Making reproductive rights a global priority

On April 5, 2013 the world began the 1,000-day countdown to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline. Created in 2000, the MDGs spurred action from governments, international organizations, and civil society.

In recent years, wehavecut the global poverty rate in half,reduced the prevalence of deadly diseases, improved sanitation, narrowedthe gender gap, and more. Although we have made progress toward these Goals,there is still much to be done, especially for the girls and women of the Muslim world.

Despite the ample evidence that ensuring the wellbeing of girls and women spurs development, gender equality indicators in many majority-Muslim countries are some of the worst in the world. If we are to continue making progress towards the MDGs, we must prioritize the health and rights of our Muslim mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters everywhere – including those in Africa.

The continent is home to hundreds of millions of Muslim women. Yet unfortunately, a large number of African countries –including majority- Muslim nations likeNigeria, Sierra Leone, Djibouti,Senegal , Guinea,and more –are expected to fall short of the 2015 MDGs deadline for their girls and women.

It has been shown time and time again that we can accelerate progress towards the MDGs when we invest in girls’ and women’s health and rights, including their rights to reproductive health. When women have access to contraceptives, maternal and child mortality rates are greatly reduced; sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are prevented; the number of safe and unsafe abortions is lowered; and pregnancy and birth-related complications are avoided.

Girls and women are more likely to stay in school and spend more time in the workforce when they are able to plan their pregnancies. All of this helps us close the gender gap, reduce poverty, spur economies, and stabilize nations.

Yet women in many Muslim communities face barriers to contraceptive access andfamily planning services due to religious and cultural misconceptions. The reality isthat Islam is – and always has been – supportive of women’s reproductive rights.The family is the basic unit of a Muslim society, and the mother is the keystone of this unit.Islam is a progressive religion that encourages its followers to uphold principles and practices that ensure maternal and reproductive health, and family planning is a centralcomponent of such practices.

Islam does not forbid a woman from controlling the spacing and number of her pregnancies.A thorough review of the Holy Quran reveals no text (nuss) prohibiting the prevention or planning of pregnancy, and there are several traditions of the Prophet (PBUH) that indicate such practices arepermissible.

Many modern contraceptivesand family planning methods, by analogy (kias), are similar to coitus interruptus (al-azl), whichhas beenpracticedsince the time of the Prophet (PBUH). Modern contraceptive pills, injectables, implants, and other reversible methods were not known at the time of the Prophet (PBUH), but serve the same purpose as coitus interruptus as they temporarily prevent pregnancy. Hence they can – and should – be used today.

A number of African countries, including Rwanda and Ethiopia,have made great commitments to increasing contraceptive prevalence and are seeing the benefits of doing so. Yet others, including Niger, Nigeria, the Congo and Chad, are still considered to be some of the worst places in the world to be a woman. Such disparities are unacceptable and debilitating to development, and we must continue to strive until they are eliminated.

This May, the world will come together to do just that. Muslim community leaders will join other women’s health and rights advocates from all over the world for global advocacy organization Women Deliver’s third global conference, Women Deliver 2013.

Women Deliver 2013 will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 28-30 May. This is the first time a Women Deliver conference will be held in a majority-Muslim country. Malaysia has made great strides in improving women’s health and rights,and serves as a strong example of how investing in women pays. Women Deliver’s estimated5,000 attendees will drive conversations that ensure that global commitments to girls and women are kept at the top of the international development agenda.

With the world’s Muslim population expected to reach approximately 2.2 billion by 2030 and the MDGs deadline fast approaching, this is the time to act for the girls and women of the Muslim world. It cannot be denied that Muslim girls and women across Africa and elsewhere are subject to a unique and complex web of political, social, cultural, and religious factors, but this does not mean that the battle for their healthand rights is lost.

To win this battle,we must continue to uphold the commitments we have made to our mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives, including those made totheir reproductive health and rights. These commitments cannot waver based on cultural or religious misunderstandings. Reproductive rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights. We must keep fighting for them until every girl and woman has access to the life-saving contraceptives and family planning methods that she deserves.

By Dr. GamalSerour

Director of the International Islamic Center for Population Studies and Research at Al Azhar University

(Originally posted on Al Arabiya on April 18, 2013.)