ICPD + 10: Major Opportunity to
Strengthen and Deepen the Support to
Achieve Goal and Objective Set in Cairo
Achieve Goal and Objective Set in Cairo
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In 1994, International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Cairo, Egypt. This year various programmes are going to organize by various organizations to analysis the achievement of the Conference so far. The author of the article was the Executive Coordinator of the ICPD and monitoring the progress of goal & objectives, last ten years.
ICYO, which actively participated in ICPD and its Youth Forum, playing significant role in advocacy and raise the voice of Indian Youth and their concern FP and RCH, in various platforms. ICYO hope this article give an overall picture of current situation.
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This year marks the tenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). For those of us who were involved in organizing the Conference or participated in the Conference, it is a matter of great satisfaction to see how much has been accomplished towards achieving the goals and the objectives of the Cairo Conference. As the United Nations Secretary-General’s report on review and assessment of the progress made in implementing the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (E/CN.9/2004/3) points out, there has been substantial progress in the ten years since the Program was adopted.
The broad-based, comprehensive definition of reproductive health that was agreed to by consensus at Cairo has been increasingly adopted at the national level. This has led to intensification of efforts to integrate family planning programs with those relating to child survival, maternal health, adolescent health, and prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Many of these efforts are undertaken by non-governmental organizations and/or the private sector. The availability of contraceptive supplies and services has improved in many countries, with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and several bilateral agencies and foundations playing a major role in this regard. However, country level surveys point out a huge unmet need for family planning information and services. The Executive Director of UNFPA has cited a figure of 200 million women in this context. As the Secretary-General’s report indicates, issues of affordability, accessibility and availability of services are not being fully addressed in many countries; and lack of adequately trained personnel, poor infrastructure, and shortage of financial resources place enormous burden on the countries in providing such information and services.
Progress has also been registered in the area of child survival. Infant mortality and child mortality have declined around the world. But lack of basic sanitation and of safe water are two of the main factors that contribute to diarrhoeal disease leading to child mortality; and at the current rate of progress many countries will not reach the ICPD goal on infant and child mortality by 2015. In the area of maternal mortality, the gap between developed and developing countries remains very wide; and unfortunately few countries outside of Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to reach the ICPD goals. On HIV/AIDS, more funds are becoming available annually since 1994; but given the enormity of the problem, funding of HIV/AIDS programs remains inadequate. We should also note that taking account of the rise in funding for HIV/AIDS for the last several years tends to distort the picture in regard to mobilization of resources under the ICPD formula.
Some of the other issues that have come to the fore in the last ten years are aging, urbanization, refugees and international migration. Gender issues are receiving much more attention; and an increasing number of governments accept that education and empowerment of women and improvement of their political, social, and economic and health status is a highly important end in itself. But the record of action taken in response to Cairo and Beijing conferences can only be described as a mixed and patchy one.
Finally, there is the question of finding the resources needed to implement the ICPD goals and objectives. A new United Nations report - Flow of financial resources for assisting in the implementation of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (E/CN.9/2004/2)- stress the point that the current levels of resource mobilization are quite inadequate to fully implement the Cairo agenda; and that resource gaps are especially large in poor countries. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which serves as the primary channel for providing multilateral assistance on population and development issues to developing countries, remains short of funds; and the 10th anniversary of ICPD should provide a major opportunity to strengthen and deepen the support that is needed to enable UNFPA to meet the needs and requirements of developing countries.
I believe that in discussing future action, it will be essential for all concerned to place the further implementation of the ICPD Program of Action within the larger framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDGs provide now the international benchmarks for assessing future progress on eradication of poverty and economic and social development; and while we must not forget the specific ICPD goals on reproductive health, consideration of the ICPD goals and objectives in the context of MDGs may provide us many more opportunities to draw the attention of governments, civil society and the international community to their relevance and importance under the broader framework. Further work also needs to be done on updating the ICPD resource estimates, based on country level assessments of needs and requirements in the areas of commodities and services.
The Tenth anniversary of ICPD, which will be the focus of attention at many meetings and conferences this year, should provide us the opportunity to examine carefully the record of successes and failures in implementing the ICPD Program of Action and to define what needs to be done by governments, NGOs and the international community to reach the goals and objectives of the Program of Action by 2015. (Population 2005/April 2004)
(The article written by Jyoti Shankar Singh, President of Population 2005.)
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Indian Committee of Youth Organizations (ICYO) is a registered non-profit, non-governmental network organization, committed in developing areas of mutual cooperation and understanding among different youth voluntary agencies, youth groups, clubs and individuals working in the field of youth welfare in India. ICYO functions as an umbrella organization of youth NGOs in India. Its family consists of over 350 organizations spread in 122 districts of 22 states from different corners of India.
Affiliation: Consultative (Roster) Status with ECOSOC, United Nations; Consultative Status with Commission on Sustainable Development; Full Member of World Assembly of Youth (WAY); Full Member of Asian Youth Council (AYC); Member of Youth for Habitat International Network (YFHIN); Affiliate group of ECPAT International, Bangkok, Thailand.
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