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UNFPA GLOBAL POPULATION POLICY UPDATE
Issue 12 - November 14 2003
On 24 October 2003, 65 women ministers and parliamentarians from 23 West
and Central African countries adopted a declaration reaffirming their commitment
to and support for the International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD) Programme of Action (1994) and the Key Actions for the Further Implementation
of the ICPD Programme of Action (ICPD+5, 1999) as well as the ICPD 10 year
review (2004). These ministers and parliamentarians, who are members
of the Network of African Women and Parliamentarians (NEWMAP), adopted the
declaration at a sub-regional workshop on “Gender Responsive Budgeting for
ICPD Goals in National Development Frameworks: PRSPs and SWAps”. The
workshop was held from 21 to 24 October in Cotonou, Benin, and was organized
by UNFPA in partnership with the United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM). Other organizations that provided assistance with the workshop
included the World Bank, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social
Affairs (DESA), the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) and
the Government of the Netherlands.
In its phrasing, the declaration references the Ottawa Commitment, which
was adopted in Ottawa, Canada, in November 2002 by parliamentarians and ministers
from 72 countries and territories at the International Parliamentarians’
Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.
We, African women ministers, parliamentarians and heads of delegations participating
in the sub-regional workshop on “Gender Responsive Budgeting for ICPD Goals
in the National Development Frameworks: PRSPs and SWAps” in Cotonou, Benin,
from 21 to 24 October 2003,
Reaffirm our commitment to the Programme of Action of the International Conference
on Population and Development (ICPD), to the key actions for the implementation
of the ICPD Programme of Action (ICPD+5) and to the preparation for ICPD+10
review, analysis of progress made, difficulties encountered and lessons learned
in the implementation of the Programme over the past ten years, as recommended
in the final report of the interim Secretariat of the African Union (AU),
which was presented at Maputo Summit in July 2003.
We further recognize and accept our crucial roles, both individually and
collectively as advocates for the rights and needs of the people, as legislators
to make laws to protect these rights and as policy makers to mobilize and
allocate the resources and create an enabling environment.
We further recognize and accept that population is a crosscutting issue,
affecting all other development issues.
We recognize as indispensable the achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals in particular those eradicating poverty and hunger, conflicts and post-conflict
situations, improving maternal heath, reproductive health and rights, combating
HIV/AIDS, providing universal primary education and promoting gender equality
and the empowerment of women.
Call to action
We, African women ministers, parliamentarians and heads of delegations participating
in the sub-regional workshop on “Gender Responsive Budgeting for ICPD Goals
in National Development Frameworks”, commit ourselves to the following actions:
1. Give high priority to the poverty reduction strategies and ensure
that gender perspectives are taken into account;
2. Focus our actions on strategies and programmes that will work to
enable the poorest to expand their opportunities and improve their lives;
3. Focus our actions on strategies and programmes that will work to
enhance rights and promote peace and security in our countries;
4. Formulate and implement policies and programmes for sexual and reproductive
health for teenagers and young girls and men;
5. Enforce laws and policies that promote and protect the human rights
of girl child and young women;
6. Support the strengthening of instruments and mechanisms to promote
gender equality and equity;
7. Enforce laws and policies that eliminate all forms of violence,
coercion and discrimination against women, including various forms of harmful
practices;
8. Provide inputs to the ICPD+10 review exercise, coordinate preparation
for the National Report on ICPD+10, and create awareness among decision makers,
policy makers and the public at large about the ICPD+10 review process;
9. Promote the adoption of gender budgeting as a strategy to secure
resource allocations for reproductive heath;
10. Promote South-South Cooperation among African countries; and
11. Advocate for NEPAD*.
* NEPAD stands for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
This newsletter is issued by the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) in its capacity as secretariat for the biannual International
Parliamentarians' Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD Programme
of Action (the first conference was held in November 2002, in Ottawa, Canada).
These dispatches are intended to highlight important developments taking
place around the world so that parliamentarians can be kept informed of and
learn from the successes, setbacks and challenges encountered by their fellow
parliamentarians in other countries and regions in their efforts to promote
the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference
on Population and Development (September 1994, Cairo, Egypt). It should be
noted that UNFPA does not necessarily endorse all of the policies described
in this newsletter.
Please send mailing list update information to Diego Hadis at hadis@unfpa.org. If you have any questions or
comments on the content of this newsletter, please contact Harumi Kodama
at kodama@unfpa.org or Stirling Scruggs at
scruggs@unfpa.org.
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