Beth Schlacter on the Role of Sexual and Reproductive Health in New Development Goals

Summary: “I’d like to start by stating emphatically that since addressing global inequality and inequity are our overall principles in revising the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals], we must focus on health inequities to have a meaningful and lasting impact on human development,” says Beth Schlachter of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, speaking at the Wilson Center on January 9. “And for the most vulnerable – women and girls – that means we must focus on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.” The Millennium Development Goals, which have been the dominant international development framework since their inception, expire in 2015. Schlachter discusses the ways in which new development goals can include targets for sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.