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) |
|
************************************************************************
This document has been prepared by the Secretariat of the United Nations
Inter-Agency Task Force on the Implementation of the ICPD Programme of
Action. For further information please contact the United Nations
Population Fund, Task Force on ICPD Implementation, 220 East 42nd Street,
New York, NY 10017 USA, or send E-mail to: pierce@unfpa.org
*************************************************************************
Report of the First Meeting of the Inter-Agency
Task Force on the Implementation
of the ICPD Programme of Action
13 December 1994, New York
I. Introduction and Purpose of the Meeting
1. Paragraph 16.29 of the Programme of Action of the
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), that
was adopted by consensus in Cairo, Egypt, on 13 September 1994,
invites all specialized agencies and related organizations of the
United Nations system to strengthen and adjust their activities,
programmes and medium-term strategies, as appropriate, to take into
account the follow-up to the Conference. In addition, paragraph 10
of General Assembly resolution 49/128, "Report of the International
Conference on Population and Development", calls upon the organs
and organizations of the United Nations system and the specialized
agencies to undertake the actions required to give full and
effective support to the implementation of the Programme of Action.
2. At the request of the Administrator of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) on behalf of the Secretary-General of
the United Nations, Dr. Nafis Sadik, in her capacity as Secretary-
General of the ICPD, convened and chaired the first meeting of an
Inter- Agency Task Force to develop a coordinated approach for the
implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.
3. The meeting was convened on 13 December 1994 at the United
Nations Headquarters in New York. Twenty-five participants,
representing twelve UN Agencies and organizations, attended the
meeting. The agenda and the list of participants appear as an
annex.
II. Summary of Opening Remarks
4. Dr. Sadik opened the first meeting of the Inter-Agency Task
Force on the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action by
stating that she had been requested by the Administrator of UNDP,
on behalf of the Secretary-General of the UN, to convene an Inter-
Agency Task Force aimed at assisting in the development of a
coordinated approach for the implementation of the ICPD Programme
of Action. She referred to the importance the Secretary-General
attaches to a common framework emerging from all the various UN
Conferences, as elaborated in his Agenda for Development. Dr. Sadik
explained the purpose of this meeting, i.e., to agree on a common
framework for follow-up to ICPD and other conferences in the social
sector, past and future, in order to assist countries in the
implementation, and to agree on a common system for monitoring. The
focus of the Inter-Agency Task Force is on country-level
cooperation.
5. According to Dr. Sadik, such a common framework should be
designed so as to reduce the burden on countries with regard to
implementation and be based on the UN Resident Coordinator system.
She stressed the need for coordination among UN agencies and
organizations, particularly at the country level. Paragraph 16.29
of the ICPD Programme of Action and the General Assembly Resolution
on ICPD requested all UN agencies and organizations to cooperate
and coordinate in the follow-up on ICPD and to adjust their
programmes to make them in line with the ICPD Programme of Action.
6. In order to do so, all UN agencies involved in the follow-up
to Cairo should first of all use one set of country data. Where
such data was absent, unreliable or not timely available, UN
agencies should collaborate to establish a system of collecting
data for monitoring and evaluation purposes. Dr. Sadik suggested to
develop a set of guidelines for the UN Resident Coordinator that
would give him/her guidance in coordinating the follow-up at the
country level. She urged all participants not to miss this
opportunity for inter-agency cooperation and to maintain the
momentum of inter-agency collaboration that prevailed throughout
the Cairo process.
7. The Administrator of UNDP, Mr. Speth, reiterated the great
importance the Secretary- General of the UN attaches to the follow-
up on the Cairo Conference. He hoped that this task force would
become a model for future cooperation among UN agencies. There was
a need for the UN to exert leadership in the follow-up to all major
UN conferences. Mr. Speth called upon the agencies to forge a
unified agenda, based on common priorities. The strength of the UN
is its ability to identify problems, to come up with solutions and
to assist countries in the implementation of its proposed actions.
UNDP looked forward to continued cooperation among the agencies in
the follow-up to Cairo.
