ICPD and MDGs

Two global frameworks serve to focus UNFPA’s efforts: The Programme of Action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (ICPD, 1994) and the Millennium Development Goals, which the international development community committed itself to six years later. These two global frameworks put forward the needs for education and health, including reproductive health, as a prerequisite for reducing poverty and sustainable development over the longer term.

ICPD — International Conference on Population and Development

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was a milestone in the history of population and development, as well as in the history of women's rights. At the conference, the world agreed that population is not about numbers, but about people. Implicit in this rights-based approach is the idea that every person counts. The conference also made it clear that empowerment of women is not simply an end in itself, but also a step towards eradicating poverty and stabilizing population growth. Reproductive health and rights are cornerstones of women's empowerment.

UNFPA, governments and development partners marked the 15th anniversary of the ICPD, in 2009 by taking stock of how much has been accomplished and how much more is left to do. A series of expert meetings and events helped to identify gaps and challenges, to consolidate lessons learned over the last 15 years, and to come up with practical recommendations for accelerating progress.

Guiding Principles from the ICPD Programme of Action

1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
2. Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. People are the most important and valuable resource of any nation.
3. The right to development is a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental human rights.
4. Advancing gender equality and equity and the empowerment of women, and eliminating all forms of violence against women, are the cornerstones of population and development-related programmes.
5. Population-related goals and policies are integral parts of cultural, economic and social development, the principal aim of which is to improve the quality of life of all people.
6. Sustainable development requires that the interrelationships between population, resources and development are fully recognized and brought into harmonious, dynamic balance.
7. All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty.
8. Everyone has the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. All couples and individuals have the basic right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have the information, education and means to do so.
9. The family is the basic unit of society and, as such, should be strengthened. It is entitled to receive comprehensive protection and support. Various forms of the family exist.
10. Everyone has the right to education. Education should be designed to strengthen respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
11. The child has the right to an adequate standard of living, health and education and to be free from neglect, exploitation and abuse.
12. Countries receiving documented migrants should provide proper treatment and adequate social welfare services for them and their families, and should ensure their physical safety and security.
13. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
14. States should recognize and support the identi
15. Sustained economic growth and social progress require that growth be broadly based, offering equal opportunities to all people.

For more information see: Summary of the ICPD Programme of Action.

Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a framework world leaders agreed upon to reduce poverty and improve the wellbeing of people. They are a set of eight inter-connected development goals with time-bound targets and indicators. The MDGs were agreed upon within a Millennium Declaration, at the Millennium Summit of the year 2000, which brought together 189 states together to call on the world’s most pressing challenges. They pledged to make the world a better place for all humanity. The Millennium Declaration was thus born to reflect the decisions of the world leaders and outlined a road map for progress as far as the year 2015.

As a signatory to the Millennium Declaration, Uzbekistan is fulfilling its promises to address the challenges outlined in the MDGs. The Government recognizes the relevance and acuteness of these challenges in the national development context. The Government, in collaboration with donor community and the civil society, has embarked on the process of formulating its own national MDG targets and indicators. The national experts’ team made major steps in analyzing the development context for each goal by setting appropriate baselines and indicators.

• GOAL 1 - Improve living standards and reduce malnutrition
• GOAL 2 - Improve the quality of primary and general secondary education while maintaining universal access
• GOAL 3 - Promote gender equality and empower women
• GOAL 4 - Reduce child mortality
• GOAL 5 - Improve maternal health
• GOAL 6 - Combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria
• GOAL 7 - Ensure environmental sustainability
• GOAL 8 - Uzbekistan and global partnership for development

For more information, see:

Millenium Development Goals page at UN website: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Millennium Campaign – We Can End Poverty: http://www.endpoverty2015.org/