McAvan (PSE). – Madam President, I would like to make three remarks on this excellent report by my colleague.

First, I hope the House will reject the amendments, tabled by some PPE-DE colleagues, to delete all the references to reproductive health rights. Not one PPE-DE speaker has explained what the objection is to the idea of people having sexual and reproductive health rights. We hear much in this House about rights –– shareholder rights –– and I fail to see how they can object to the concept of people having rights in relation to their reproductive health.

Second, I hope the House will send a strong message to the United States that the Mexico City Policy is unacceptable and should be abandoned. It prevents real aid going to real people on the ground who need access to contraception, family planning and other health services. It is a damaging policy and I hope the European Parliament will convey that message.

Finally, I very much support the amendments by Mrs Junker and Mr Bowis on the problem of vaginal fistula. Many of us visited the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia and met women who are affected by this very severe health problem, which has not been dealt with very often in Parliament. It is a serious problem and I hope the European Commission will look into how it can help to fund hospitals and outreach programmes for women affected by it. This is a problem which is totally preventable and by putting some money into it we could stop the unnecessary suffering of women. Since today is International Women's Day, this would be a good message to send, as this is a problem we can do something about.