Marie Stopes: Global safe abortion conference attracts top level speakers.

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Monday, 17, Sep 2007 12:00

The Marie Stopes International Global Conference on Safe Abortion: Whose Right? Whose Choice? Who Cares? which takes place in London in October has attracted some extremely high-profile speakers, including DfID’s new Under Secretary of State for International Development, Baroness Shriti Vadera, and Bert Koenders, the Minister for Development Cooperation in the Netherlands.

“This is the first-ever global conference dedicated specifically to this critical issue in women’s reproductive health and rights, and is therefore significant for both political and programmatic reasons,” says Dana Hovig, Chief Executive of Marie Stopes International. “For the conference to be a success, it is essential to have strong participation from speakers and delegates who are prepared to carry the information and messages home and can provide leadership to expand women’s access to safe abortion in their own countries. We are fortunate enough to have attracted exactly that sort of representation.”

Other key plenary speakers include Christine McCafferty MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Population; Prof. Fred Sai of Ghana; Gill Greer, Director-General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation; Dr. Eunice Brookman-Amissah, Former Minister of Health of Ghana and Ipas Vice-President for Africa; Jon O’Brien, President of Catholics for a Free Choice; and Dr. Akinrinola Bankole of the Guttmacher Institute.

The Conference, in association with Ipas and Abortion Rights, will be at the QEII Conference Centre in London on 23-24 October. For more information and registration, please visit www.globalsafeabortion.org.

N.B. There will be Spanish translation facilities available at the conference.

Diana Thomas

Communications Manager

Marie Stopes International

1 Conway Street

Fitzroy Square

London W1T 6LP

Tel: +44 (0)20 7034 2317

Fax: +44 (0)20 7034 2404