| 12
- 13 October, 2009
Commemorating
the Fifteenth Anniversary of The International
Conference on Population and Development
New York, USA —
The
15th anniversary of the International
Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD) was commemorated at the UN
General Assembly on 12-13 October
2009.
Opening
the event the UN Secretary General
Ban ki-Moon said the ICPD Programme
is critical to achieving the Millennium
Development Goals. It is especially
important for goal number 5: to cut
maternal mortality and achieve universal
access to reproductive health care.
Progress on reaching that target has
been slower than on any other. Maternal
health is linked directly to a country’s
health system. When we improve maternal
health, all people will benefit. To
fully carry out the Programme of Action
means providing women with reproductive
health services, including family
planning. It means backing poverty-eradication
initiatives. And it means preventing
rape during wartime and ending the
culture of impunity.
In
her statement, UNFPA Executive Director
Ms Thoraya Obaid stated that the right
to sexual and reproductive health
and women’s empowerment are
core to the linkages of population
and development. Reproductive choices
are central to gender equality and
can influence population dynamics.
The Cairo agenda addresses the needs
and rights of all people, irrespective
of their situations, including migrants,
refugees and displaced persons, and
it makes the connections between population,
the environment and peace, security
and development.
Mr.
Jyoti Shankar Singh ,PPD Permanent
Observer at the UN spoke at the session
on behalf of PPD. He pointed out that
it was at the ICPD that for the first
time, a far-reaching, comprehensive
definition of reproductive health,
including family planning, was established
by 179 member countries. The Conference
also set a quantitative goal, for
the first time, for the universal
delivery of reproductive health services,
proposing that such services be provided
to all individuals of appropriate
ages as soon as possible and no later
than 2015. Furthermore, a new definition
of reproductive rights was established,
going well beyond the formulation
adopted at the World population Conference
in Bucharest on the right of couples
and individuals.
More than 50 member countries spoke
at the commemoration, lauding the
goals and objectives of ICPD and pledging
support to their further implementation,
within the framework of MDGs.
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