great inequalities that cut right across the
sexual and reproductive health agenda. These inequalities relate to age, race, ethnic origin or zone of
residence, and they affect in particular certain groups of women, for whom many of the indicators, in
particular those for maternal mortality, are discouragingly poor. It is estimated that 8,800women die every
year in LAC from causes related to pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum, and most of these deaths are
preventable, which betrays a gap in the protection of women’s rights inmany spheres of their life, such as
lack of education, scant empowerment, lack of adequate and timely health services, and lack of quality
statistics thatwouldgivevisibility to the problem.
On the other hand there have been some positive outcomes: for example, the Caribbean has
experienced the sharpest decline of any region in the number of new cases of HIV infections, which fell
by 43% between 2001 and 2011. Despite this, however, the region remains the most severely affected,
after sub-Saharan Africa: in 2011, 1% of adults were infected with HIV. In Latin America and the
Caribbean, the objective of achieving universal access and treatment for combating HIV/AIDS is within
reach. In 2011, 68% of persons infected with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean were receiving
treatment, the best record of all developing regions.
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Paragraph 34: “Promote policies that enable persons to exercise their sexual rights, which embrace the right to a
safe and full sex life, as well as the right to take free, informed, voluntary and responsible decisions on their
sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity, without coercion, discrimination or violence, and that guarantee
the right to information and themeans necessary for their sexual health and reproductive health”
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Paragraph 7.3: “Reproductive rights embrace certain human rights that are already recognized in national laws,
international human rights documents and other consensus documents. These rights rest on the recognition of the
basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their
children and tohave the information andmeans to do so, and the right to attain the highest standardof sexual and
reproductive health. It also includes their right tomake decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination,
coercion and violence, as expressed in human rights documents. In the exercise of this right, they should take
into account the needs of their living and future children and their responsibilities towards the community.”
