Curtain raiser
ICPD
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ICPD
The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)was created by United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)Resolution 1989/91 in 1989. The Secretary- General of theConference is Dr. Nafis Sadik, the Executive Director of the UnitedNations Population Fund (UNFPA).
PREPCOM I
The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) held its first substantivesession in New York from 4-8 March 1991. This session defined theobjectives and themes of the Conference, and proposed conveningexpert group meetings, regional population conferences and twoadditional sessions of the PrepCom. The PrepCom identified sixclusters of priority issues: population, environment anddevelopment; population policies and programmes; population andwomen; family planning, health and family well-being; populationgrowth and demographic structure; and population distribution andmigration. These clusters were addressed by a series of expertgroup meetings organized by the Population Division of theDepartment of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysisof the UN Secretariat, in consultation with UNFPA. Another sourceof input was a series of regional population conferences that wereheld in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, andthe Middle East.
PREPCOM II
The second session of the Preparatory Committee was held in NewYork from 10-21 May 1993. The overriding objective was to reachagreement on the form and substance of the final document to beadopted in Cairo. Delegates agreed on a set of issues to bediscussed and elaborated a conceptual framework for the finaldocument. There was support for adoption of a new, free-standingdocument to include action-oriented recommendations to effectivelyaddress population and development challenges into the next decade.Delegates also reached consensus on the inclusion of a number ofissues in this document, including the relationship betweenpopulation, environment, sustained economic growth and development;the empowerment of women; population ageing; health and mortality;population distribution, urbanization and internal migration;international migration; reproductive health and family planning;and partnership between Governments and NGOs.
48TH UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The ICPD was considered by the 48th session of the UN GeneralAssembly on 4-5 November 1993. An annotated outline, based on thework of PrepCom II, was the focus of many statements during theSecond Committee debate. During the discussion, delegates raised anumber of key points, including: the centrality of populationissues must be maintained in the Cairo document; therecommendations should be action-oriented, clear and concise; therights of the individual must be central to the document; thechapter on the empowerment of women must be strengthened; thedocument should give more attention to sexuality and the familyplanning needs of youth and adolescents; the Secretariat shouldprovide information on the costs of various proposals; means ofimplementation should be given a high priority; the chapter onfollow-up to the Conference is inadequate; the issues ofconsumption and lifestyles should be given more attention; theperspective and needs of countries in transition should bereflected; the section on indigenous peoples needs strengthening;and the role of NGOs should be spelled out more carefully.
PREPCOM III
The third session of the Preparatory Committee was held in New Yorkfrom 4-22 April 1994. The overriding objective was to reachagreement on as much of the draft final document of the Conferenceas possible. During the first week of the PrepCom, delegatesproposed amendments to the Secretariat's draft text(A/CONF.171/PC/5). Two working groups, under the chairmanship ofNicolaas Biegman (The Netherlands) and Lionel Hurst (Antigua andBarbuda) were responsible for negotiating the chapters in the draftProgramme of Action. During the second and third weeks, the WorkingGroup Chairs produced revised versions of each chapter for theconsideration of delegations. During the last three days of thePrepCom, delegates considered each chapter one final time inPlenary. Although the Chair had hoped to remove as many of theremaining brackets as possible, some of the more divisive issuescould not be resolved. Thus, the PrepCom adopted the final draftProgramme of Action and sent the text, brackets and all, to theConference in Cairo.
PrepCom III made a number of concrete advances during itsthree-week session. These include: a shift from family planning toreproductive health; population is placed in the overalldevelopment context; the chapter on empowerment of women (ChapterIV) is much stronger than anyone had ever expected, in fact it isconsiderably stronger than any of the draft language for theBeijing Conference on Women; the text contains reference tounsustainable patterns of production and consumption; and the textrecognizes indigenous peoples' special needs and rights.
Nevertheless, a number of key issues were left to be resolved inCairo. Delegates must still:
- reach agreement on the following difficult definitions: family planning; reproductive and sexual health and rights; and safe motherhood;
- address the reproductive and sexual health needs of adolescents;
- deal with preamble and principles (Chapters I and II); and
- agree on the resource requirements.
PRE-CONFERENCE CONSULTATIONS
The Pre-Conference Consultations, which were held on Saturday andSunday, were opened by the Secretary-General of the Conference, Dr.Nafis Sadik. Dr. Sadik welcomed the delegates to the ICPD and notedthat the Pre-Conference Consultations would forward recommendationsto the Conference on all procedural and organizational matters. TheSecretary-General proposed that Mohamed Adel El Safty, AssistantMinister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, be elected as Chair of thePre-Conference Consultations and his nomination was accepted.
A number of issues were considered during the two-day meeting.Delegates recommended to the Conference the adoption of theprovisional rules of procedure, as contained in documentA/CONF.171/2. With respect to the election of officers, therecommendations concerning the composition of the GeneralCommittee, and the distribution of the posts therein, wereendorsed. The proposal to recommend to the Conference the electionof His Excellency Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt, forthe post of President of the Conference was accepted. With respectto the election of the members of the Bureau, the Chairs of theAsian Group and the Eastern European Group indicated thatnegotiations were still ongoing and that the Vice-Chairs had notyet been designated. The Latin American Group nominated Brazil,Mexico, Uruguay, Suriname and Venezuela. The States designated bythe Western European and Others Group as Vice-Chairs were Malta,Denmark, Finland, Germany, Canada and Greece. Nigeria, on behalf ofthe African Group, nominated Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria,Senegal and the Central African Republic for the six of theirseven posts. The Chair indicated that negotiations were still inprocess regarding the designation of the Rapporteur-General and theChair of the Main Committee.
