WATCH | ‘Each of Us Has Our Role to Play’: UNFPA Director Discusses Ways To Empower Black Women And Girls For A Just Future
As we mark the International Day for People of African Descent for 2024, ESSENCE sat down with Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), for a timely conversation.
With the International Decade for People of African Descent drawing to a close, Dr. Kanem reflects on the strides made in recognizing, developing and achieving justice for people of African descent while also addressing the persistent challenges that continue to impact this community. In this conversation, Dr. Kanem explores how UNFPA’s initiatives are advancing the rights of Black women and girls, particularly in the realms of maternal health, data collection and cultural recognition.
As we look to the future, she emphasizes the importance of sustaining the progress made during the decade and the critical role of global solidarity in addressing ongoing inequalities.
With the International Decade for People of African Descent drawing to a close, Dr. Kanem reflects on the strides made in recognizing, developing and achieving justice for people of African descent while also addressing the persistent challenges that continue to impact this community. In this conversation, Dr. Kanem explores how UNFPA’s initiatives are advancing the rights of Black women and girls, particularly in the realms of maternal health, data collection and cultural recognition.
As we look to the future, she emphasizes the importance of sustaining the progress made during the decade and the critical role of global solidarity in addressing ongoing inequalities.
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00:00When we look at the issues in front of us,
00:03respecting women and helping them
00:07to be able to have a voice in that community center,
00:12in that household where they live,
00:15making sure that girls are not squelched.
00:18You are to be seen and you are to be heard.
00:21All of this is part and parcel of achieving
00:25what the United Nations really stands for,
00:28and that is peace.
00:29Peace in the home, peace in the community,
00:32and peace in the bigger world.
00:37Hi, everyone.
00:37My name is Melissa Noel,
00:38Contributing News and Politics Editor at Essence,
00:41and today I am joined by Dr. Natalia Kanem,
00:45the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund.
00:50Dr. Kanem, so nice to e-meet you,
00:54and I see we both got the orange memo today.
00:56Yes, absolutely.
00:59I'm delighted to be with you, Melissa.
01:02And we're delighted to have you speak with us here
01:06at Essence, particularly around topics
01:09that are so important to us, and of course to UNFPA,
01:13especially when it comes to women and girls.
01:15So I wanna just jump right in here
01:18because we are at a critical time
01:20for people of African descent.
01:23We're approaching the end of the international decade
01:26for people of African descent,
01:28which started in 2014 and ends this year, 2024.
01:32In your opinion, how successful have we been
01:35in achieving recognition, development, and justice
01:39for all people of African descent?
01:41And what are some of the things
01:43we still have yet to accomplish or achieve?
01:48Melissa, it is astounding how much has been accomplished
01:53during this decade,
01:55which looks at recognition, development, and justice
01:59through the lens of people
02:00who have actually built the Americas,
02:03contributed to the development of Africa, of course,
02:07but for Asia, for Latin America, when we look around Europe,
02:14the issues that we're speaking about
02:16really touch the hearts and homes
02:20of people of African descent
02:22and their surroundings everywhere in the world.
02:26Look, this decade came out of the conference in Durban,
02:31which in 2001 said, let us end racism.
02:37The challenges are huge
02:39and the attention also has to be huge.
02:43For UNFPA, which as you know,
02:45is the United Nations Population Fund,
02:47we focus on these issues of development,
02:52of peace, of humanitarian assistance
02:56through the lens of who is being left behind.
02:58That's what we're talking about
02:59during the Sustainable Development Goals era.
03:02And while we've seen huge progress
03:05for things like maternal mortality,
03:07for things like teen pregnancy,
03:09which is one of the contributing causes to unhappiness
03:14and so much else in the life of a young woman,
03:17for things that have to do with education,
03:21many, many more Afro-descendiente girls in school,
03:25many more doing well,
03:26but let's not shy away from saying
03:29that a lot more has to be done to face challenges ahead.
03:34No, and I appreciate that.
03:36So you spoke a little bit to, of course,
03:39the successes and some of those challenges there.
03:41So when we talk about racial discrimination
03:44and gender equality,
03:45that can often have really, really deadly consequences
03:50in some instances.
03:52What are some of those challenges
03:54that you think we need to address,
03:55be addressing right now?
03:57Key challenges when it comes to issues
03:59of racial discrimination and gender inequality
04:02that we should be focusing on and paying most attention to?
04:06Well, look, here we have to give tribute
04:08to young people who've been very outspoken
04:11on the issues of intersectionality.
