Civil Society welcomes the Political Declaration adopted at UN meeting on 25th Anniversary of International Conference on Population and Development

PRESS RELEASE – FOR GENERAL CIRCULATION

DATED 2 April 2019

Civil Society welcomes the Political Declaration adopted at UN meeting on 25th Anniversary of International Conference on Population and Development

Civil society organisations attending the UN Commission on Population and Development (CPD) welcome the unanimously agreed historic political declaration at the beginning of its meeting at the United Nations in New York, 1-5 April 2019.

2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development by 179 UN Member States

in Cairo, Egypt in 1994. To mark the 25th anniversary, the Nairobi Summit will be held in Kenya, co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Denmark and UNFPA, 12-14 November 2019.

In introducing the political declaration, HE Courtney Rattray of Jamaica, Chair of the Commission, said that while the CPD had not previously adopted a political declaration, other UN bodies had done, including the Commission on the Status of Women in 2005, 2010 and 2015.

The political declaration:

• Reaffirms the commitment to the ICPD Programme of Action

• Highlights the value of regular regional reviews

• Welcomes progress made so far in implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• Calls for accelerated implementation of the Programme of Action, without which the SDGs will not be met

• Underlines the critical role of partnerships with Civil Society and Foundations

• Encourages Governments, the UN System and International Financial Institutions to assist developing countries in implementing the Programme of Action through technical assistance and capacity-building

• Emphasizes the importance of high-quality disaggregated data for measuring progress towards achieving the SDGs

• Calls on UN System, all sectors of civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to fully commit and intensify their efforts for the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

As stated by Dr Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA:

“The political declaration shows that what unites us is stronger than what divides us. ICPD is a benchmark for certain truths on which we can all agree: No woman should die giving life. Individuals and couples should be able to choose whether or when to have children and how many they will have. No one should be subjected to gender-based violence. Today is a new beginning, a new surge of momentum for the ICPD agenda. It’s time to bring the promise of Cairo to every person on the planet.” 

In a statement on behalf of 49 countries),  Reina Buijs, Vice-Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, welcomed the adoption of the Political Declaration, saying that “…as we celebrate progress and successes of 25 years of implementation of the ICPD, other needs and rights defined in the Programme of Action remain elusive for far too many people worldwide…” 

Denmark; Romania, speaking on behalf of the European Union; the United States, the Russian Federation and Mexico also took the floor for explanation of position.

Following the session, Maria Antonieta Alcade, Director of Advocacy, International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) said:

“Civil society has been fundamental to the achievement of the ICPD Programme of Action . We strongly welcome the adoption of this Political Declaration as we move forward to the successful implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action as contributing to the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.”

The full text of political declaration is available here: https://undocs.org/E/CN.9/2019/L.3

For further information, please contact:

Marianne Haslegrave, mh@commat.org

Sai Jyothirmai Racherla, sai@arrow.org.my

Estelle Wagner, ewagner@ippf.org