There was no objection to the recommendation that the agenda beadopted and the participants also agreed that the general debateshould be extended in Plenary until the afternoon of Monday,September 12. Each delegation will be allowed to make one generalstatement that will be limited to ten minutes for the governmentaldelegations, seven minutes for IGOs, UN agencies and regionalorganizations, and five minutes for NGOs. The delegates agreed thatparticipants of the Main Committee would designate three vicechairs and a rapporteur and the Chair expressed hope that agreementwould be reached before the opening of the Conference so that theirelection can be carried out by acclamation.
The Chair also indicated that the proposed timetable, as containedin the annex of document A/CONF.171/3, may have to be adjusted andthat conference services could be provided for only twosimultaneous meetings in the morning and the afternoon. The MainCommittee may establish subcommittees and working groups, but onlyto the extent that conference services are available on site. Themeeting recommended that the following States would comprise theCredentials Committee of the Conference: Austria, the Bahamas,China, Cte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Mauritius, the Russian Federation,Thailand and the US, and also recommended the accreditation of theintergovernmental organizations listed in A/CONF.171/8. Inaddition, it was noted that the PrepCom for ICPD had accreditedover 900 NGOs at its three sessions, and the accreditation of theNGOs, as listed in A/CONF.171/7 and Add.1, was recommended.
The Secretariat suggested a possible time-frame for discussions onthe various chapters of the programme. Algeria, on behalf of theG-77 and China, and Germany, on behalf on the EU, noted thatdelegations will have to be given the time and opportunity to holdfurther consultations. The Chair asked delegates for their commentson the possibility of adopting a final declaration. Austria saidthat this practice is neither customary nor infrequent and addedthat a more succinct version of the Programme of Action could beuseful. Argentina said that the developing countries wished todiscuss this issue within the context of G-77 consultations and TheGambia asked if the ICPD Secretariat had prepared a draftDeclaration or if the Conference itself would have to do it. TheChair said that there was no draft at this point and that it wasstill unclear who would draft it. The Pre-Conference Consultationsadopted paragraph 20 of document A/CONF.171/3, which recommendsthat friends of the Rapporteur-General be designated by eachregional group to help him with the preparation of the finalreport. The Pre-Conference recommendations will be forwarded to theConference on Monday in document A/CONF.171/L.2.
Regarding the election of the Chair of the Main Committee, Gabon,on behalf of the African Group, nominated Dr. Fred Sai (Ghana) asChair of the Main Committee. Algeria, on behalf of G-77 and China,also supported the nomination of Dr. Sai.
With respect to other matters (Item 10 of document A/CONF.171/3),the Chair asked for delegates' comments on the non-paper issued bythe Secretariat on Saturday. Canada suggested a reorganization ofthe order in which the Main Committee will review the chapters ofthe Programme of Action. After a further amendment suggested by theRussian Federation, the following schedule was recommended:
- Monday: Chapters 1 and 2;
- Tuesday: Chapters 8 and 7;
- Wednesday: Chapters 9 and 10 (morning); Chapters 11, 13, 14 and 16 (afternoon);
- Thursday: Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 12 and 15.
Night sessions are planned for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday andThursday evenings. Canada said that this new organization of thework would allow decisions to be taken in working groups, if theneed arose. The EU said that it had agreed to the Chair's previousschedule and had not had time for informal consultations, butagreed to this reorganization.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY
PLENARY: The Conference is scheduled to begin this morningat 9:30 am in Cheops Hall. ICPD Secretary-General Nafis Sadik willopen the Conference and should move immediately to the firstprocedural items on the agenda, including the adoption of the rulesof procedure and of the agenda, the organization of work includingthe establishment of the Main Committee and the appointment of themembers of the Credentials Committee. The recommendations of thePre- Conference Consultations on these matters will be contained indocument A/CONF.171/L.2. UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghaliwill give his opening statement and preside over the election ofthe President of the Conference, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.The Asian and Eastern European regional group spokespersons willlikely present their candidates for the Vice-Chair positions andthe Rapporteur-General candidate will be announced. Prime MinisterGro Harlem Brundtland (Norway), Vice-President Albert Gore (US),Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan), Prime Minister Mbilini(Swaziland) and Dr. Sadik will address the Conference.
In the afternoon, General Debate will begin on Agenda Item 8,Experiences concerning population and development strategies andprogrammes. More than 200 speakers are expected during the week.Statements are expected from Algeria (on behalf of the G-77),Germany (for the EU), Mexico, China, Kenya, Argentina, IMF, Tuvalu,Chile, Venezuela, France, WHO, Spain, Australia, Denmark, Romaniaand Tunisia.
MAIN COMMITTEE: The Main Committee will begins its work thisafternoon with the election of officers and organization of work.Dr. Fred Sai (Ghana) is likely to begin work immediately on ChapterI of the draft programme of action, "Preamble," followed by ChapterII, "Principles."<T>
ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDS: Buried in the basement of the CICC aretwo treasures and one dead-end. Look for the Population InformationNetwork (POPIN) Center with computerized databases and on-lineInternet access to Conference data. The other find is the bazaarwith rug merchants, car dealers and military hardware. Avoid thetelecommunications center where phone lines do not work for fax anddata calls and cost a Pharaoh's treasure.