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) |
|
"ICPD 94", No. 12
February 1994
Newsletter of the International Conference on Population and
Development
Cairo, Egypt, 5-13 September 1994
EXCERPTS FROM ICPD DRAFT PROGRAMME OF ACTION
The decisions that the international community takes over the next
several years, whether leading to action or inaction, will have
profound implications for the quality of life for all people,
including generations not yet born, and perhaps for the planet
itself.... (T)here is emerging global consensus on the need for
increased international cooperation in regard to population,
sustainable development and the environment. Much has been achieved
in this respect, but more needs to be done.
*
The present Programme of Action commits the international community
to quantitative goals in three areas which are mutually supporting
and which are of critical importance to the achievement of other
important population and development objectives. These areas are:
education, especially for girls; infant, child and maternal
mortality reduction; and the provision of universal access to
family planning and reproductive health services.
*
Significant changes in attitudes, leading to much greater demands
for family planning information and services, have occurred at the
grass-roots level among individual women and men. Over the last
several decades contraceptive use in developing countries has
increased five-fold, reflecting the growing strength of organized
family planning programmes in a large majority of developing
countries and relatively rapid reduction in family size norms.
*
Over the next 20 years, the world community must ensure that all
children -- girls as well as boys -- complete primary school, that
the quality of basic education is improved and that the gender gap
in education is closed.
*
Many of the quantitative and qualitative goals of the Programme of
Action clearly require additional resources, many of which could
become available from a reordering of priorities at the individual,
national and international levels. However, none of the actions
required -- nor all of them combined -- are expensive in the
context of either current global development or military
expenditures. A few would require little or no additional financial
resources, in that they involve changes in lifestyles, social norms
or government policies that can be largely brought about and
sustained through greater citizen action and enlightened political
leadership.
*
Countries are urged to take steps to counter violence against women
and girls, including sexual violence and abuse. Countries should
pay special attention to protecting the rights and safety of women
who are victims of degrading circumstances such as trafficking and
prostitution or who are in potentially exploitable situations, such
as migrant women in domestic service.
*
Since in all societies discrimination on the basis of sex often
starts at the earlier stages of life, greater equality for the girl
child is a necessary step in ensuring that women realize their full
potential and become equal partners in development.
*
As part of the process of rapid demographic and socio-economic
change around the world, patterns of family formation and family
life are continuing to undergo considerable change, altering the
composition and structure of families in many societies.... There
are increasing numbers of vulnerable families, including not only
single-parent families headed by poor women, but also families with
elderly members or those with disabilities, refugee and displaced
families, and families with members affected by AIDS, substance
abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, or in other ways
dysfunctional.
*
The cornerstone of reproductive rights is the recognition of the
basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and
responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have
the information and means to do so. In the exercise of this right,
couples and individuals should take into account the needs of their
living and future children and their responsibilities towards the
community.
*
The aim of family planning programmes must be to establish the
widest possible freedom of choice in matters of procreation. The
success of population education and family planning programmes in
a variety of settings demonstrates that informed individuals
everywhere can and will act responsibly in light of their own needs
and those of their families and communities. The principle of
informed free choice is essential to the long-term success of
family planning programmes. Coercion, whether physical, economic or
psychological, has no part to play. Coercion is a breach of human
rights; it also undermines the single most important purpose of
organized family planning programmes which is to empower
individuals and couples to achieve effective long-term control over
their own reproductive lives. Governmental goals for family
planning should be defined in terms of unmet needs for information
and services. Demographic goals, while legitimately the subject of
government development strategies, should not be imposed on family
planning providers in the form of targets or quotas for the
recruitment of clients.
*
The significance of the International Conference on Population and
Development will depend in large part on the willingness of
Governments, the non-governmental sector, the international
community and individuals to turn the commitments of the Conference
into action.
***
For printed or electronic copies of the "ICPD 94" newsletter, in
English, French or Spanish, or further information, please
contact:
ICPD Secretariat 220 E. 42nd Street, 22nd floor
New York, N.Y. 10017, USA
Tel: (212) 297-5244/5245
Media contact: (212) 297-5023/5030 or 5279
Fax: (212) 297-5250
E-mail: ryanw@unfpa.org or icpd@igc.apc.org
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