The right to life is protected by Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the main regional human rights instruments such as ACHPR Article 4, ACHR Article 4, and ECHR Article 2. The right to life of the child and to survival is specifically protected by Article 6 of Convention on the Rights of the Child which obliges the member states “to ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child”.
The most obvious human right violated by avoidable death, both for the mother and the child, during and after pregnancy and child-birth is the right to life. The World Health Organization has assessed that over 1,500 women and girls die every day as a result of preventable complications occurring before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth, and that, globally, maternal mortality is the leading cause of death among women and girls of reproductive age.15 A woman’s right to life entitles her to access basic reproduc-tive health services. An infant’s right to life
The right to life should not be too narrowly interpreted but rather entails obligations on the states to adopt positive measures, e.g. to reduce infant mortality. This inter-pretation also obliges states to take other positive measures to protect life, including with respect to maternal mortality, preven-tion and treatment of illnesses such as HIV/
AIDS.16 Article 6 of the International Cove-nant on Civil and Political Rights considers the issues of pregnancy- and childbirth-re-lated deaths of women as well as practices such as female infanticide, the burning of
values for the area of reproductive rights, stating as one of the principles that the “implemen-tation of the recommendations contained in the Programme of Action is the sovereign right of each country, consistent with national laws and development priorities, with full respect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of its people, and in conformity with universally recognized international human rights.”
Reproductive rights deal with issues at the core of human existence. Many of the problematic issues, such as female genital mutilation, early marriages and the view of women as less valuable than men stem from cultural beliefs. Thus, the importance of religion, ethics and cultural beliefs within this field of human rights cannot be overstated. In the foreword to its publication, CULTURE MATTERS Lessons from a Legacy of Engaging Faith-based Organizations,18 UNFPA stresses that engaging faith-based organizations (FBO) and local leaders is critical to UNFPA’s development work and the promotion of reproductive rights. They are often reference points for their communities, are respected having high credibility in addition to providing the communities with spiritual and moral support and (in many cases) educational and health services. Furthermore, even though their approaches may differ, institutions like UNFPA and NHRIs, FBO and local leaders ideally share the same objective, being to uphold human dignity, serve people and to respond to the needs of the poor, the marginalized and the excluded. Finally, it is a matter of respect for the communities being served that their beliefs are taken seriously while upholding human rights including the right to development and gender equality as consistent and unwavering objectives.
In the 2010-2011 study on Integrating Reproductive Rights into the Work of National Human Rights Institutions of the Asia-Pacific Region, most respondents (all from NHRIs) identified culture and religion as major impediments to working with reproductive rights and this was repeated during the follow-up consultation in June 2011 in Kuala Lumpur. This was the case irrespective of the dominant religion of the country. There is every reason to assume that similar views would be expressed by NHRIs outside the Asia-Pacific region.
The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion has undertaken a comprehensive study on freedom of religion or belief and the status of women in light of religion and traditions, which explains that much discrimination against women is “based on or imputed to religion.” The
combat impermissible discrimination against women, and also points to the importance of working with religious groups and leaders as a key aspect of prevention.19
It is crucial for a NHRI that wants to engage in reproductive rights to consider how to deal with religious and cultural issues. Not only can this be considered a positive obligation in order to respect the views of the people being served, it is also often imperative if results are to be achieved. The question then remains how to do this. In this respect it is important to consider religion and cultural values not only as obstacles (which they can be) but also as potential beneficial factors. Certain religious and traditional values can actually be seen as benefiting reproductive rights just as religious and traditional leaders can become important allies in the struggle for the same rights.20 It should also be kept in mind that in some countries religion is so important and religious leaders so powerful that without some collaboration with the religious structures, the chance of impact is extremely limited.
However, working with religious leaders must not undermine the work of NHRIs in promoting gender equality, respecting the universal human rights of women and girls and promoting reproductive rights in general.
The big question, then, seems not to be whether religious and traditional leaders and struc-tures should be involved when working with respect to reproductive rights but how best to do this. There are some examples, such as discussions with Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka, of efforts to correlate religious views with human rights.
Among the important lessons learned by UNFPA in this respect are the following:
• Candid, respectful dialogue can go a long way in achieving common ground between advocates for reproductive rights, UNFPA, FBOs and religious and cultural leaders.
Bringing in experts who speak the language of religion and can actually use religious arguments for the respect for life and human rights and building arguments based on facts (such as providing national epidemiological data on HIV) can be highly successful tools in such efforts. It is very seldom that there is only one view within the relevant religious and/or traditional circles and it will thus often be possible to identify sympathetic religious and traditional leaders that are amenable to a human rights
human rights and gender equality.
• Promoting behaviour change often begins by identifying religious leaders who have the capacity and legitimacy to motivate and mobilize communities. Efforts in, for instance, Central Asian countries have shown that partnering with local religious leaders can be the best strategy in gaining wider acceptance and ownership of programmes that pro-mote gender equality and reproductive health, not least to get men on-board in the strug-gle for reproductive rights.
• Advocacy campaigns that are closely tailored to the religious and cultural contexts in which they are launched (without compromising on human rights) are superior in dealing with sensitive subjects. Campaigns should reflect not only the views of sympathetic reli-gious and tradition leaders but also try to take into account the views of potential adver-saries and should draw from sources that are popular within a given culture. Examples from Eritrea have shown that it is possible to work with various religious groupings, such as both Christian and Muslim leaders, at the same time.
• Making the effort to understand the objectives of the faith-based organizations and reli-gious and cultural leaders makes it possible to find the common ground that mostly does exist. This can be aided by using language that appreciates the nuances of religion and religious sensitivities. In this respect it is also important to acknowledge the constraints of religious and traditional partners and find ways to work also in areas where direct collab-oration is not possible.
When considering how to tackle religious, cultural and ethical values with the potential to both help and hinder reproductive rights, a NHRI should consider seeking advice from NHRIs in comparable countries, from civil society organizations with experience within this area, from local United Nations staff, including UNFPA country officers, and from religious and traditional groupings themselves.