In March 1995, the UN Commission on Population and Development was given responsibility for monitoring, reviewing and assessing the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action. Each year, the Commission reviewed different themes related to the ICPD, with 5-year reviews of implementation of the Programme of Actioon scheduled in 1999, 2004, 2009, and culminating in the 20-year global review in 2014. The 32nd session of the Commission on Population and Development served as the preparatory conference to the ICPD+5 review by the General Assembly.
The ICPD+5 review came in the same year the world population surpassed 6 billion people for the first time, generating considerable interest in population issues, and as the AIDS pandemic was beginning to significantly impact mortality rates in some countries. In the leadup to ICPD +5, in mid-1998, UNFPA conducted a Field Inquiry (which garnered responses from 118 developing countries and countries in transition) and hosted a series of roundtables and technical meetings that involved many of its partners -- programme and donor countries, the United Nations System and representatives of civil society, including NGOs and the private sector. The outcomes from these activities, which focus on technical and operational assessments of the progress made and constraints faced by countries in implementing the Programme of Action were discussed at an international forum in The Hague, in The Netherlands, from 8-12 February 1999.
The session identified Key Actions for the Further Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, including new benchmark indicators of progress in four key areas: education and literacy, reproductive health care and the unmet need for contraception, maternal mortality and HIV and AIDS.
Technical meetings and regional conferences that fed into the ICPD+5 review included:
ICPD+5 technical meetings and roundtables
- Roundtable on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights New York, 14-17 April 1998
- Expert Round-table Meeting on Ensuring Reproductive Rights, and Implementing Sexual and Reproductive Health Programmes, Including Women's Empowerment, Male Involvement and Human Rights Kampala, Uganda, 22-25 June 1998
- Round-table on Partnership with Civil Society in Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action Dhaka, Bangladesh, 27-30 July 1998
- Technical Symposium on International Migration and Development, The Hague, 29 June-3 July 1998
- Report of the Technical Meeting on Population Ageing, Brussels, 6-9 October 1998
- Technical Meeting on Reproductive Health Services in Crisis Situations, Rennes, France, 3-5 November 1998
Regional commission meetings and outcomes
- Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Division of Food Security and Sustainable Development: Implementation of the Dakar/Ngor Declaration and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development
- Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Population and Rural and Urban Development Division: High- level Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and Bali Declaration on Population and Sustainable Development and to Make Recommendations for Further Action, 24-27 March 1998, Bangkok, Thailand
- Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), Population Activities Unit: Regional Population Meeting, Budapest, Hungary, 7-9 December 1998
- Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Regional Review: ECLAC Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development (Oranjestad, Aruba, 13-14 May 1998; Reunion Comite Especial sobre Poblacion y Desarrollo (Oranjestad, Aruba, 13 y 14 de mayo de 1998) tratara los siguientes temas:
- Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Regional Review: Documentation from the Arab Ministerial Conference on Population and Development, 22-25 September 1998, Beirut, Lebanon
Additional official documentation: 32nd Session of Commission on Population and Development
