Programme of Action | International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was convened under the auspices of the United Nations and was organized by a secretariat composed of the Population Division of the then UN Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (now the Department of Economic and Social Affairs) and UNFPA. The Conference adopted the Programme of Action by consensus, which emphasized the fundamental role of women’s interests in population matters and introduced the concepts of sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. A new definition of population policy was advanced, giving prominence to reproductive health and the empowerment of women. The ICPD was the largest intergovernmental conference on population and development ever held, with 179 governments participating and some 11,000 registered participants -- from governments, UN specialized agencies and organizations, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and the media. The outpouring of interest and participation from civil society was unprecedented. More than 4,000 representatives of over 1,500 non-governmental organizations from 113 countries attended the independent NGO Forum ’94, which was help in parallel to the official conference. The regional commissions, in cooperation with UNFPA and regional non-UN organizations, convened regional intergovernmental conferences to review the regional experiences and perspectives. The Population Division convened, in consultation with UNFPA, six expert group meetings on population, environment and development (New York, 20-24 January 1992); population policies and programmes (Cairo, 12-16 April 1992); population and women (Gaborone, 22-26 June 1992); family planning, health and family wellbeing (Bangalore, 26-29 October 1992); population growth and demographic structure (Paris, 16-20 November 1992); population distribution and migration (Santa Cruz, 18-23 January 1993). The Programme of Action, adopted by acclamation on 13 September 1994, emphasizes the integral linkages between population and development and focuses on meeting the needs of individual women and men, rather than on achieving demographic targets. The Programme of Action builds upon the World Population Plan of Action, adopted at the World Population Conference held in Bucharest in 1974, and the recommendations adopted at the International Conference on Population, held in Mexico City in 1984. It also builds on the outcomes of the World Summit for Children (1990), the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992), and the World Conference on Human Rights (1993). In turn, the ICPD's major emphases were reaffirmed at the World Summit for Social Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women, both held in 1995. It also informed the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015).