Activities of Dominique BILDE related to 2020/2215(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the situation of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the EU, in the frame of women’s health
Amendments (17)
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reaffirms that sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are grounded in human rights, are fundamental elements of human dignity, and remain crucial to achieving gender equality and to improving the condition of women in certain developing and less-developed countries, and also in certain communities in the European Union;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Draws attention to Sustainable Development Goal 3, which encompasses ending the HIV epidemic, points out that, according to the World Health Organization, 64% of people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa and that in 2005 two thirds of women with HIV also lived in this region of the world, and points out that HIV prevention must be integrated into a more comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive rights and sexual health, particularly in view of the link between HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for the elimination of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and early and forced child marriage; is extremely concerned that more than 200 million girls and women worldwide have been forced to undergo FGM and that these practices affect women living in the European Union; calls for full access to physical and psychological care by interculturally sensitive and trained personnel, but stresses that eliminating early marriages means denouncing the cultural and religious beliefs underpinning that practice;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Condemns any violations of SRHR, including failures to provide access to comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), family planning services, prevention, screening and the provision of information on sexually transmitted diseases and maternal healthcare;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Stresses that, in the context of European development policy, it is important to draw on assistance from the health services of the beneficiary States in implementing systematic health programmes for vaccination, prevention, information provision and screening;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Insists that CSE programmes are important as they provide age-appropriate information about puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and childbirth; recalls the role of non-governmental organisations as service providers and advocates for SRHR; underlines that CSE programmes help prevent early pregnancy and marriage, which lead to girls dropping out of school, and ensure that young women are better informed about access to contraception and the risks associated with sexually transmitted diseases, in particular HIV;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Points out that, in addition to sexuality education, it is the responsibility of the national authorities of the States concerned to provide basic scientific training and education covering all or some sexual and reproductive rights, and that training provided by external stakeholders, in particular NGOs, must take into account, as far as possible, the cultural sensitivities of the target communities, while providing comprehensive and objective information on the subjects covered;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Notes with concern that in sub- Saharan Africa 70% of young women are not fully informed about HIV and that, however, girls account for three quarters of new infections in the 15-19 age group, stresses that sexuality education must therefore provide information about sexually transmitted diseases, including their impact on fertility and the health of the unborn child, and encourage girls and women to take advantage of prevention and screening schemes, and stresses that young European women, including those belonging to communities far away from healthcare facilities, must be made aware of these problems;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Points out that in the least- developed countries six out of ten girls do not attend secondary education, and that early school leaving involves children from rural areas in particular, all the more so in least-developed countries affected by armed conflict, for example in Mali or Burkina Faso as a result of Islamist terrorism, and stresses that local communities must therefore be involved in awareness-raising beyond the immediate school environment and that cooperation with national health systems, where they are sufficiently functional, is essential;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls that safe and legal abortion care is anchored in women’s health and rights; warns about the worrying backlash on women’s rights over their bodies in both developing countries and the EU; stresses the need for the full implementation of the Maputo Protocol, especially Article 14;
Amendment 58 #
5a. Stresses, however, that according to the World Health Organization 270 million women in the world aged between 15 and 49 have no access to contraception, even though they consider that they need it, and that access to contraception, including forms of contraception that also provide protection against sexually transmitted diseases, is of paramount importance for women living in developing and least-developed countries, and that it is also necessary to improve the provision of information about and screening for certain diseases, such as HIV and cervical cancer, for women in developing countries, in particular those living in rural areas far away from healthcare facilities, and notes that, according to UN Aids, cervical cancer is the main cause of cancer-related deaths among women in sub-Saharan Africa and that 85% of deaths from cervical cancer occur in low- or middle- income countries;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for the Gender Action Plan III to give more prominence to its SRHR thematic policy area given the tremendous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls in developing countries, in particular as a result of the disruption of national health systems;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the EU to secure adequate and well-targeted funding for SRHR in its development cooperation policy, and draws attention to the urgent need to combat HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular when it affects women, and more generally in developing countries, particularly in some countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Emphasises that SRHR services should be gender-responsive, rights-based, youth-friendly and available to all, regardless of age or marital status, including during conflicts and disasters; deplores, in that connection, the fact that the excessive focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been less severe than expected in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, has in some respects severely disrupted certain health programmes, concerning in particular access to contraception and trained midwives, and points out that 66% of the women who died in or following childbirth in 2017 lived in sub-Saharan Africa;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Reiterates its call on both parties of the new agreement between the EU and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States to commit to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of SRHR free from discrimination, coercion and violence, including among the population groups most remote from healthcare services, in particular in rural areas, and to the full implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development’s Programme of Action;
Amendment 101 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recalls that asylum seekers and refugees are too often victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution; insists that access to SRHR for these populations is critical for their survival., as a result of the existence of criminal groups which specialise in smuggling migrants; insists that access to SRHR for these populations is critical for their survival, and that steps be taken, in cooperation with the States concerned, to combat these groups;
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Stresses that, in general, all population groups, including marginalised groups, with little access to health systems and ‘at-risk groups’ must be taken into account in health programmes, including sexual health, screening and prevention schemes.