In her speech, Sadik touched on themes familiar from her tenure at UNFPA, including her belief that "traditional" morality disguises a male power structure and must be transformed. Sadik stated that the policies advanced by UNFPA and now apparently endorsed by the WAGGS "may not reflect the narrow traditional moral boundaries which some people would draw around sexual behaviour. In that case, I would suggest that the boundaries need to be redrawn. In many cases I believe that restrictive morality is being used falsely, as a means of asserting power, over women in particular." Sadik also accused those who disagree with her of holding "that women in general, and female sexuality in particular, are to blame" for the spread of HIV/AIDS, and that "girls are immoral and in some ways deserve their fate."
Sadik repeated her call for increased access to reproductive services, saying "we must make male and female condoms far more widely available; and we must demand that men use them." She also criticized international aid agencies that are "squeamish" about distributing the morning-after pill, which destroys already conceived human embryos and therefore causes abortions. Under Sadik's watch, UNFPA was a pioneer in promoting and distributing the pill to nations worldwide.
According to the WAGGS website, delegates to the convention "enjoyed listening to keynote speaker Dr. Nafis Sadik." The website also reports that "for the first time ever, young women from each of the regions formed a panel to discuss the prevention of adolescent pregnancy."
This is not the WAGGS' first brush with controversy, as the group appears to embrace the radical feminism and reproductive rights agenda of the United Nations more openly. In October 2001, the Friday Fax reported that WAGGS UN representative Leslie Wright publicized a job opportunity at "Catholics" for a Free Choice (CFFC), a pro-abortion lobbying group that has campaigned to have the Vatican kicked out of the UN.
In honoring Sadik, the WAGGS joined the company of the People's Republic of China, which presented Nadik with its own "Population Prize Award." In that acceptance speech, Sadik called herself "China's old friend," and praised China's coercive One-Child Policy, saying "China has made an indelible mark in the global population community. It is to be congratulated on its successful programmes." Sadik also said she felt "a great sense of pride...that UNFPA made the wise decision to resist external pressures and continue its fruitful cooperation with China." "I am confident that the cooperation between UNFPA and China will not only continue, but will also be further strengthened in the future," she said.