A Special Session of the 69th Session of the General Assembly
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), an event that broke new ground by placing human rights and dignity at the heart of the world’s development efforts.
The ICPD Programme of Action recognized that women, their rights and equality are global development priorities. World leaders committed to providing universal access to voluntary family planning as well as sexual and reproductive health services and rights, and to delivering gender equality and equal access to education.
The UN General Assembly Special Session on the ICPD, on 22 September, will bring together leaders from around the world to assess the status of its implementation and renew their commitment to achieving its goals.
It is an opportunity to galvanize the support of world leaders, to reflect on evidence of the advances the world has made, and to recognize the progress we have yet to achieve.
The central message of the ICPD Programme of Action – that human rights and dignity must be the foundation of sustainable development – is even more relevant today, as heads of state and global leaders convene to discuss the future development agenda.
Now is the moment to reaffirm that there can be no development without fulfilling the rights of women and young people, including their rights to education, to sexual and reproductive health, and to freedom from discrimination and violence.
Twenty years ago, UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Osotimehin attended the ICPD with the delegation of the United States. On 8 September of this year, the US delegation held a reunion in Washington, DC, where the delegates recalled the achievements made in 1994.
“I remember leading that delegation to Cairo, back when there really was a conspiracy of silence on family planning, sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights,” said US Secretary of State John Kerry.
“It is clear the tide has, in fact, turned. But it’s not a done deal, and we all know that,” he added.
Further efforts are needed to get people “to accept that every human being has rights, and that the rights of every human being are indivisible," said Dr. Osotimehin.
"That," he said, "is fundamental.”
