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"
April 1994
Number 14
Newsletter of the International Conference on Population and
Development
Cairo, Egypt, 5-13 September 1994
STATE DEPARTMENT LEADER DESCRIBES NEW U.S. COMMITMENT TO WOMEN'S
RIGHTS
Support for sustainable development -- encompassing issues of
reproductive health care, women's rights and rapid population
growth as well as environmental concerns -- constitutes a key
pillar of United States' foreign policy in the post-cold war world,
U.S. State Department Counselor Timothy Wirth told a UN audience 30
March.
"Women's empowerment, rights and well-being" are central to
achieving population and sustainable development goals, and are
"top priorities for the Clinton administration", Mr. Wirth
declared, in a lecture sponsored by the Earth Pledge Foundation and
the Eminent Citizens Committee for Cairo '94.
Mr. Wirth was introduced by UN Under-Secretary-General Nitin
Desai. He noted that ICPD, in seeking to balance population with
resources, was "a bridge" between the 1992 UN Conference on
Environment and Development and the 1995 World Summit for Social
Development.
Discussing his Government's commitment to sustainable
development, Mr. Wirth stated, "A set of novel, complex and cross-
cutting trends are replacing East-West military confrontation as
new determinants of global security." These include: environmental
devastation; "inadequate access to maternal health care,
contraception and safe abortion"; sexually transmitted diseases and
AIDS; and human rights violations.
"Central to all these concerns, in my view," he said, is the
spiral of population growth. ... Continued rapid population growth
will diminish every hope of social and economic progress in the
developing world, every humanitarian endeavour." At the same time,
he noted, resource demands by the affluent were depleting timber
and water supplies and producing global warming.
"We are only beginning to recognize the extent to which human
rights, health, environmental protection, North-South partnership,
economic and social progress, are all interrelated determinants of
an prerequisites for sustainable development," he said.
In particular, "sustainable development cannot be realized
without the full engagement and complete empowerment of women," Mr.
Wirth argued. As barriers to this goal, he cited the lack of
primary and reproductive health services, high rates of maternal
and child mortality, denial of educational services, under-
appreciation of women's potential contribution to environmental
goals, and gender bias in political and economic spheres.
He listed several priorities for Cairo: "meeting the unmet
demand for and expanding the range of reproductive health
services"; "investing in the wisdom of women"; pressing for
"respect of the basic human rights of women"; ensuring that "women
have necessary economic rights"; adapting population programmes "to
address the unique problems faced by adolescent girls"; persuading
men "to accept their responsibilities related to fertility"; and
involving women "in the design and implementation of sustainable
development strategies and programmes."
In support of this agenda, Mr. Wirth noted that the
administration of President Bill Clinton hopes to provide nearly
$600 million for population activities in 1995.
Following the speech, ICPD Secretary-General Dr. Nafis Sadik
hailed the United States' renewed leadership role in the population
field, and predicted that its increased funding commitment would
have a significant impact on other donors.
At the end of the meeting, Eminent Citizens Committee Chairman
Theodore W. Kheel read a letter from Mr. Wirth reporting on his
recent visit to Cairo. The letter stressed "the importance that the
United States places on the successful completion of the Conference
in the city of Cairo." It lauded the Egyptian Government's
preparations for ICPD and noted, "Security arrangements are
carefully coordinated, with a strong Interior Ministry in charge."
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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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