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PREPCOM III:

The third session of the Preparatory Committee for the International Conference on Population and Development will be held at UN Headquarters in New York from 4-22 April 1994. The PrepCom will focus on the negotiation of the Cairo Document -- a new action programme that is free-standing and operational in nature, while building on the important achievements of the 1974 and 1984 population conferences. There are still a number of issues that must be resolved if negotiations are to be successfully completed at PrepCom III. These include the definition of the family, as linked to the rights of the individual and couples to decide on the number and spacing of their children. Another issue that must be resolved is reference to abortion and reproductive rights. During the General Assembly debate, governments also stressed the importance of maintaining the centrality of population in the final document, while addressing the interrelationships between population, sustained economic growth and sustainable development. Other outstanding issues include the needs of countries in transition, the issue of indigenous people, the role of NGOs, and follow-up to the Conference.

Another focus of PrepCom III will be on the elaboration of 20 year goals in the Cairo Document. The proposed goals will relate to infant, child and maternal mortality; universal access to and completion of primary school education; and universal access to family planning information and services with emphasis on meeting all unmet demands. The Secretariat is expected to begin to discuss these goals with delegations during a series of informal consultations to be held in the first quarter of 1994.