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Today, at the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD), governments from across the world renewed their commitment to realising the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action to improve the lives of women and girls.

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To Leave No One Behind, Everyone Must be Counted: The 49th Commission on Population and Development

15 April 2016 Today, at the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD), governments from across the world renewed their commitment to realising the International Conference on ...

15 April 2016 Today, at the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD), governments from across the world renewed their commitment to realising the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action to improve the lives of women and girls.

IPPF is pleased that the resolution on this year’s CPD theme – “Strengthening the demographic evidence base for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” - called on governments to pay attention to the ground-breaking ICPD Beyond 2014 Report[1], alongside its review conferences and previous CPD agreements.

IPPF is also pleased with governments’ reaffirmation of the importance of promoting, protecting and upholding human rights, while also recognising the need to address persistent inequalities and discrimination. This is especially important given persistent human rights violations and discrimination, including discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. 

The emphasis on the clear link between the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action and sustainable development, especially through the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, positions the CPD to support global efforts to eradicate poverty.

Furthermore, in emphasising the essential role that high-quality, accessible, timely, reliable and  disaggregated demographic data plays in the planning and implementation of policies and programmes, governments have set in motion an ambitious agenda for data collection which will help ensure that no-one is left behind.

IPPF particularly welcomes the encouragement given to governments to collect data on girls ages 10-14 and women over 49. Expanding data collection is the first step to understanding the issues that women and girls face in every phase of their lives.

Governments also adopted a second resolution - “Future organization and methods of work of the Commission on Population and Development”- in which they committed to ensuring the central role of the CPD in tracking the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action at national, regional and international levels.  The emphasis on the importance of reproductive rights and gender equality as cornerstones of sustainable development will contribute to the 2030 Agenda and to realising sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.

Finally, IPPF commends the recognition—by governments from every region of the world—of the key role that civil society actors play in realizing the ICPD Programme of Action.  Both of this year’s agreements underline that the CPD is effective and an important contributor to the 2030 Agenda.

At CPD49 IPPF worked as part of a broad-based coalition of women’s and youth civil society groups.

 

[1] Framework of Actions for the follow-up to the Programme of Action of the ICPD Beyond 2014

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