UNFPA's Executive Director Rafael Salas Dies

International Conference on Population

Ten years after the first World Conference on Population in Bucharest, Mexico City hosted the second global conference on population.  Ten years later the landmark International Conference on Population and Development was convened in Cairo.

UN Population Award Created

The General Assembly sets up the annual United Nations Population Award, first of its kind and then the only Assembly-authorized United Nations award. The Award – a certificate, a gold medal and monetary prize – is first presented in 1983.

UNFPA issues the first State of World Population

UNFPA issues the first State of World Population report to raise awareness of the need to address population issues. By the early 1980s, other agencies follow suit publishing theme-based flagship reports

World Conference on Population

At the conference, the international community highlighted common concerns over emerging population issues by adopting the World Population Plan of Action, which helped governments and the international community coordinate trends in economic and social development related to population.

General Assembly Places UNFPA under its Authority

UNFPA Asked to Prepare for World Population Year

ECOSOC assigns UNFPA to prepare for the World Population Year planned for 1974. The Fund sets up a temporary secretariat for the Year.

General Assembly Designates UNFPA Lead UN Body on Population

UNFPA Funds Censuses

UNFPA helps finance census programmes in 22 African countries, mostly newly independent states that had never completed population censuses. A few years later, another 24 sub-Saharan national census programmes get UNFPA support for the 1980 round of censuses.

Rafael Salas signs first UNFPA country agreement with Pakistan's Government