Civil society organisations (CSO) and non-government organisations (NGO) world-wide are arranging various activities to mark the 10th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD at Ten) in 2004.
The ICPD was held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994. It was the largest intergovernmental conference on population and development ever held, with more than 180 states participating in negotiations to finalise a Programme of Action (PoA) in the area of population and development for the next 20 years. The PoA was adopted by 179 states.
Advocates around the world considered ICPD groundbreaking since it changed the focus of population issues from strict demographic goals to the recognition of an individual's sexual and reproductive rights. Because of its expansive coverage of sexual health and reproductive rights, it was also considered a milestone in the history of women's rights.
In 1999, the General Assembly conducted a review of the PoA's five-year implementation. The review showed the ICPD goals were still valid and much progress has been made to advance them. With 2004 as the mid-point of the PoA's implementation, advocates believe the best way to commemorate ICPD is through a pragmatic and constructive country-by-country review of the achievements, constraints and lessons learned and feeding back the result to further enrich and accelerate the achievement of its goals.
One activity marking ICPD at Ten is "Countdown 2015: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for All", a series of events to be held from 2004 and extending to 2005. This event began as a shared initiative of the Family Care International (FCI), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and Population Action International (PAI) but now involves more CSOs, NGOs and donor partners. It is thus seen as a key element in the combined efforts by NGOs and civil society to mark ICPD at Ten at the national, regional and international levels.
Some of the early activities lined up for Countdown 2015 are: a Youth Day celebration on 30 August 2004; an international roundtable forum to be held in London, UK from 31 August to 02 September 2004; and six regional meetings to be jointly organised by IPPF Regions in partnership with other NGOs and networks. At these meetings, participating networks will present a Report Card and supplementary materials aimed at assessing country performance on ICPD goals, but no venue is given for this event as yet. Another activity is the launch of a communications campaign aimed at re-focussing attention on the importance of ICPD goals. Other details are available at the website www.countdown2015.org/index.htm.
In the U.S., a conference will take place on 13-15 May 2004 to discuss four focal topics, namely HIV/AIDS; Family Planning and Reproductive Health; Ageing; and Migration. Called "The Global Population Forum 2004," the conference will be conducted by The Population Institute and Population 2005. The forum is inviting participation from programme managers, policy makers and NGO representatives. Other details of this event are available at the website www.population2005.org/news.htm.
Another conference, called the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) 2005, will take place in France from 18-23 July 2005. More information about the congress will soon be available at the website www.iussp.org/France2005/index.php
For the African region, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will convene an expert group meeting on 07-10 June 2004 in Dakar, Senegal to review and endorse the Africa ICPD Regional Report. A ministerial level meeting will follow on 11 June. Additional information about these efforts can be viewed at the website www.uneca.org/POPIA.
Meanwhile, the United Nations regional commissions will be conducting reviews with emphasis on lessons learned and the exchange of experiences at the regional level where countries can identify how they can assist each other in a South-South co-operation spirit.
However, some regional efforts were initiated before 2004. An example is the Fifth Asia and Pacific Population Conference (APPC) hosted by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in December 2002. The event had the theme "Population and Poverty" and at its conclusion, the participants adopted a Plan of Action which can be viewed at www.unescap.org/pop/5appc/index.htm. Another is the regional meeting held by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on 11-12 November 2003 which reviewed the progress of the PoA's implementation in the Caribbean region. Like the Asia-Pacific initiative, the 20 Caribbean countries and territories in attendance reaffirmed their commitment to ICPD and adopted a declaration.
Source: "Information Note on the 10th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development 'Icpd At Ten'" as released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) last 19 March, 2004 and posted at http://www.unfpa.org/icpd.