04:14And here we're saying that for a young woman,
04:18for a black woman,
04:20for someone who may be living in poverty,
04:23all of these things cohere and mean that she can be
04:27up to six times more likely to die during pregnancy
04:32and childbirth compared to the baseline population.
04:35Studies that we've done here at the United Nations
04:38are revealing that there are a lot
04:40of inherent racialized attitudes
04:44in the very medical system,
04:46which as a doctor myself, I'm ashamed to say,
04:49there are all these mythologies about pain
04:52and who feels pain in the same way.
04:55And all this kind of nonsense
04:57has to be addressed and dismantled.
04:59You are also, I know, a champion of girls
05:04during the menstruation period that can stop them
05:08from being able to access schooling.
05:10We've also worked on the ground with black women
05:13and also indigenous women
05:15who have midwifery traditions.
05:19These are beautiful traditions
05:21of being guided and shepherded through your pregnancy
05:25in a much different way
05:26than the prenatal medicalized care.
05:29So on one hand, it can be very hard
05:33for women to access good care.
05:36On the other hand,
05:36they can be what we call over-instrumentalized,
05:40too quick to do a C-section or an episiotomy,
05:44surgical interventions that are unnecessary.
05:47So all of this has to be looked at in the context of,
05:51are we educating nurses and doctors the right way?
05:55Is there a respectful attitude when women come to the fore?
05:59And racism, unfortunately,
06:02is not exempting from the health system.
06:05So we are advocating to change this in very deliberate ways,
06:10from education all the way through to patient feedback.
06:14What does the woman think about the experience that she had?
06:18Right, what do they have to say?
06:20What was that experience like on both sides?
06:23So thank you so much for that there.
06:25And so you mentioned several things in terms of care
06:30for young women, for girls, when it comes to their health.
06:35So a really important part of that, of course,
06:38is data collection and policy implementation, of course.
06:43Because we know that collecting data
06:45always helps to identify disparities
06:47across race, gender, and other factors.
06:52And we know that UNFPA does do a lot of data collection
06:55and studies, but when it comes particularly
06:58to the people of African descent
07:00and other marginalized communities,
07:03what progress are you seeing in that regard?
07:05Not just in the data collection,
07:07but what you're then able to do with that data
07:10to impact changes in the communities that you're in.
07:13That's such a fantastic question.
07:16Because in order to see who's being left behind,
07:20you have to count, you have to measure certain things.
07:23And it's so disappointing that some countries
07:27are hiding behind a screen of not collecting data
07:32based on race, which in and of itself is a problem.
07:36Right now across the Americas, for example,
07:38our new study showed that only 11 countries out of the 35
07:42actually break things down by the experience
07:45of the woman or the girl,
07:47because teen pregnancy is a huge problem.
07:51Child marriage is a huge problem.
07:54So if you only have a third of the countries
07:57getting good data, you can't plan properly.
08:01You don't know how to reach the person properly.
08:03So we've been advising governments on this systematically,
08:06and we've had some big successes
08:09in the instance of Panama, for example,
08:12advising on census for the population to be counted.
08:16This recent census period during the 2020 round,
08:21people in general were asked to self-identify
08:25by their heritage.
08:27And what a surprise that 29, 30% of the population
08:30said that they were proudly of African descent.
08:34We've also tried to help governments use data
08:37to look at who's being left behind in rural areas,
08:40in states and provinces and counties
08:44that are either more populated by people of African descent,
08:49and again, parenthetically, by indigenous women,
08:52who we also have to advocate for as well.
08:56No, and thank you so much for that,
08:58because of course, when it comes to not only,
09:00as you mentioned, the collection of it,
09:02but in order to know who to help,
09:03you have to know who is being left behind.
09:06When we are kind of going back to talking about people
09:09of African descent on the whole,
09:12as we approach the end of this decade,
09:13I cannot believe it is already,
09:15so we're in the second half of the year, it's almost over.
09:20There has been some talk of there potentially needing
09:23to be a second decade in order to not only to galvanize
09:28more folks behind what's been laid out
09:32as the pillars of the decade,
09:35but then to also to just kind of get more people involved.
09:38What are your thoughts on there potentially
09:41being a second decade,
09:42or if there should be a second decade
09:45for people of African descent?
09:48Well, let me say that I am really proud
09:51of the United Nations work in shepherding this first decade,
09:56but like everything else with COVID,
09:59some of that steam was lost midway
10:02because people couldn't associate in the same way.
10:05So if asked my personal opinion,
10:08and I am not actually a member of the Permanent Forum
10:11of People of African Descent,
10:13but UNFPA has been helping to support that new forum
10:18and to help them get lift,
10:20the Permanent Forum that relates to the decade
10:23is just a couple of years old now.
