2015 is a special year for development, both outside and inside the EU. It is the first ever European Year to specifically target the EU’s external action and is then a great platform to foster citizens’ interest and knowledge on development policy and programmes. What better timeframe then to promote SRHR as a key enabler for development?
After showcasing best practices of SRHR projects in a session at the European Commission External Cooperation InfoPoint last April, for the occasion of the thematic month of health, it became imperative to put SRHR in the agenda of the European Development Days (EDD), the flagship event of the European Year for Development (EYD) that attracted so many participants to Tour & Taxis in Brussels.
DSW at the EDDs
On June 3rd, DSW, together with many other partners/acronyms, such as IPPF EN, Countdown2015 Europe, EPF, MSI, UNFPA, GIZ and APS, organised a debate about the benefits of advancing the SRHR agenda for youth empowerment, inclusive growth and sustainable development. Entitled ‘Access to SRHR: a prerequisite for youth economic empowerment’, the debate attracted 70 participants, the maximum capacity of the room. Moderated by Musa Okwonga, whose journalist and poet skills led to a joyful discussion, the debate resulted in strong messages supporting SRHR. Renate Baehr, representing DSW and the High-Level Task Force for ICPD, explained why promoting access to SRHR is a smart investment and called for this to be effectively implemented 
and monitored after 2015. MEP Heidi Hautala described the ongoing – though not unanimous – support from the European Parliament to SRHR. Preethi Sundaram, IPPF Policy & advocacy officer, gave a gendered dimension of poverty and confirmed that ‘investments in SRHR are notjust smart but also right’. And after describing several GIZ projects, Dr. Günther Taube pointed out that there ‘is a very clear rationale for [investing in SRHR], both economically and for human rights’ and that investment should be scaled up and coordinated.
Youth accountability – crucial for the post-2015 agenda
On the following day, June 4th, DSW was once again represented at the EDDs, this time by Manka Kway, Impact Coordinator, in a brainstorming session that discussed the role of youth in social accountability and that was co-organised by Restless Development and World Vision. In order to inspire the break out groups, Manka explained that social accountability is key to ensure national ownership of decision-making, namely through activities like evidence-based advocacy and civic engagement. She further detailed how this process has been successful in improving policies and increasing budgets for FP in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. The approximately 30 participants (again, maximum capacity) then helped developing recommendations as to how the role of youth can and should be encouraged in leading these processes.
And, after all this, what now? There are still 6 more months of EYD to go. Next step: July, the EYD month that will celebrate children, youth and girls. Already next week DSW will be curating the EYD social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter). This will be a great opportunity to forefront messages on girls, youth economic empowerment and SRHR. We should all then follow this activity and especially the ‘@dsw_worldwide for EYD2015’! And perhaps we can even get inspired as to how to keep SRHR in the agenda of other thematic months…
