The Population Convention: Progress after Five Years
by Doreen Robinson (Morocco, 92-94)
       The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Cairo, Egypt in September 1994, with an estimated 20,000 conference participants.  At the end of the conference, a comprehensive Program of Action on population and development for the next 20 years was adopted by 179 countries. The Program of Action, with its focus on women's needs and rights at the center of population policies and programs, was viewed as a major achievement by governments and civil society alike.  A 1997 UN General Assembly resolution called for the convening of a Special Session of the General Assembly from 30 June - 2 July 1999 to appraise implementation of the ICPD Program of Action.
        Throughout much of 1999, the international community has been engaged in a five-year review of the Program of Action in a process dubbed "Cairo Plus Five" or "ICPD+5".  The goals of this review process were to assess progress to date, examine remaining obstacles and produce practical recommendations to further effective implementation of the ICPD goals.  As the world's population reaches an estimated 6 billion this year, a review of the international regime guiding population and development concerns seems all too timely.
        Two major events fed into the ICPD review process.  First, in February of this year the International Forum for the Operational Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the ICPD POA (The Hague Forum) was held in The Hague, the Netherlands.  Approximately 2000 participants,
including intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, attended the Forum, which was held to examine lessons learned, promote exchange among countries facing similar experiences, and to provide technical inputs to the UN Special Session.  The outcome of the Forum was a draft report summarizing findings and proposed actions based on five main themes: creating an enabling environment for the further implementation of the Program of Action; gender equality, equity and empowerment of women; reproductive health; strengthening partnerships; and resource flows and financing for implementation.
            The second major event that contributed to the review process was the PrepCom meetings held from 24 March- 1 April of this year at UN headquarters in New York.  The main task of the PrepCom was to negotiate proposals for key actions to further the implementation of the ICPD Program of Action, in preparation for the Special Session meeting of the UN.  PrepCom meetings resumed in May 1999 for informal consultations and again four days prior to the Special Session in an effort to complete negotiations.
             Given the comprehensive nature of the original 16 chapter Program of Action, the enormity of the task of assessing progress and identifying obstacles to the plan's implementation must be appreciated.  In addition, debates concerning contraception, abortion, sex education in school curricula and other adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues proved to be as contentious during the review process as they had been during initial negotiations in 1994.  However, despite the lengthy and strenuous negotiations that were somewhat overshadowed by the disappointing Rio+5 process, in June-July of this year, the Special Session of the UN General Assembly successfully concluded with the adoption of a document recommending key actions for further implementation of the IPCD Program of Action.  The document begins with a Preamble that sets out the goals of the Program of Action and highlights the positive results of implementation in many countries.  A second section on Population and
Development Concerns outlines key actions on population, economic development and the environment; changing age structure; international migration; internal migration, population distribution and urban agglomerations; population, development and education; and data systems.  The third section of the report discusses Gender Equality, Equity and Empowerment of Women.  The fourth section, which includes some of the most contentious paragraphs on abortion and adolescents, covers Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health.  The last two sections discuss Partnerships and Collaborations, and Mobilizing Resources.
         According to a recent report published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), one of the key features of the new document is that it takes a more programmatic approach focused on tangible actions.  The document goes further than the original Program of Action in some areas to include specific benchmarks.  The final text calls for universal access to primary education as quickly as possible, elimination of the gender gap in primary and secondary education by 2005, and net primary school enrollment ratios of children of both sexes of at least 90% by 2010. The document also includes specific goals related to providing safe and effective family planning and contraceptive methods, and specific benchmarks for primary health care and family planning facilities offering such services for 2005 and 2010.
         The document notes that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is having more severe impacts than originally projected and calls for expanded efforts to promote education and services to combat the disease.  More specifically, the document calls for 90% of young people to have access to the information, education and services necessary to develop the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection by 2005, and 95% by 2010.
           The review process included specific concerns for the growing numbers of people displaced due to war, civil unrest and natural catastrophes in the past five years.  Delegates agreed to language urging support for countries hosting large numbers of refugees, and the final text of the adopted document addressed the special needs of refugee women and children and elderly refugees.
Another key feature of the report is that donor countries are urged to renew and intensify efforts to meet the need for resources to reach the estimated $5.7 billion necessary to implement the plan in 2000 ($7.2 billion in 2015).  Notably, the review process has shown that developing countries have made laudable progress and have almost reached their commitment of $17 billion per year to implement the Program of Action.  On the other hand, donor countries as a group have not come close to meeting the commitments they made in 1994.  According to information from Population Action International, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have already exceeded their own year 2000 goals, while the US has not yet achieved its goal.  Furthermore, it is unlikely that the overall ICPD goal for donor assistance can be met without the full U.S. contribution, as the US is by far the largest and richest donor country.  Population Action International states that achieving the US share of the ICPD goal would cost an additional five dollars per year for every U.S. citizen.
         In general, many delegates to the ICPD+5 process view the adoption of a consensus document as a sign of success and a spark of hope for renewed and reinvigorated efforts, according to an IISD report.  In spite of  the document's shortcomings, with new benchmarks in place, and a reconfirmed international commitment, perhaps real progress can be made.

For more information on IPCD+5 and population issues in general see:
Campbell, R. et al. 1999. Summary of the 21st Special Session of the General Assembly (ICPD+5). Earth Negotiations Bulletin 6(61).  (Available from www.iisd.ca)
Gibb Vogel, C. & R. Engleman.  1999.  Forging the Link: Emerging Accounts of Population and Environment Work in Communities.  (available from Population Action International)
Population Action International  /1120 19th Street NW Ste 550 Washington DC 20036
www.populationaction.org
Zero Population Growth
www.zpg.org
International Planned Parenthood Federation
www.ippf.org
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Rights Association
www.nfprha.org
The Population Council
www.popcouncil.org
Population Coalition of the League of Women Voters
www.poco.org
Population-Environment
www.seattle.battelle.org/services/e&s/pop-env/index.html
The Population Institute
www.populationinstitute.org
The Population Reference Bureau
www.prb.org/prb/index.html/
Project on Environment, Population & Security
http://utl1.library.utoronto.ca/www/pcs/eps.htm