Moroccan Appointed to High-Level Commission on the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 Follow-up

Morocco’s Hatim Aznague was appointed, Thursday, to the High-Level Commission created for the follow-up to the Nairobi World Summit (CIPD25), held in November 2019 by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Aznague is the sole member representing the youth of the Arab region within this High Level Commission, co-chaired by  Jakaya Kikwete, Former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and Michaëlle Jean, 27th Governor General of Canada.

Hatim, Founder and the President of the “Sustainable Development’s Youth” Association, was appointed in May to the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth as regional coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

In March, he was awarded the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Action prize, in the Mobilizing Initiatives category, as part of the Global Action Festival for Sustainable Development in Germany.

The High-Level Commission was established on Thursday to help commitments to women’s health and rights made at the November 2019 Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 stay on track, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is blocking access to essential services, such as family planning and antenatal care.

The Nairobi Summit secured billions of dollars in commitments from governments, the private sector, foundations and others. It rallied support to achieve “three zeros” – zero unmet need for family planning, zero preventable maternal deaths, zero gender-based violence and harmful practices – in 10 years.

UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, and the governments of Denmark and Kenya convened the Summit 25 years after the landmark International Conference on Population and Development, which culminated in a global agreement that sexual and reproductive health and rights are a necessity for growth and prosperity. But progress in securing these rights has stalled.