 Photo by Morgan Muller On the occasion of World Aids Day the ‘Parliamentarians for the 2030 Agenda’ organized a lunch-time conversation on the impact of criminalisation of HIV and key populations on the HIV-response. Evidence shows that an overly broad criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure, exposure or transmission with no intent to harm, undermines public health. Why is that?
 In 2023, mid-way to 2030, Belgium is to submit its 2nd voluntary national review (VNR) to the UN High-Level Political Forum in New York.
Belgium will present its efforts in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as put forward in the 2030 agenda from 2015. A good opportunity for state and civil society actors to take stock and look at what is needed to move forward. The VNR will look at Belgium’s local, regional and national efforts, as well as its international cooperation on the SDGs. How does Belgium score for its international commitment to sexual and reproductive health?14/11/2022
 Sensoa reviewed DGD spending on health and sexual and reproductive health.
In 2021, 11% of Belgium's total international cooperation spending went to health and reproductive health. Spending on reproductive health (to prevent unplanned pregnancies, ensure maternal health, etc.) increased, but overall spending on health stagnated. This is remarkable, as we would have expected increased support for health in light of the COVID pandemic. Moreover, investments in strengthening health systems are necessary to provide people with quality sexual and reproductive health services.  Body&Rights, the e-learning on sexual and reproductive health and rights internationally, developed by Sensoa and the SRHR Working Group of Be-cause Health, the Belgian platform for international health, is fully up-to-date.
The European Commission proposes EU-wide rules to combat violence against women and domestic violence. The Commission aims to enshrine minimum standards in EU Law to:
 Sarah Hulsmans, Guy Rayée, Fourat Ben Chikha and Ian MacFarlane at the SWOP launch Lack of information, misinformation, myths about sex and contraception, poor access or even no access to contraception, but also the lack of dialogue about contraception use and pregnancy between partners cause many (young) women to become pregnant unplanned. These challenges mean that one of the most fundamental choices, to become pregnant or not, is not a free and informed choice for many women worldwide. This is the gist of the State of The World Population report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 2022.
 Photo by Eelco Bohtlingk on Unsplash The UN Commission on the Status of Women negotiated the relations between climate change and gender inequality. This was a perfect opportunity for the Parliamentarians of the 2030 Agenda and the Advisory Board on Gender and Development to organise a seminar on the impact of climate change on women and girls’ SRHR.
40 participants, including parliamentary assistants, cabinet members and experts of the Directorate General for Development (DGD) as well as civil society stakeholders and academics were provided with a window into the challenges that climate change poses for the health and rights of women and girls in low income countries (LIC).  Photo by Giulia May on Unsplash Sensoa's annual review of the expenditure of the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DGD) shows that expenditures for health and reproductive health increased from €133 million in 2019 to €141 million in 2020. This is mainly due to an increase in the expenditures for reproductive health from €24.86 million to €33.45 million, and particularly due to the increased investment in sexual and reproductive health in Belgium's existing governmental cooperation programmes with partner countries.
Sensoa asks Minister of Development Cooperation Meryame Kitir to continue on this growth path, established during the previous legislature. Maintaining and expanding this level requires that sexual and reproductive health and rights, including HIV, systematically receive the necessary attention and resources within the new bilateral cooperation programmes. 40 years ago the first people dying of aids were registered. At a seminar with the Parliamentarians for the 2030 Agenda, Prof. Marie Laga (ITM) explained how the epidemic grew at an alarming speed in the 1990s and 2000s. As it hit countries in Southern Africa, life-expectancy in countries such as Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and South Africa dropped below the level of the 1960s. Things started to change when in 1996 anti-retroviral treatment (ART) became available for people in the wealthy North. However, the drugs were unaffordable for patients living in the South. It was only thanks to activists’ campaigns that political recognition and action came about, and brought about fundamental change with the creation of international coordination through UNAIDS, and increased funding through the Global Fund and PEPFAR. This led to a rapid scale-up of people’s access to ART, standing at 2% in 2001 and amounting to 73% today. However, with 1.5 million new infections in 2020, we are not seeing ‘the end of aids’ yet and HIV prevention remains the biggest challenge.  Postcard by UNAIDS  Photo by kyo azuma on Unsplash Across the globe COVID-19 has led to the closure of schools for weeks and sometimes months on end. In many cases, distance learning turned out to be an imperfect substitute to live, on campus, classes and the school closures deepened existing inequalities, disproportionally affecting those who had already fallen behind: girls and women, poor people, refugees and ethnic minorities.
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