As the newly appointed EuroNGOs Chair I welcome the opportunity to highlight a few important points in this editorial note. As many of you know October has been a busy month for EuroNGOs and I had the pleasure of talking to many of you in Paris at the 2016 EuroNGOs AGM and Annual Conference. In these forums we shared ideas and began to collectively take decisions that will move our movement and our agenda forward. For those who could not join us a video report will be available soon.

One year after the adoption of Agenda 2030, UNFPA’s 2016 State of the World Population report: "10: How our future depends on a girl at this decisive age" explains why investing in today’s 10-year-old girls will determine what our world will look like in 2030.

After months of speculation and different voting rounds, on the 5th of October it was finally decided who will take over the seat of Ban ki Moon as United Nations Secretary General. The UN Security council agreed that former Portuguese Prime Minister and chief of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres will be leading the UN over the coming years.

On 13th October 2016, the SDG WATCH Europe - a new EU level alliance of 75 diverse CSOs organisations - was launched in Brussels. The European Union, a signatory to the SDGs, has an important role to play in making this ambitious new global agenda a reality in EU internal and external action. That is why the SDG Watch Europe coalition will keep the pressure on the EU and its Member States to live up to the commitments they made and to achieve the SDG goals and targets.

After months of preparation and anticipation, the 2016 EuroNGOs Conference is over but advancing our work on SRHR isn’t! So what happened at this year’s conference?

Access to safe, voluntary family planning is a human right. Yet, at least 225 million women worldwide who wish to avoid pregnancy lack access to family planning information, supplies and services. In most developing countries, the availability of contraception relies largely on funding from the aid programmes of donor countries. Yet there is a funding gap of around $273 million between now and 2020. If this gap is not closed, the reproductive health needs and rights of millions of women in these countries will not be met. And progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals will be set back significantly.

On November 10th, Be-cause Health, the Belgian platform for international health, will organize a seminar on stigma and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

On Friday the 21st of October, Sex og Politikk’s executive director Tor-Hugne Olsen moderated the launch of the UNFPA State of the World Population report for 2016. The key speaker was Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg who highlighted the importance of the success of young girls, which was the theme of the report. The launch was held at a primary school in Oslo, Nordpolen skole, where Ingeborg, one of the 10-year old girls featured in the report, is a pupil.

In September and October, Sex og Politikk and the Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) have cooperated to influence decision makers in both Malawi and Norway. Supported by the European Parliamentary Forum (EPF), we have enabled parliamentarians from Norway and Malawi to visit each other’s countries to strengthen SRHR discussions.

Our Finnish member Väestöliitto, together with the UNFPA Nordic Office, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the biggest national newspaper Helsingin Sanomat arranged the launch of the UNFPA State of World Population Report “10 – How Our Future Depends on a Girl at This Decisive Age” on the 20th of October in the offices of Helsingin Sanomat. The Finnish summary version translated by Väestöliitto was also released. The report was presented by the UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNFPA Deputy Executive Director Ms. Laura Londén.

Two vacancies at Eurodad:

(1) Policy and Advocacy Officer;

(2) Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer

Oxfam is searching for EU Conflict & Humanitarian Policy Advisor to lead the development and the implementation of advocacy strategies designed to influence the humanitarian/conflict policies and practices of the European institutions and key Members States as part of Oxfam’s global strategies for the Confederation. Based in Brussels.

The Global Fund for Children is seeking an energetic and entrepreneurial individual to maximize its fundraising potential in Europe. The new managing director will be charged with growing the annual fund, building a strong major gift program, increasing corporate and foundation giving and working to attract government funding.