Belgium is hosting the International Conference ‘She Decides’ in support of the rights of girls and women. Like-minded countries, NGOs and international organizations will express their support to sexual and reproductive health organizations affected by the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy or ‘Global Gag Rule’ (GGR). In the wake of this conference, the Belgian All Party Parliamentary Group ‘Parliamentarians for the 2030 Agenda’ organizes a pre-meeting in the Belgian parliament on Wednesday March 1st.

The parliamentary pre-meeting will address the impact of the GGR on women’s rights and their access to family planning, elaborate on the international anti-gender and anti-choice movement and address the question of how to best advance sustained political support for sexual and reproductive health and rights in Europe and beyond. 

Speakers include Dr. David Paternotte (ULB), Suzanne Ehlers (Population Act International), Caroline Hickson (IPPF European Network), Ton Coenen (EuroNGOs), Neil Datta (European Parliamentary Forum), Arthur Erken (UNFPA). 

More information and registration form

Timing: Wednesday 1 March 14:00-17:00
Venue: Congreszaal, access through Federal Parliament, Leuvenseweg 21, 1000 Brussels
Participation is free but registration is required. 
Please register through the online form before 24 February.
For security reasons it is recommended to arrive well in advance. 

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo announced €10 million Belgian support for the She Decides Global Fundraising Initiative. This initiative is to respond to the drop in development aid for family planning. International support for family planning is threatened with the reintroduction of the so-called Global Gag Rule under the Trump-Pence administration. The rule stipulates that family planning providers who inform or refer clients to abortion centers are no longer eligible for USAID support. With the rule $600 million of support for family planning is under threat. This while the Global South is already faced with a high unmet need for family planning services and contraceptives. 225 million women would like to prevent or delay pregnancy but lack access to modern methods of contraception. Universal access to family planning is one of the fundamental targets to realize gender equality, as adopted in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Apart from Belgium, other countries expressed their support for women worldwide during the ‘She Decides’ conference of March 2nd, including Luxemburg, Cape Verde, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Canada. 

Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo will organise an international conference on sexual and reproductive health and rights of women on March 2nd. The conference “She Decides” is part of the ‘She Decides Global Fundraising Initiative’, launched by the Dutch Minister of Trade and Development Cooperation Liliane Ploumen following American President Donald Trump’s reintroduction of the Mexico City Policy or so-called ‘Global Gag Rule’.