“Explicit references to women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights must appear in any new set of development targets, and the U.N. panel producing a first draft must be bold and seek real change, a conference of [European] parliamentarians heard on Thursday,” The Guardian reports. “Baroness Glenys Kinnock, honorary co-president of the Labour Campaign for International Development and a former [member of the European Parliament], told the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development that women should be listened to, so that their needs — rather than what [non-governmental organizations (NGOs)] and governments think they need — are met,” and “[s]he criticized moves by conservatives, such as some members of the G77 group of developing countries and the Holy See, for trying to block progress for women,” the newspaper writes and summarizes her comments.

The U.N. panel “is expected to publish its report this month, following meetings in London, Monrovia and Bali since October” 2012, the newspaper notes. “Thursday’s conference, held in London, heard of a growing backlash against women’s rights that became acutely apparent at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which advocated agreement on ending violence against women and girls,” The Guardian writes and includes comments from Diego Palacios, a post-2015 coordinator at the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) (Ford, 5/10).