International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994, under the auspice of the United Nations. The ICPD was the largest intergovernmental conference on population and development ever held, with 179 governments participating and some 11,000 registered participants — from governments, UN specialized agencies and organizations, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and the media.

Cairo Declaration and POA

At this conference, governments adopted the landmark ICPD Program of Action (PoA) – a historical consensus document that signalled the end of population control and the beginning of an emphasis on rights and choice in population and development policies. The ICPD POA brought to the fore the relationship between human rights, population dynamics and economic development, and ended an era where demographic targets were the thrust of population and development policies.

The founders of DAWN were among the activist leaders who gathered in Cairo to rally and ensure that the human rights of women and girls, with a special focus on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and young people, were articulated in the final outcome document. Since, DAWN taken an active part in the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) review processes as well as in the annual sessions of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD) tasked to monitor, review and assess the ICPD Programme of Action (POA).