“Young People at ICPD@10: Real Lives, Real Action”

In September 1994, the largest ever conference on population and development was held in Cairo, Egypt.

Over 11,000 people including government officials, UN agencies, non governmental organizations and the media attended the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and together they negotiated a Programme of Action to guide their national policies until 2015 and beyond.

How does this affect you?
Young people’s sexual and reproductive health was an important part of this agreement. The Programme of Action made a commitment to address unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections, early marriage and sexual exploitation. It also paid special attention to adolescents’ right to privacy, confidentiality and respect and the importance of informed consent.

Most importantly, it recognized that adolescents must be fully involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of services that affect them. 2004 is the 10th anniversary of this landmark consensus.

So what do we have to show for it?
Well, some achievements, certainly, but also missed opportunities.

The question now is: how do we plan for the future?
For a start, we need to make youth participation more meaningful.

We also need to work on reducing unsafe abortions while making the right to choose a reality for a greater number of young women and ensure that they have easy access to emergency contraception.

Finally, we need to challenge discrimination and stigma based on sexual orientation and create an environment of love and respect for us all!

Young people's views
This issue of X-press shows what young people around the world feel about adolescent sexual and reproductive health – what we should celebrate and what we need to work on. We hope it inspires you to continue to fight for your rights!