On the eve of The Summit of the Future, we are encouraging existing and potential new leaders to act and to make bold and ambitious commitments to secure the reproductive rights of women and girls and the next generation, to uplift reproductive choice on the global agenda and to galvanise further action that will enable a generation to choose choice. 

The power of reproductive choice has both individual impact and a ripple effect. It saves lives, it enables girls to stay in school, it helps women build careers and economic stability, and it supports women to lead in their communities. Tomorrow’s world is shaped by the young people of today. With access to reproductive choice, young people can have a choice and say in their futures. 

2024 is a critical juncture – the midpoint of Agenda 2030 and the ambition of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 30th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development – a landmark commitment to universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). 

Through leadership and partnership there has been incremental progress in many parts of the world and as we look towards 2030 there is real opportunity for progress, big and small, on reproductive rights, and much of it does not even require funding or legislation – it simply requires political will. However, this trajectory of progress is under threat, amid a global rollback on rights. Progress on issues such as bodily autonomy and reducing maternal death has slowed – and in some places even reversed. At this pivotal moment, against a backdrop of the climate crisis, geopolitical instability, and inequality this event will recognise that access to SRHR is critical to a gender equal world and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. 

It will mark our continued unwavering commitment to SRHR, celebrate the global partnerships that have made progress possible and provide a platform to welcome government, institutional donors and philanthropist pledges that will increase access to contraception and abortion.