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"
International Conference on Population and Development
Cairo, Egypt
5-13 September 1994
ICPD Secretariat, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA
Tel: (212) 297-5244 or 5245; Fax: (212) 297-5250
Press inquiries: (212) 297-5023, 297-5030 or 297-5279
E-mail: ryanw@unfpa.org or icpd@igc.apc.org
PRESS RELEASE
20 June 1994
CAIRO WORK SCHEDULE, PROCEDURES DESCRIBED IN LETTER TO GOVERNMENTS
Post-PrepCom Consultation Outlines Possible Informal Discussions
on ICPD draft Programme of Action
A note from the Secretary-General of the United Nations was
sent to all Governments on 13 May, formally inviting them to
participate in the International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD), to be held in Cairo from 5-13 September.
Countries have since been sent details of Conference
arrangements, in a 25 May letter from ICPD Secretary-General Dr.
Nafis Sadik.
To facilitate final preparations for ICPD, an informal
consultation was held in New York on 3 June. There, Dr. Sadik
reported on possible informal discussions that countries might
have before the Conference to facilitate negotiations in Cairo on
the Programme of Action of the Conference.
These developments are described in detail in the June issue
of "ICPD 94", the Conference newsletter. This issue (No. 16) also
includes reports on:
+ Plans for the eighth annual World Population Day, on 11
July. This year's celebrations, expected to take place in
over 110 countries, will highlight the themes of ICPD.
+ A United Nations study, "AIDS and the Demography of
Africa", which projects that population growth rates in sub-
Saharan Africa will remain high despite a devastating death
toll from AIDS.
+ The release of a book, "Population Policies
Reconsidered: Health, Empowerment and Rights" (edited by
Gita Sen, Adrienne Germain and Lincoln C. Chen, and
published by the International Women's Health Coalition and
the Harvard University Center for Population and Development
Studies), which examines the ethical basis, objectives and
methods of current population policies.
+ Arrangements for the NGO Forum '94, to be held in Cairo
at the same time as ICPD, a short distance from the
Conference site.
* * *
Dr. Sadik's 25 May letter to all Governments describes the
draft provisional rules of procedure for the Conference, approved
at the third session of the ICPD Preparatory Committee (PrepCom
III) in April; these rules have been forwarded to the UN General
Assembly for adoption.
Preliminary consultations will be held on 3 and 4 September
to address procedural and organizational matters. The Conference
will open on Monday, 5 September, at 10 am, at the Cairo
International Conference Centre. The general debate, to take
place in plenary meetings from 5-9 September, is expected to
focus on experiences in population and development strategies and
programmes.
A separate Main Committee will meet at the same time to
complete negotiations on the Programme of Action of the
Conference, focusing on those parts that were not agreed to at
PrepCom III. Once adopted, the Programme of Action will be
submitted to the UN General Assembly at its 49th session, along
with a report on the background, proceedings and decisions of
ICPD.
At the request of PrepCom III, Dr. Sadik convened a half-day
informal consultation on ICPD at UN Headquarters on 3 June. She
outlined proposed arrangements for intersessional discussions to
allow delegations to exchange views on portions of the draft
Programme of Action that remain to be agreed on; she stressed
that these would not be negotiations, but rather part of an
effort to facilitate and accelerate negotiations in Cairo.
The document, she noted, "is now a text negotiated by and
therefore the property of delegations and the countries they
represent. Everything in the revised draft, including the
bracketed texts, is at the instruction of national delegations at
PrepCom III."
Any informal pre-Conference discussions are expected to
focus on three areas: Chapters 1 (Preamble) and 2 (Principles);
goals in regard to mortality, education (especially for girls)
and access to family planning information and services; and
estimated costs of basic reproductive health services (including
family planning), programmes for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and
other sexually transmitted diseases, and meeting population data,
policy and research needs.
Half a dozen speakers, some on behalf of groups of
countries, spoke briefly at the 3 June meeting on the areas of
discussion that were not finished at PrepCom III.
Dr. Sadik also reported that she expects 10 or more heads of
State or Government, including President Soeharto of Indonesia
and Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway, to
participate in ICPD, and that UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are expected
to address the opening plenary.
* * *
The edited ICPD draft Programme is expected to be released
in the six UN languages by the end of June. Copies of "ICPD 94"
are available in English, French and Spanish from the ICPD
Secretariat, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA; tel:
(212) 297-5244 or 5245; fax: (212) 297-5250. The newsletter is
also in electronic form on several networks (for information,
send e-mail to: ryanw@unfpa.org).
* * * * *