News
New Website, ICPD Beyond 2014, is Launched
- 15 February 2012
UNITED NATIONS -- Many young leaders around the world are too young to remember the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, which took place in Cairo. But the plan that emerged from the conference – the ICPD Programme of Action – remains relevant twenty years later.
The comprehensive Programme of Action encourages economic growth and sustainable development through a commitment to all human beings and their right to pursue healthy and productive lives without discrimination. It asserts that ensuring individual rights and dignity are paramount to a better world for all.
A new website, ICPD Beyond 2014, details the progress of the Cairo vision to improve the lives of all people. It serves as the official website for the review of implementation of the ICPD.
Interviews with key stakeholders
In late 2011, UNFPA organized meetings with young (under 35) parliamentarians and leading partner NGOs to talk about the implications of the ICPD PoA for their countries, their constituencies and the world as a whole. The website includes interviews with many of these young leaders, who will be in the forefront of making policies that will shape the future for a world of 7 billion and counting.
It also features exclusive discussions with some of the key stakeholders who were involved in the ICPD process back in 1994.
Their reflections underscore the many different ways in which the ICPD continues to have an influence in different countries. It also looks at the ways it affects the lives of young people, who comprise about half of the world’s people.
Additionally the website answers some basic background questions: What is the ICPD? Why does it still matter? How is it impacting the world? What’s next?
Exploring the future of the ICPD vision
ICPD Beyond 2014 aims to consolidate information and perspectives on the continuing relevance of the ICPD Programme of Action and the processes that will keep it alive beyond its initial 20-year framework.
To that end, the new website includes exclusive and shared news and features, a calendar of key events, background information, and links to key documents. The material aims to engage participation from Member States, partners, civil society, academia, as well as introduce the initiative to the general public.
The website will contain updates about the Global Survey, a major component of the review process. The survey will assess the implementation of ICPD plan at the country level and to identify challenges based on the changing needs of society. The survey, which is under way, aims to determine a new actionable set of recommendations for countries and communities to implement based on the vision of the ICPD.
