U.S. Statement at the 138th Session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization
As delivered by Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto
U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland
January 27, 2016
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, Madam Director-General.
The United States applauds the efforts to support meaningful implementation of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, including developing an operational framework for the first five years.
Investments in health are essential in order to address the direct needs of every women, child and adolescent. But also for the world to achieve the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals, and we understand how important the World Health Organization is in this area.
Monitoring is critical. To support effective implementation of the new Global Strategy, the operational framework should include actionable milestones with realistic timelines. It should also contain clear performance metrics to monitor progress towards targets and concrete actions to ensure accountability at all levels throughout implementation.
To that end, we believe that milestones and metrics regarding universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services would be strengthened by including language supporting access to medically accurate sexual and reproductive health information, as well as health care services.
It is imperative that the operational framework addresses issues such as tobacco use, inadequate vaccine access, food insecurity, and maternal mortality and morbidity. All leading causes of deaths in women, children and adolescents. All preventable.
We call for the development of evidence-based guidelines and for broad-based, collaborative approaches to address and solve these global health issues.
Home to leading diplomats, policy makers, specialists, business leaders, research institutes and civil society, Geneva offers a unique platform for engagement and an unparalleled opportunity to make a difference in the lives of women and children around the world.
It is on that foundation that the U.S. Mission in Geneva launched The Future She Deserves one year ago, an initiative that has made adolescent girls’ health a priority.
For the 600 million girls aged 10 to 19 in the world today, through this collaborative initiative, we are committed to forging a path toward a better future.
We look forward to continued cooperation with the Secretariat, fellow Member States and stakeholders from all sectors to implement the Global Strategy and to identify and implement policies and programs which will improve overall health and quality of life.
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.