By IANS
Hyderabad : Focussing on the youth, a three-day conference on sexual and reproductive health and rights began here Monday, drawing over 1,000 participants from as many as 42 countries.
The 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights was thrown open with a colourful Kuchipudi dance recital.
Sunil Mehra, co-chair of the India organising committee, said the youth would be the main focus in the conference that aims at operationalising reproductive and sexual rights and discussing and debating various issues related to it.
“Exploring new frontiers in sexual and reproductive health and rights is what we aim to do in this conference and the youth is our target group,” Mehra said.
Attending the programme are around 1,400 participants comprising researchers, policy makers and members of NGOs from 42 countries.
Indian Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy gave the event a miss.
Poornima Mane, deputy executive director of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said: “One challenge that we need to discuss over the next three days is the high numbers of maternal mortality ratio in the Asia Pacific region.”
She added: “Laws regarding reproductive and sexual health and rights are in place across the world. What we need to concentrate now on is to ensure that these laws are implemented. Most often tradition becomes more powerful than law, so we have to strive to change the mindsets of the people.”
Some of the issues that will be discussed during the course of the conference include ‘Enabling and realising young people’s potential in improving reproductive and sexual health’, ‘Equalising sexual relationships’ and ‘Making pregnancy wanted’.