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UNFPA GLOBAL POPULATION POLICY UPDATE
Issue 21 - April 8 2004
On 1 and 2 April 2004, the Inter-European Parliamentary Forum on Population
and Development (IEPFPD) held its Fourth Council meeting in Ankara, Turkey,
on the theme of “ Women in Society- Towards the 10th Anniversary of the Fourth
World Conference on Women”.
Below is a press release on the event.
Brussels, 6 April 2004
Parliamentarians from over 25 European countries met and discussed the subject
of “Women in Society - Towards the Tenth Anniversary of the Fourth World
Conference on Women” upon the invitation of the Speaker of the Grand
National Assembly of Turkey, His Excellency, Hon. Bülent Arinç,
and the Chair of the Turkish Parliamentary Group on Population and Development,
Hon. Dr Mafuz Güler, MP in the Senate Hall of the Grand National Assembly
of Turkey on 1 and 2 April 2004 in Ankara at the Fourth Council meeting of
the Inter-European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (IEPFPD).
The meeting was opened by His Excellency, Hon. Bulent Arinç, Speaker
of the Grand National Assembly, Dr Imelda Henkin, Deputy Executive Director
of UNFPA and Dr Steven Sinding, Director General of IPPF who called on European
parliamentarians to continue taking the leadership in reaffirming the Cairo
Programme of Action. IEPFPD President, Hon. Ruth Genner, MP (Switzerland)
opened the meeting by declaring “Over the next two days, we have a unique
opportunity to make the link between our work on population and sexual and
reproductive health and rights and women’s rights as European parliamentarians.
We must be able to work together and take the lessons we learn here back
home to inspire us in our work in our parliaments.”
The Hon. Güldal Aksit, Turkish Minister of State responsible for Women
and Family and Hon. Recep Akdag, Turkish Minister of Health both addressed
the delegates and reaffirmed Turkey’s commitment to the Cairo Programme of
Action and the Beijing Platform of Action. A panel of the leaders of the
women’s branches of the main political parties in Turkish politics debated
the issue of women’s empowerment and women’s participation in political life.
Keynote speakers included the Head of the UN CEDAW, Dr Feride Açar,
the Vice-President of the European Women’s Lobby, Ms Denise Fuschs, the President
of Catholics for a Free Choice, Ms Frances Kissling, the President of the
International Women’s Health Coalition, Ms Adrienne Germain, Dr Lori Heise
of the Global Campaign for Microbides, Dr Sema Kut, President of the Turkish
Family Planning Association and Dr Rob Chase, Senior Economist at the World
Bank.
The IEPFPD Council welcomed Parliamentary Groups on Population and Development
from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Latvia as well as Germany as new member groups in
the IEPFPD, bringing the total number of IEPFPD member groups to 21. The
Council members elected the Hon. Carina Hägg, MP (Sweden) as the new
First Vice-President of the IEPFPD and the Hon. Anne Van Lancker, MEP (Belgium-European
Parliament) onto the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee also
bid farewell to Hon. Ulla Sandbaek, MEP, out-going IEPFPD Vice-President,
who has decided not to stand in the next European Parliament elections and
inducted Hon. Sandbaek, MEP as an Honorary Member of the IEPFPD in recognition
of her commitment and devotion to population and development issues. The
IEPFPD Council also extended a warm welcome to Ms Safiye Cagar recently appointed
to head up UNFPA Division of Information, External Relations, Resource Mobilisation
and Executive Board. The IEPFPD Council unanimously amended the organisation’s
Statutes changing the legal headquarters of the IEPFPD to 23 Rue de Luxembourg
where the offices of the independent Secretariat will be established by end
April 2004.
The Executive Committee presented the IEPFPD Activities over the past year
and announced the activities scheduled for 2004, including participation
in the Global Roundtable on ICPD at 10, hosting the International Parliamentarians
Conference on ICPD Implementation, holding a meeting for Central and East
European Parliamentarians, strengthening the Young Decision-Makers initiative
and continuing to play a leading role in defending and reaffirming the ICPD
PoA in UN regional meetings.
The meeting was attended by parliamentarians from 25 parliaments in Europe,
representatives of parliamentary networks in Asia, Africa and the Arab World,
the Parliamentary Network of the World Bank (AFPPD, FAAPPD, PNoWB), UNFPA,
IPPF, the World Bank, international NGOs and inter-governmental organisations
as well over 40 Turkish civil society representatives and NGOs, in total
over 120 participants.
The IEPFPD wishes to place on record its sincere gratitude to the Grand National
Assembly of Turkey, the Turkish All Party Parliamentary Group on Population
and Development, UNFPA-Ankara Office, the Turkish Family Planning Association
and the International Planned Parenthood Federation - European Network for
having contributed to the success of this meeting. The IEPFPD also wishes
to particularly mark its gratitude to the United Nations Population Fund
for having provided the funding necessary for the IEPFPD Council and for
its close partnership in all IEPFPD activities.
A report of the proceedings will be published shortly. For any additional
information, please contact: Neil Datta, IEPFPD Secretary, at info@europarlyvoices.Org or 32 (2) 250
09 64.
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 Ragaa Said at said@unfpa.org. If you have any questions or comments
on the content of this newsletter, please contact Harumi Kodama at kodama@unfpa.org or Richard Snyder at snyder@unfpa.org.
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