8. Mr. Desai of UN-PCSD asked what lessons to be learned from
UNCED and observed that it was important to learn from the UNCED
follow-up process and urged participants to focus on what needed to
be done before the next session of ECOSOC, in accordance with draft
resolution L.67 on ICPD. He noted that UNCED proved that the
implementation of the outcomes of UN conferences are limited if
there is no momentum or commitment at the national level. The
question is how to maintain the momentum at the national level. The
same goes for the role of NGOs, how to maintain the role and
commitment of NGOs in the follow-up. UNCED made clear that there
should be a link between the UN policy process and the financing
process, otherwise the implementation will be severely hampered. He
urged the Task Force to discuss how the preparation for ECOSOC
related to the ICPD resolution will be undertaken.
9. Mr. Milleron of UN-DESIPA welcomed the outcome of the ICPD and
assured the participants that his department will continue to play
an active role in technical assistance, given their experience and
network at the national level in the area of data collection and
analysis. In particular, Mr. Milleron also referred to the changing
role of the Population Commission.
10. All organizations participating in the meeting promised
support for the inter-agency follow-up to Cairo and to become an
active participant in the cooperation. Several participants
underscored that it was important that all UN agencies make sure
that the goals of the ICPD would be reinforced in future
conferences, notably the Social Summit and the Women's Conference.
The representative of UN-PCSD informed the group that the goals of
ICPD and other UN Conferences are being incorporated in the draft
Programme of Action of the World Summit on Social Development.
11. Several participants welcomed the holistic, integrated and
forward-looking approach of the ICPD Programme of Action. UNICEF
informed the Task Force that it is preparing a health strategy
paper which will reflect the ICPD Programme of Action and that the
UNICEF Executive Board has asked for a paper on UNICEF's role in
the follow-up to ICPD. Since so much emphasis was put on
monitoring, he suggested all UN agencies should collaborate in
finding ways to generate data in a more speedy manner. He also
referred to the need for UNFPA to revise the Population Assistance
Report in order to reflect financial contributions in accordance
with the Programme of Action. Dr. Sadik supported the first
suggestion, and noted that there is a need to find a balance
between timely data and its reliability. With regard to the second
suggestion, she agreed, in principle, noting that we need to define
what should be classified as "population" activities. She urged
some cautiousness in this regard, noting that not everything should
be categorized as population.
12. Several participants explained the initiatives being
undertaken by their respective organizations to integrate the ICPD
recommendations into their programmes. One participant called upon
the UN agencies to reinforce the role of the CCPOQ in the follow-up
of the ICPD.
13. A number of participants stressed the importance of national
ownership in terms of reporting, noting that coordination at the
national level will depend on the individual country situation. It
will be critical for the UN system to make sure that population
issues are being integrated into the broader national development
plans and the central role for the UNDP Resident Coordinator in
this respect was affirmed by several participants. The importance
of concerted advocacy efforts by the UN system with respect to the
Cairo follow-up was stressed.
III. Summary of the Discussion on the Background Note
Agenda item 2: Technical assistance modalities
14. It was decided that (a) the Task Force should focus on
country-level cooperation; and (b) to add a fourth category for
cooperation, namely situation analysis/diagnostic assessment of
country capacity and the exchange and dissemination of information
both in terms of what UN agencies are doing at the country level
and to exchange country experiences. The latter implies the
exchange of information both within and across countries. South-
South cooperation had, inter alia, proven to be very useful in this
regard. For the moment, the situation analysis and information
dissemination should focus on the social sectors, such as health
and education, and not on issues such as poverty, employment, etc.,
pending the outcome of the World Summit on Social Development.
15. Acknowledging the usefulness of the Background Note, it was
agreed that it should be revised to reflect some of the points
raised at the meeting. In commenting on the Background Note, a
number of participants suggested some changes. WHO would like to
see its role be inserted in the section on female genital
mutilation in the background note. WHO provides both normative and
technical support to countries and other UN agencies. FAO would
like to see its role in issues such as the empowerment of women,
migration, and the environment being reflected in a revised
background note on inter-agency cooperation. Some participants
suggested that more emphasis be put in the Background Note on the
need for developed countries to report on their progress in
implementing the outcomes of UN conferences. In addition, it was
suggested to develop a modality to assess the national capability
to implement the results of UN Conferences.
