Module I

Lesson 2: Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all nations in 2015 as a blueprint to
achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by the year 2030, are a collection of 17
interlinked goals. The 17 SDGs are:

1. No poverty
2. Zero hunger
3. Good health and well-being
4. Quality education
5. Gender equality
6. Clean water and sanitation
7. Affordable and clean energy
8. Decent work and economic growth
9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
10. Reduced inequalities
11. Sustainable cities and communities
12. Responsible consumption and production
13. Climate action
14. Life below water
15. Life on land
16. Peace and justice, and strong institutions
17. Partnerships to achieve the goals

Two SDGs are related to SRH

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

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Online Orientation Course on Cultural and Islamic Considerations of Sexual and Reproductive Health
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 SDG target 3.1
By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to less than 70 per 100 000
live births.
Indicators:
 3.1.1 Maternal mortality ratio

 3.1.2 Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel

To achieve this global SDG target each country needs to reduce its MMR by two thirds of the 2010
level, and no country should have an MMR exceeding 140/100 000 live births (1). Improving SRH
is core to achieving Goal 3. Though major reductions in maternal mortality have been made by
some countries in the Region, in others the MMR remains unacceptably high. (2).

SDG indicator 3.1.2 is the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel. According to
data covering 2013-2018, while in 13 countries in the Region more than 90% of births were
attended by skilled health personnel, the figure dropped to less than 50% in Somalia and Yemen
(3).

SDG target 3.7

SDG target 3.7 calls for universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including
family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health care into
national strategies and programmes. Between 2007 and 2017 indicator 3.7.1 varied markedly
across the Region: it was above 68% in just five countries and below 50% in six, revealing a huge

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Online Orientation Course on Cultural and Islamic Considerations of Sexual and Reproductive Health
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unmet need for contraception which in turn led to a high rate of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe
abortions (5).

SDG indicator 3.7.2, adolescent birth rate per 1000 women, also showed wide variance for the
period 2007-2016. In six countries in the Region it was below 20/1000, and in six others was above
50/1000 (6).

SDG target 5.3

Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, and female genital
mutilation.
Indicators:
 5.3.1 Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before
age 15, and before age 18

 5.3.2 Proportion of girls and women aged 15-49 years who have undergone female
genital mutilation/cutting, by age

Data for indicator 5.3.1 are unavailable for a majority of countries in the Region. The available
figures vary between 0.5% in Morocco, 3.6% in Pakistan, 7.2% in Iraq and 11.9% in Sudan.

Information on indicator 5.3.2 is scarce. What figures are available vary from 7.4% in Iraq (2018),
86.6% in Sudan (2014), 87.2% in Egypt (2015), to 97.6% in Somalia (2006) (7)

SDG target 5.6

Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in
accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and
Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review
conferences.
Indicators:
 5.6.1 Proportion of women aged 15-49 years who make their own informed decisions
regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care
 5.6.2 Number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee women aged
between 15- and 49-years access to sexual and reproductive health care, information
and education

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Jordan and Pakistan are the only countries in the region to have information on indicator 5.6.1.
The proportions are 93% (2018) and 94.1% (2018) respectively.

Factors identified as obstacles to achieving SRH for all in some countries in the region include,
but are not limited to, weak health systems, low health-care expenditure, shortage of skilled health-
care providers, lack of political commitment to SRH, harmful cultural practices, misinterpretation
of religion, and an increase in the number of armed conflicts. Armed conflicts, protracted
humanitarian emergencies, and the complex dynamics of sociopolitical change have had a huge
negative impact on SRH services in the Region. Beliefs based on misinterpretations of religion
have often shaped and influenced health practices, particularly when it comes to health care
seeking, family planning, child marriage, female genital mutilation and vaccinations.

Religion and culture are now recognized as important social determinants of health, and
particularly of SRH. Islam is the predominant religion in the Region. Of the 600 million people
living in EMR, 96% are Muslim, 3% are Christian, while 1% were categorized as other in 2010.

Awareness raising, and dissemination of information about SRH and SDGs through all available
channels and at all levels, including government, stakeholders, and the public, is crucial to creating
an enabling environment. Participatory and inclusive processes and can help in creating a sense of
ownership to achieve SDG targets. Keeping the goals and targets under constant national and
regional review, and ensuring the sustained involvement of all stakeholders, helps maintain
ownership of the SDGs’ SRH targets.

References:

1. World health statistics 2018: monitoring health for the SDGs, sustainable development
goals. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018
(https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/272596, accessed 21 March 2021)
2. Strategies towards ending preventable maternal mortality. Geneva: World Health
Organization; 2015 (https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/153544, accessed 21 March
2021)

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 3. Joint UNICEF/WHO database 2018 of skilled health personnel, based on population-based
national household survey data and routine health systems data (https://data.unicef.org/wp-
content/ uploads/2018/02/Interagency-SAB-Database_UNICEF_WHO_ Apr-2018.xlsx)
4. World contraceptive use 2018 [online database]. New York: United Nations. Department
of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division; 2018
(https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/dataset/contraception/
wcu2018.asp, accessed21 March, 2021)
5. World Fertility Data 2017 [online database]. New York: United Nations. Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2017
(https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/database, accessed 21 March 2021)
6. Global Health Estimates 2016: deaths by cause, age, sex, by country and by region, 2000-
2016. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018.
7. Serour G, Ragaa A. Female Circumcision between the incorrect use of science and the
misunderstood doctrine. Cairo: International Islamic Center for Population Studies and
Research, Al-Azhar University, in collaboration with UNICEF; 2013.

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Online Orientation Course on Cultural and Islamic Considerations of Sexual and Reproductive Health
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