Every year since 1999, UNFPA releases its flagship report, the State of the World Population (SWOP) Report based on topical issues that advances the agenda of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The report also sheds light on unique challenges faced by different groups in different geographic regions of the world.

This year, the 2021 SWOP is titled: ‘My Body Is My Own’ and makes a bold case for Bodily Autonomy as a fundamental human right. To launch the 2021 version of the global report in-country, the Ghana Country Office of UNFPA brought together stakeholders in Government, the UN, Traditional authority and the Private sector to dialogue on issues highlighted in the SWOP.

Speaking at the event, UN Resident Coordinator to Ghana, Mr. Charles Abani, indicated that, ‘The absence of power and the abuse of rights alone, heighten the sense of powerlessness faced by women and girls.’ Adding that, the report couldn’t have come at a right time to engender advocacy for achieving gender equality, given that other studies over the past year reveal the growing gender-based violence brought by COVID-19.

On her part, the Executive Director of the National Population Council, Dr. Letitia Adelaide Appiah, emphasized the importance of making informed decisions, saying that, ‘society needs to hold a dialogue on policy using scientific information.’ She also called for the enforcement of the rights to self-determination that women and girls have.” 

The Country Representative of UNFPA Ghana, Mr. Niyi Ojuolape presented the highlights; chapter by chapter; of the report to give participants a foretaste of its content. It included notes and statistics about the violence women and girls experience in their bid to exercise their bodily autonomy.

On a rather interesting note, this edition of the SWOP Report features some images by a UNFPA Ghana Youth Leaders (YoLe) Fellow, George Kumi Koranteng Danso, after his entries got selected by the publishing and editorial team.