EDITOrial

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Dr Rym Fayala Assistant Representative

2019, a particularly important year, as it marks the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the 50th anniversary of UNFPA. Only a few more days separate us from the Nairobi summit on November 12-14th, 2019, to accelerate our promises that every woman and girls will have access to modern contraceptive methods, that young people will fulfil their potential and that there will be preventable maternal deaths and no violence against women and girls by 2030. Without achieving these goals, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could not be achieved.

In Tunisia, much has been accomplished in terms of sexual and reproductive health, combating gender-based violence, including young people and their access to information and services. Based on recent studies, challenges remain to complete unfinished business and more specifically family planning.

UNFPA in Tunisia supports all actors to accelerate the promises, taking into account context, evidence and emerging needs. Our commitment to the reproductive rights and choices of every woman and girl, every young person and the entire population is ensured.

During the past four months, we have been able to make progress in implementing the project of integrating sexual health education in primary and secondary education, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and civil society. UNFPA also supported reflection on improving young people's access to reproductive health services in youth-friendly spaces. We supported young people and ensured their active participation and engagement in the Youth Forum in the Arab Region on access to knowledge and information, so that their voice is taken into account.

We continue our commitment to the implementation of the law to fight violence against women, supporting 5 centers of care for women victims of violence, the training of concerned actors in the regions on multisectoral coordination and the legal orientation of women victims of violence.

We contribute to the collection of indicators of the SDGs in general and those related to the ICPD in particular.

We have paid particular attention to the most vulnerable people so that they can be taken into account in planning through the realization of 2 studies on gender-based violence as well as sexual and reproductive health among disabled young people and adolescents

Together, we continue to move forward with conviction and commitment in the world of rights and choices for all, what we imagined and promised to all in Cairo 25 years ago, while contributing to the achievement of the SDGs by 2030.