16. The participants agreed on the need for a unified advocacy
strategy on certain goals/topics, independently from whether these
goals or topics are within the areas of each own programme. It was
deemed essential not to focus narrowly on each agency's or
organization's own agenda, but rather agree on a broader agenda.
This would provide coherence to the UN system in terms of advocacy.
All agreed on the need for a clear framework of advocacy messages.
Agenda item 3: Specific areas of support
17. The need to define a common set of goals emanating from the
Agenda for Development and the various international conferences
was discussed. The title of the first topic population policy
development will be changed in population policy and sustainable
development policies, in order to more reflect the purpose of this
point, namely the integration of population policy development into
the overall development plans. Policy development was understood to
include policy dialogue with governments at macro level and
population policy included a number of issues, not only family
planning. It was agreed that UNFPA, UNDP and the World Bank have
important roles to play in this area, particularly in ensuring that
population issues are addressed when economic policies are
discussed.
18. Regarding basic health improvement, it was noted that there
are areas such as nutrition and food production and women's
empowerment which are part of a broader holistic approach to
health. Based on the suggestion of the chairman, it was agreed to
start the working group on data systems, with the goal to develop
a common data system at country level, based on an agreement on
methodology on data. WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA could focus on this. In
addition, the Resident Coordinator could be requested to start
addressing this issue immediately at country level. Suggestions
were also made to add issues related to adolescent health.
19. With regard to reproductive health care, it was noted that
HIV/AIDS should be listed in this section.
20. Concerning basic education, it was observed that if specific
areas of education are included, the number of actors will increase
tremendously in terms of those who play a role in either advocacy,
technical assistance, or direct funding. It was suggested to focus
on the question of how to eliminate gender disparities. National
statistical systems are critical for work in this area. It was
agreed that, to start with, the working group on this topic should
focus on gender disparities in education, and issues related to
data may be part of the discussion.
21. With regard to the empowerment of women, ILO noted it had a
role here, since issues related to time budgets/time use were
important and there was need for more information on this. UNESCO
observed that there was need to address the specific training needs
of women, and protection of women's legal and other rights. Other
suggestions included to examine employment conditions/practices,
gender specific statistics and data needs. It was agreed to expand
the fifth topic, empowerment of women, to include the following
five issues: Income generation, education and training; the legal,
economic and social rights of women; employment conditions; harmful
practices; and, data collection and analysis.
22. Issues related to difficulties with indicators and measurement
in the area of environment, and the need for a common set of
indicators in this field, were discussed. The roles of UNEP and
HABITAT were referred to. Several participants also noted the
importance of migration issues. Further discussions on the
environment and migration will be postponed pending discussions in
the Social Summit and the preparation of a report to ECOSOC on a UN
conference on migration. The chairperson observed that the
discussion on migration issues in the Task Force might contribute
to the discussion on a UN conference on migration.
23. The chairperson raised the question whether or not a new item
should be included, namely emergency support. In that case the
issue of the countries with economies in transition could be
included in the discussion.
Agenda item 4: Inter-agency coordination
24. It was decided that the Task Force could also address issues
related to collective resource mobilization for the implementation
of the ICPD Programme of Action, taking note, however, that a
separate Task Force on resource mobilization has been established,
and will be chaired by Dr. Sadik in her capacity as Secretary-
General of the ICPD. In the section on inter-agency cooperation in
the background paper, it was agreed to add the issue of collective
resource mobilization.
IV. Decisions
25. In closing the meeting, the Chairman summarized the principal
points of the morning's discussion and enumerated the decisions
taken.
26. Four working groups will be established:
(1) Working group to discuss a common data system at the
national level in the field of health, notably in
the areas of infant, child and maternal mortality;
(2) Working group on basic education, with special
attention to gender disparities;
(3) Working group on policy-related issues, including
the drafting of a common advocacy statement on
social issues;
(4) Working group on women's empowerment.
