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The International Conference
on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994 was a milestone in the
history of population and development, as well as the history of
women's rights. The Programme of Action that was adopted by 179
countries, by consensus, is a forward-looking 20-year plan. While
the Programme of Action (PoA) is comprehensive and calls for action
at various levels, the strategic focus of the recommendations is
for action at the national level.
The first five-year
review of the
implementation of the Programme of Action was conducted by the
General Assembly in 1999 which adopted,
by consensus, the Key Actions for the Further Implementation
of the Programme of Action of the ICPD. While the review showed
that
the ICPD goals are still valid and that much progress had been
made in advancing them, it also revealed that much greater and
urgent action was needed in certain areas. The Key Actions validated
the comprehensive approach to population and development articulated
in the Programme of Action, affirmed the ICPD goals and provided
a set of benchmarks for achieving them.
As we reach the 10th Anniversary
of the ICPD, the mid-point of its 20-year Programme of Action,
there is much to celebrate and
to look forward to, but much remains to be done. Most member
states, UNFPA, and other partners believe that the best way to
commemorate
ICPD is by doing a pragmatic and constructive country-by-country
analysis of achievements, of constraints, of lessons learned
and to feed back the results so as to enrich and accelerate the
implementation
of the ICPD PoA. The 10th Anniversary is also an opportunity
to reflect on the ICPD goals, and demonstrate how achieving them
will
contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).
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