ENB:06:30
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CLOSING SESSION
The PrepCom completed its adoption of the 16 chapters of the Programme of Action on its last day, Friday, 22 April 1994. The PrepCom then had three procedural matters to address. The first was the adoption of the provisional rules of procedure for the Cairo Conference, as contained in document A/CONF.171/PC/8. The Chair commented that this document was not open for amendments at this time, but would be discussed in more detail by the General Assembly between now and Cairo. There was no objection and the provisional rules of procedure were adopted. The next item was the adoption of the provisional agenda for the Cairo Conference, as contained in document A/CONF.171/ PC/L.2. Egypt proposed adding a new item to the agenda, Other Matters. With that amendment, the provisional agenda was adopted. The final issue to be addressed by the Committee was the adoption of its report, as contained in an informal document, which will be completed by the rapporteur following the PrepCom.
The Chair, Dr. Fred Sai, closed the third meeting of the PrepCom by thanking delegates on behalf of himself, Ghana and Africa, for electing him as the Chair. He said it had been a tremendous pressure and pleasure to serve. He thanked everyone, including the NGOs, for their active role and expressed hope that everyone will meet in Cairo in September. ICPD Secretary-General Nafis Sadik said that she was pleased to see that the draft Programme of Action starts to recognize the centrality of the individual and recognizes the need for gender equality and empowerment of women. She noted that the Secretariat will do its best to assist Governments in resolving some of the definitional problems. She expressed disappointment that "safe motherhood" is in brackets. The representative from Egypt mentioned that the ICPD is the last opportunity in this century to deal with the issues of population and sustainable economic development. He welcomed everyone to Cairo in September. With this final statement, at approximately 11:15 pm, the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the International Conference on Population and Development was gavelled to a close.