The draft Program of Action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994, articulates a 20-year course of action to address a wide range of population and development concerns, based on the premise that such action should be seen as an indispensable part of national and international efforts to achieve equitable, sustainable development.
The draft program emphasizes the need to empower women and eliminate all forms of gender bias; to integrate population concerns into all development policies and programs; and to base population programs on meeting people's needs rather than demographic targets. It includes a Preamble (Chapter I) which sets the context for action and a list of principles (Chapter II) guiding conference deliberations. Each of the 44 subsequent subchapters on specific areas of concern includes three sections: the basis for action, objectives and proposed actions.
Chapter-by-Chapter Summary
Following is a summary of some of the main topics covered in the draft Program of Action of the Conference:
Chapter I, Preamble. Stating that ICPD "occurs at a defining moment in the history of international cooperation."
Chapter II, Principles. This chapter lists 15 principles guiding conference deliberations. Concerns addressed include human rights, sustainable development, gender equity, health care and family planning, education, support of families and children, migration and asylum. The language proposed for most of the principles is taken or derived from various international declarations. The sources are listed after each principle.
Chapter III, The Interrelationships Between Population, Sustained Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, Poverty and Consumption.
Chapter IV, Gender Equality, Equity and Empowerment of Women. These are recognized both as fundamental human rights in their own right and as prerequisites of sustainable development. Issues of access to education and reproductive control are paramount.
Chapter V, The Family, Its Roles, Composition and Structure. Outlines policies and laws that better support the family, contribute to its stability and take into account its plurality of forms, particularly the growing number of "single-parent households."
Chapter VI, Population Growth and Structure. World population is 5.7 billion and growing by over 90 million persons a year. In many countries, high fertility and declining mortality have resulted in youthful populations, guaranteeing that rapid growth will continue into the next century. Actions taken over the next 20 years (and particularly over the remainder of this decade) will determine what level world population will reach before human numbers stabilize. The special problems of indigenous populations and people with disabilities is also addressed.
Chapter VII, Reproductive Rights, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Family Planning. Family planning programs must aim to establish a wide freedom of choice in matters of procreation; coercion has no part to play. Access to reproductive health care, should include family planning counseling, information, education and services for prenatal care, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and prevention of abortion.
Chapter VIII, Health, Morbidity and Mortality. Primary health care systems must be strengthened to better guarantee the survival and health of infants and children, reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, prevent HIV/AIDS and control the pandemic by promoting responsible sexual behavior and providing affordable access to condoms.
Chapter IX, Population Distribution, Urbanization and Internal Migration. To slow migration from rural areas to cities, which is contributing to rapid urban growth, the document emphasizes the need to reduce urban-rural inequality, to foster environmentally sustainable development of rural areas and small and medium-sized cities and to better manage cities to improve the quality of life of the urban poor.
Chapter X, International Migration. Actions are needed in this area to reduce undocumented migration by addressing its root causes, especially those related to poverty; to encourage more cooperation between sending and receiving countries; to ensure the well being of immigrants; and to find durable solutions to the plight of refugees and displaced persons.
Chapter XI, Population, Development and Education. Providing universal primary schooling and literacy and job training for women and girls contributes to women's empowerment, to postponement of marriage and to reductions in family size. Educated mothers increase child survival rates.
Chapter XII, Technology, Research and Development. Improved collection, analysis and dissemination of data would allow better understanding of the relationships between population and socioeconomic and environmental conditions.
Chapter XIII, National Action. This chapter includes estimates of the funding levels required to meet developing countries' needs in the period 2000-2015 for basic reproductive health services including family planning; prevention of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS; population data collection, analysis and dissemination, policy formulation and research. The plan recommends that at least 20 percent of countries' public-sector expenditures and 20 percent of official development assistance be devoted to social sectors, stressing poverty eradication within the context of sustainable development.
Chapter XIV, International Cooperation. If the conference objectives are to be met, resources committed to population and development programs will need to increase substantially. The developing countries themselves will continue to provide, on average, approximately two thirds of the resources needed for population programs, but it is estimated that international assistance will have to account for up to one third, a share projected to total $5.7 billion in 2000 and $7.2 billion in 2015 (in 1993 US dollars).
Chapter XV, Partnership with the Nongovernmental Sector. The program recommends a partnership among nongovernmental groups, the private sector and individuals as essential to the formulation and implementation of national policies and programs.
Chapter XVI, Follow-up to the Conference. Appropriate national, regional and subregional and international mechanisms are needed for policy guidance, resource mobilization, coordination, sharing of experience and monitoring and reporting of progress in implementing the Program of Action.
From the International Conference on Population and Development.
