The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo in 1994, constituted a turning point in addressing population and development issues, placing people, their rights and their dignity at the heart of the development process and emphasizing the interlinkages between population and sustainable development and the role of population policies in empowering individuals and improving their lives.
Countries undertake a review of the implementation of the ICPD programme of action every five years to monitor progress, identify emerging trends and highlight the challenges and enabling factors regarding meeting their commitments.
In October 2022, ESCWA, the United Nations Population Fund and the League of Arab States launched the sixth regional review of ICPD, ten years after the 2013 Cairo Declaration which renewed the commitment of member States to the 1994 programme of action of ICPD as a plan to guide Arab countries. The review process includes developing a guiding template to assist countries in the preparation of their national reports; organizing capacity-building workshops for member countries' representatives; and convening multi-stakeholder dialogues.
The regional review process will culminate in a regional conference to be held in 2023. Key messages emanating from the conference will inform the Secretary-General's report to be presented to the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on Population and Development convening in April 2024.
Below are the events, documents and publications relevant to the sixth regional review of ICPD and the 2013 Cairo Declaration.
