Kwabena Osei Danquah, Executive Coordinator ICPD Beyond 2014 Secretariat, has posted a New Year’s Message on the ICPD Beyond 2014 website.
In addition to reviewing activities to date including the highly successful Bali Global Youth Forum, which led to the Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration, he notes that close to 140 questionnaires have been received, “which in most cases, were completed for the first time by Governments in partnership with NGOs and other stakeholders.”
Kwabena also says that the Secretariat “look[s] forward to the outcome of a survey being undertaken by a network of NGOs, with the support of UNFPA, for NGOs to enable the fullest contribution of NGOs to the global survey.”
During the coming months the Regional Commissions, with the support of UNFPA, will produce regional reports on the state of population and development in the respective regions for the regional population conferences that would take place between June and September this year.
In addition a number of thematic groups, made up of UN System partners supported by consultants, will begin drafting the chapters of the ICPD review outcome report. “That report will take into account the regional analysis and reports, other technical reviews and studies as well as the outcomes of the global thematic meetings.” As well as the Bali Global Youth Forum, a conference on the human rights dimension of the ICPD agenda will be held in The Hague from 7-10 July 2013. Two technical meetings on women’s health and indicators are also expected to be held during 2013.
The ICPD review outcome report and the Secretary-General’s report on the review should be ready by January 2014, in time for the 47th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) to be held in April of that year.
Meanwhile UNFPA will be working with others “to support NGOs and youth in all the regions to hold their own meetings in the margins of the regional population conferences of the Regional Commissions in order to ensure that their voices are reflected in a forward-looking ICPD agenda.”
The full message may be see here.