Investing in People: National Progress in Implementing the ICPD Programme of Action 1994-2004

This report from UNFPA presents results from a global survey of national experiences ten years after the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action was agreed in Cairo. Responses indicate that countries have made substantial progress in reproductive health services and information, including measures to address the needs of adolescents, and to prevent and manage sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Most responding countries had taken measures to improve access to education, promote gender equality, and enforce reproductive rights.

However, fewer countries reported information-education-communication (IEC) or advocacy strategies, or institutional changes - key elements in realising reproductive rights. Social and cultural factors were cited by many countries as a key constraint to addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The report concludes that there has been a considerable increase in the awareness and ownership of the ICPD agenda, including the concepts of sexual and reproductive health and rights, by countries of all regions. However, it recommends greater cross-sectoral collaboration, and a more integrated approach to achieving the ICPD objectives as critical to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It also calls for ICPD issues to be infused into broader policy areas, such as poverty, women's empowerment, human rights and environmental sustainability.