27. UNFPA, in consultation with its UN partners, will organize
meetings of the working groups as soon as possible. In the
meantime, it was agreed that all of the relevant agencies,
organizations and programmes of the UN system should begin to work
on the issues for ICPD follow-up discussed at the Task Force
meeting, in the context of their respective mandates. The need for
each organization to give attention to follow-up at the field level
was emphasized.
28. The Background Note on Inter-agency Cooperation on the
Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action will be a revised,
taking into account the comments and suggestions made during the
meeting.
29. It was decided that the UN Division for the Advancement of
Women, Habitat, UNEP and UNIFEM will also be invited to join the
Inter-agency Task Force.
30. The chairman suggested that areas for further research should
be identified and ways explored for collective funding of studies.
In addition, she added that other important concerns, such as human
rights, which, while not specifically addressed in this Task Force,
should certainly play an important role in the work of the Task
Force.
31. All participants agreed that it was important to move quickly
ahead with the discussion on inter-agency cooperation and
collaboration in follow-up to ICPD, both at Headquarters and field
level, in order to utilize the momentum of the Cairo Conference.
==================================================================
ANNEX
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- Mr. James Gustave Speth
Administrator
- Ms. Sarah Timpson
Deputy Assistant Administrator and Director of the
Bureau of Programme Policy and Evaluation
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
- Mr. Paul Altesman
Director, UN Affairs and Special Assistant to the
Executive Director
- Mr. Kul Gautam
Director, Programme Division
- Dr. France Donnay
Senior Adviser, Women's Health
World Health Organization (WHO)
- Dr. Tomris Turme
Director, Division of Family Health
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)
- Mr. Gustavo Lopez Ospina
Director of the Interdisciplinary and Inter-Agency
Co-operation project:
Environment and Population Education and Information
for Human Development (EPD)
- Ms. Serim Timur
Interdisciplinary and Inter-Agency Co-operation
project: Environment and Population Education and
Information for Human Development (EPD)
International Labour Organisation (ILO)
- Mr. Aziz
Director, a.i.
ILO Liaison Office, New York
- Mr. E.K. Andoh
Coordinator of Population Activities
Development and Technical Cooperation Department,
Geneva
The World Bank (WB)
- Mr. David de Ferranti
Director of the Population, Health and Nutrition
Department
- Mr. Carlston Boucher
Special Representative to the UN
United Nations, Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable
Development (PCSD)
- Mr. Nitin Desai
Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and
Sustainable Development
- Mr. Jean-Claude Faby
Chief, Office of the Under-Secretary-General for
Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development
United Nations, Department for Economic and Social Information and
Policy Analysis (DESIPA)
- Mr. Jean-Claude Milleron
Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social
Information and Policy Analysis
- Mr. Joseph Chamie
Director, Population Division
- Mr. Herman Habermann
Director, Statistical Division
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- Mr. Jacques du Guerny
Population Programme Co-ordinator
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
- Dr. Nafis Sadik
Executive Director
- Mr. Joseph van Arendonk
Deputy Executive Director (Programme)
- Mr. Jyoti Shankar Singh
Director, Technical and Evaluation Division
- Ms. Mari Simonen
Chief, Office of the Executive Director
- Mr. S.L.N. Rao
Chief, Governing Council, UN Liaison and External
Relations Branch, and Deputy Director, Information
and External Relations Division
- Ms. Catherine S. Pierce
Chief, Women, Population and Development Branch,
Technical and Evaluation Division
- Mr. Arthur Erken
Associate Research Adviser, ICPD Secretariat
=================================================================
First Meeting
of the
Inter-Agency Task Force
on
the Implementation
of the
ICPD Programme of Action
Tuesday, 13 December 1994
United Nations Headquarters
Conference Room 9
10:00 - 13:00 hours
Agenda
1. Goals of the ICPD in relation to other UN Conferences.
2. Technical assistance modalities.
3. Specific areas of support.
4. Inter-agency coordination.