Speech by Norway State Secretary marking 28 September at a packed meeting in Oslo
Sex og Politikk (IPPF Norway) together with FOKUS and our youth organisation SNU hosted a packed meeting in Oslo which opened with a speech by Laila Bokhari, State Secretary of Norway. Her speech began as follows:
“Let me first express my appreciation to civil society organisations in Norway and across the world for marking the International day for Safe Abortions. I would also like to pay a special tribute to the women in Latin America who more than 20 years ago launched the first campaign on safe abortion on a 28 September.
If women’s rights had their rightful place in the family of nations, this could have been another United Nations day. We are not yet there. And we will not be there until the day we succeed in convincing all UN Member States that safe abortion should be an integral part of women’s right to control and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality.
I am afraid that is not going to happen anytime soon. The question is: Are we making progress or are we moving backwards in making safe abortion a reality for women worldwide?…”
Her intervention was followed by a panel consisting of the Ipas CEO John Hetherington, SNU and YSAFE President Sarah Borgen and member of the SRHR All Party Parliamentary Group Karin Andersen SV (EUL-NGL).