UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
|
| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
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The electronic preparation of this document has been done by the
Population Information Network(POPIN) of the United Nations Population
Division in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme
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AS WRITTEN
CAIRO DECLARATION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT
1. We the Parliamentarians meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on 3-4 September
1994, at the International Conference of Parliamentarians on Population
and Development, to discuss the issues of population and development on
the eve of the International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD), issue the following declaration:
2. We welcome the Cairo Conference as a manifestation of the variety
of human cultures and traditions. Despite differences in beliefs and
customs, we are of the view that leaders and peoples of the world
should help bring about universal harmony and cooperation.
Parliamentarians have a major role to play in this regard.
3. We therefore attach great importance to a successful outcome of
the International Conference on Population and Development, which comes
at a pivotal time in the development of partnerships for global
strategies identified in the series of United Nations conferences on
environment, human rights, social development, and the role of women.
We support the strategy of fully integrating population issues into all
development planning policies and programmes. We therefore call on
representatives to the ICPD to reach a consensus on the Programme of
Action of the ICPD.
Population and Sustainable Development
4. Parliamentarians the world over have long recognized the delicate
balance between population and natural resources. We believe that the
population issue should be seen not in isolation, but within the larger
context of sustainable development of the planet for the betterment of
humankind: economic activity that increases the quality of life for all
people through curbing excessive consumption and generating productive
growth; alleviating poverty; achieving sustainable agricultural and
industrial production, energy and natural resources in harmony with the
environment; and improving health care and the quality of, and access
to, education. Actions we take now to overcome the population and
development problems of today will decide the future course of
humankind. Resolution of such problems is essential to assuring dignity
of all human beings. In addition, formulation of new and wide-ranging
economic policies supportive of sustainable development, and initiation
of international agreements based on such policies and approaches are
essential.
Reproductive Health and Family Planning.
5. We welcome the approach that places family planning in the
broader framework of reproductive health care. We urge all national
governments to make responsible efforts to resolve their population
issues in a way that respects their own national and cultural identity,
values and tradition. We therefore commit ourselves, as elected
representatives of the people, to do our utmost to remove all remaining
barriers in our countries that inhibit access to family planning
services, information and education, as well as to help support the
provision of reproductive health and family planning services as widely
as possible. We further urge Governments to ensure that all population
and development policies and programmes in our countries safeguard
internationally recognized human rights.
6. We acknowledge the fact that abortions constitute a major public
health concern for women all over the world. Since the use of family
planning methods may prevent the prevalence of unplanned pregnancies,
we call upon all national Governments to reduce the need for abortion by
providing universal access to family planning information and services.
Gender Equality and Empowerment of women
7. The empowerment of women and the improvement of their political
social, economic and health status are highly important ends in
themselves. We further believe that human development cannot be
sustained unless women are guaranteed equal rights and equal status with
men. In this process women should be seen not merely as the
beneficiaries of change but as the agents of change as well. This
entails an enhancement of their own gender awareness. We believe that
education is the single most important element on the road to equality
and empowerment of women. Education should also aim at eliminating
negative gender stereotypes in order to improve the status of women,
with a view to achieve cooperation and partnership between men and
women. We therefore strongly support the education goals set forth in
the ICPD Programme of Action as adopted in Cairo, and commit ourselves
to removing all legal, social and cultural barriers in our countries
that discriminate against women and prevent their full participation
in society, including in public and political life. We call upon
legislators all over the world to join us in our efforts to empower
women as a matter of national priority, and we call upon Governments
to enforce legislation in this respect.
Health and Mortality
8. Despite some improvements in human life expectancy, preventable and
treatable illnesses are still the leading killers of young children and
women. There remains at least half a million women dying annually from
the complications of pregnancy and childbirth and 99.5% of these
maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Large numbers of people
remain at risk from infectious, parasitic and respiratory diseases.
HIV/AIDS is the cause of a high incidence of deaths. Therefore the
targeting of financial resources, particularly from donor countries, to
these vulnerable groups is urgently needed to focus on reducing child
and maternal mortality rates. 9. We therefore support the right of all
people to have access to primary health care by the end of the current
decade and pledge to work to reduce the disparities in health conditions
and mortality risks between and within countries as detailed in the
goals contained in the Programme of Action.
Resource Mobilization
10. The quality and success of population and development programmes
depend, to a considerable extent, on how strategically a country
allocates its resources among various sectors. This in turn depends on
the social, political, economic and cultural realities of the country
and its population policy and programme priorities. We accept the
responsibility as elected representatives of the people to translate
public support for population and development activities into the most
beneficial distribution of budgetary, human and administrative
resources. We take note of the strong international consensus on the
need to mobilize significant domestic and external financial resources
and endorse the estimated resource requirements set forth in the draft
Programme of Action. Additional resources to population and development
programmes should be made available by shifting resources, especially
from defense expenditures.
11. We therefore pledge to work to enact legislation to increase
domestic funding for population and development programmes, as
appropriate, and call upon the international community to provide the
resources required to implement activities to reach the goals and
objectives of the Programme of Action. At the same time, efficient use
of existing resources is also important and should be pursued through
such measures as decentralization, peoples' participation, a focus on
target groups and an increase of national capacities. Call to Action
12. Given our role in the civil society as representatives of people,
we parliamentarians are uniquely placed to implement the ICPD Programme
of Action, as adopted at Cairo, at the national and subnational level
and to introduce a new concern for the planet and for humankind for the
pursuit of national policies of our governments. We call on
parliamentarians everywhere to:
- enact legislation to enable Governments to formulate and
implement national population policies and programmes specifically~
improvement of the legal, social, economic and cultural status of
women;
- appeal to Governments which have not done so to sign the
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to have
their parliaments ratify the convention and to monitor its
implementation;
- establish mechanisms for parliamentarians to monitor and
evaluate such policies and programmes on population;
- approve budgetary provisions to increase financial resources
allocated to the implementation of population policies and programmes,
and to enact legislation in support of such provisions;
- generate public support among constituents for the mobilization
and allocation of domestic resources to support national population and
development policies and programmes;
- create greater awareness among policy makers and the general
public about population and development issues, within the global
context of sustainable development;
- promote the active participation of local governments,
community groups and non-governmental organizations, especially women's
groups, in implementing the Programme of Action as adopted at the Cairo
Conference;
- establish and/or strengthen, at subnational, national, regional
and global levels, parliamentary committees on population and
development;
- promote and expand cooperation among parliamentarians around the
globe in the field of population and sustainable development.
From Commitment to Action
13. We hereby pledge to translate our personal commitment into
political action as set forth in this Declaration, both in our national
legislatures and elsewhere, as appropriate, and to encourage others to
join us in meeting this urgent challenge.