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48TH UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The ICPD was considered by the 48th session of the UN General Assembly on 4-5 November 1993. The annotated outline, building upon the work of PrepCom II, was the focus of many statements during the Second Committee debate. During the discussion, delegates raised a number of key points, including:

  • the centrality of population issues must be maintained in the Cairo document;
  • the recommendations should be action-oriented, clear and concise;
  • the rights of the individual must be central to the document;
  • the chapter on the empowerment of women must be strengthened;
  • the document should give more attention to sexuality and the family planning needs of youth and adolescents;
  • the Secretariat should provide information on the costs of various proposals;
  • means of implementation should be given a high priority;
  • the chapter on follow-up to the Conference is inadequate;
  • the issues of consumption and lifestyles should be given more attention;
  • the perspective and needs of countries in transition should be reflected;
  • the section on indigenous peoples needs strengthening; and
  • the role of NGOs should be spelled out more carefully.
The General Assembly also agreed that: the ICPD Preparatory Committee become a subsidiary body of the General Assembly (a change from its status as a subsidiary body of ECOSOC); the ICPD Secretary-General should prepare by February 1994 the first draft of the final substantive document of the Conference; PrepCom III would be extended by one week (4-22 April 1994); and two days of pre-Conference consultations will be convened in Cairo (3-4 September 1994).

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