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Ten years on from Cairo: integrating policies on population, gender and development

At the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, 1994, leaders and civil society representatives from 179 nations reached agreement on a Programme of Action. This outlined a strategy for 20 years and sought to integrate population, gender and development objectives.

While fertility is falling globally, there is still a serious need for family planning and other reproductive and sexual health services. This is particularly the case in developing countries, where HIV/AIDS significantly affects progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce poverty.

The International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (ICPD PoA) and the objectives set five years later (ICPD+5) attempted to address such problems. A report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) assesses steps being taken by 151 countries in this direction.

The ICPD’s vision was that of integrated policies on population, gender and development, whereby all would explicitly contribute to human well-being and poverty reduction. Together, the ICPD PoA and ICPD+5 covered the areas of sexual and reproductive health, reductions in child and maternal mortality, literacy, gender equality and HIV/AIDS.

UNFPA welcomes progress in implementing the PoA. The survey shows that most countries:

have taken full responsibility for all aspects of the ICPD agenda, including the sensitive areas of reproductive health and reproductive rights: more than half of the countries are measuring progress towards ICPD goals
recognise that policies in different sectors interact with each other, and are coming up with multi-sectoral policies that integrate population into poverty reduction strategies
are translating the issues of population, gender, HIV/AIDS prevention, adolescents and youth and reproductive health into formal legislation and programmes: a third of the countries now provide constitutional protection of women’s rights and half have changed textbooks to reflect gender concerns
are integrating family planning into reproductive health services, expanding contraceptive choice and prioritising safe motherhood
are doing much more to involve civil society, especially women’s groups, in policy making and implementation.

UNFPA welcomes the increasing recognition that the ICPD goals are critical to achieving the MDGs. However, strengthening linkages between population and poverty and achieving the ICPD goals will require:

promoting reproductive health as an essential component of poverty reduction strategies and as critical to reducing high fertility, high maternal mortality and morbidity, the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections
greater collaboration between donor and developing countries to intensify campaigns, strengthen data collection and ensure stability of reproductive health funding
strategies to eliminate gender-based violence, especially in conflict and post-conflict situations
elimination of trafficking in young women, girls and boys and improved counselling and referral services for victims and potential victims
targeting quality reproductive health services to poor people by making them available at the community level and exploring alternative financing schemes
strengthening protection of and respect for human rights, individual dignity and ethical values and sensitivity to cultural differences in the implementation of the ICPD agenda.

Source(s):
‘Investing in people: national progress in implementing the ICPD Programme of Action 1994-2004’ by the Global Survey Team, United Nations Population Fund, 2004 Full document.

Funded by: United Nations Population Fund

id21 Research Highlight: 18 October 2005

Further Information:
Francois Farah
Population and Development Branch
United Nations Population Fund
220 East 42nd St.
New York, NY 10017
USA

Tel: +1 (0)212 297 5266
Fax: +1 (0)212 297 4930
Contact the contributor: farah@unfpa.org

Population and Development Branch, United Nations Population Fund

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