10:25So my private belief is that it would be wonderful
10:29to have a second decade
10:31where we can actually galvanize people all over the world.
10:35Because you know what, Melissa, when I traveled to Japan,
10:39I meet people of African descent who challenged me,
10:43why aren't you looking at our issues?
10:45When I'm in so many countries of the world,
10:48you know, India, you name it,
10:51Africans have spread all over the world
10:54and they feel the sense of coherence and cohesion.
10:59For recognition, that's one of the things
11:01that the decade tried to do.
11:04Yes, I think it's gonna be important
11:07to try to extend that momentum.
11:10I also am a big believer that
11:12where you have well-organized women's groups,
11:16these very thorny issues about bodily autonomy,
11:20you know, owning your body, reproductive freedom,
11:23reproductive justice,
11:25this forum has an appetite
11:28for defending women of African descent again,
11:30because they're the ones who are catching hell up there.
11:34So I do hope that in their wisdom,
11:38that they will make that decision.
11:41Oh, thank you so much for that there.
11:43And so I think my final question just has to do with
11:47how best can we, you know,
11:49as everyday people support the efforts
11:52of an organization like UNFPA?
11:54I know sometimes people can get bogged down with,
11:57you know, a lot of data or they're seeing some things,
12:00but they're not necessarily engaged.
12:02How do we kind of,
12:04kind of key into more of the work that UNFPA does
12:09on a regular basis,
12:10so that not only, you know,
12:12kind of participate from where you are,
12:14wherever that may be?
12:16I love this question because I really believe that
12:20anyone can make a difference.
12:23And, you know, to be a change agent,
12:24we've had so many beautiful examples
12:27of Martin Luther King, of Gandhi, of Audre Lorde,
12:31of people who did what they were supposed to
12:34where they were,
12:35and really ushered in a sea change.
12:38So I think that when we look at the issues in front of us,
12:44respecting women and helping them
12:47to be able to have a voice in that community center,
12:53in that household where they live,
12:56making sure that girls are not squelched.
12:58You are to be seen and you are to be heard.
13:02All of this is part and parcel
13:04of achieving what the United Nations really stands for.
13:09And that is peace.
13:10Peace in the home,
13:11peace in the community,
13:13and peace in the bigger world.
13:16There is so much turmoil right now.
13:18And I think each of us has our role to play
13:21to interrupt violence.
13:24If we're online and someone is being called
13:26out of their name,
13:27you can be on the side of the right.
13:30You can also open space for young people
13:34to be able to express what's on their minds.
13:36To be a good listener,
13:37I think is part of the peace process
13:40because the type of dialogue that we're supposed to have,
13:43you've got to listen to me.
13:45And I certainly have to listen to you.
13:47We should not be talking over each other
13:50and shouting each other down.
13:51So reproductive justice
13:54is going to take more and more importance.
13:57As you have probably noticed,
13:59a lot of young ladies are deciding
14:01not to have children at all.
14:03What is this motivation?
14:05Are we helping them with childcare?
14:08Are we trivializing the concerns of a girl
14:11who is being embarrassed online
14:13with unsavory things circulating about her?
14:16These are mental health issues these days.
14:19So technology will never replace
14:22you and me speaking with each other.
14:24The essence audience,
14:26and I think your readers are also doers,
14:30are people who are really gonna have
14:32a magnified importance in the next couple of years
14:35when we're talking about reproductive rights
14:37and reproductive justice.
14:39So it's a delight for you and FPA to,
14:42yeah, face these harsh truths.
14:46There is gender-based violence that's killing women.
14:49You know, we call it femicide.
14:51You should not be murdered by your partner.
14:52You should not be disrespected by anyone.
14:55I also believe that men and boys are inspired
14:59to help when we orange the world
15:01against gender-based violence,
15:03as we will in November again this year.
15:07Men and boys have got to step up.
15:09They've got to be the ones who say,
15:10no, no, no, that's not right.
15:11Don't treat her like that.
15:13So there's a lot that we can do on the individual level,
15:16and it's gonna add up.
15:18It's going to make a difference,
15:19and we shouldn't be shy about it.
15:23I wanna thank you so much for that.
15:25You said, you know, use your voice.
15:26You can speak out and speak up from wherever you may be.
15:31No point of input is too small.
15:35Dr. Natalia Kanem, the Executive Director
15:38of the United Nations Population Fund,
15:41thank you so much for joining us.
15:43We really appreciate your time.
15:44Thank you, too.
15:45All the best.
15:46Thank you very much.