WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC BUREAU REGIONAL DU PACIFIQUE OCCIDENTAL
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Sixty-fourth session Manila, Philippines 21-25 October 2013 Agenda item 15.2
WPRIRC64/IG0/1 23 October 2013 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
STATEMENT BY THE INDEPENDENT EXPERT REVIEW GROUP By Mrs Kathleen Ferrier, Member
Mr Chairperson, Excellences, honourable ministers, distinguished delegates, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for the opportunity to say a few words on behalf of the independent Expert Review Group. In 2012, the United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health was established at the request of the United Nations Secretary General. This commission recommended the appointment of an independent group of experts to monitor progress towards its recommendations and towards Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health. I am representing the independent Expert Review Group today. ln our report, we identity two neglected dimensions of women's and children's health: strengthening accountability in countries and adolescents health. The health of young people (aged 10-24 years) has been especially neglected by the global community. There are 1.2 billion adolescent health, little progress has been made either in terms of global initiatives or programmes in countries.
We are specifically worried about early marriage and welcome the initiative of the IPU, Inter Parliamentarian Union, to have a seminar on this topic, here in the region next month. The iERG 2013 report makes six recommendations. First, there is an urgent need to strengthen country accountability. Ministers of health must do more to prioritize and evaluate national oversight mechanisms to drive improvement in women's and children's health. Second, the iERG urges the creation of an independent accountability mechanism to monitor, review, and continuously improve actions towards delivering the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.
WPR!RC64/IG0/1 page2 Third, adolescents must be taken seriously in efforts to improve health worldwide. The iERG recommends measuring adolescents pregnancy as the most sensitive measure of adolescent health. Fourth, the global community must make the quality of care the route to equity and dignity for women and children.