The ICPD was ground-breaking and led governments placing human rights at the heart of human development.

The central role of women and young people in the development process and the need to empower women and young people as powerful agents of change was recognized and promoted in the 20 year ICPD Programme of Action adopted by 179 countries.

This programme committed governments to achieving, by 2015, a range of development goals that placed individual people and human rights at the centre of development. At the heart of the ICPD are the commitments to attain universal access to sexual and reproductive health, including family planning; to ensure everyone had the information and education they needed to make decisions about relationships, sex and reproduction that were right for them; and it sought to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

In 2001, some of these goals became critical parts of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, which aim to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015.

The ICPD Programme of Action aims to make family planning, sexual and reproductive health and information universally available by 2015 as part of a broadened approach to individual health and rights.

The ICPD promotes:

• Sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development;
• Education, especially for girls;
• Gender equity and equality;
• Infant, child and maternal mortality reduction;
• The provision of universal access to reproductive health services, including family planning and sexual health.

The ICPD programme emphasised the centrality of sexual and reproductive health – defined as ‘complete physical, mental and social well-being’ – to the lives and wellbeing of all people, including young people.

While some countries have achieved much progress too many governments are failing to make progress to meet needs of all young people.

The ICPD programme emphasised the centrality of sexual and reproductive health – defined as ‘complete physical, mental and social well-being’ – to the lives and wellbeing of all people, including young people.

While some countries have achieved much progress too many governments are failing to make progress to meet needs of all young people.

The ICPD and young people

People born in 1994 at the time of the ICPD are now 15 years old and form part of the largest cohort of young people the world has ever seen – some 1.5 billion. The ICPD was written to address their needs and it is critical that governments meet their ICPD commitments if young people are to be able to attain their rights.

With this in mind, the 15andCounting campaign was created to support all groups and organizations involved with young people and the delivery of sexual/reproductive health services.

Key strands of the Programme of Action involving young people:

Gender Equality, Equity and Empowerment of Women
One of the objectives from the ICPD conference is the protection of young girls and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against the female child, to eliminate the root causes of son preference, to increase public awareness of the value of the female child and to strengthen her self-esteem.

To these ends, it calls for leaders at all levels of society to speak out and act forcefully against gender discrimination within the family based on preference for sons.

Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health
The Plan of Action (POA) states that governments must promote the adequate development of responsible sexuality that permits relations of equity and mutual respect between the sexes.

Member states must also ensure that women and men have access to information, education and services needed to achieve good sexual health and exercise their reproductive rights and responsibilities.

Recommended actions include giving support to integral sexual education and services for young people, with the support and guidance of their parents. Educational efforts should begin within the family unit, but must also reach adults, in particular men, through non-formal education and a variety of community-based activities.

Population, Development and Education
Education is a key factor in sustainable development as it is a component of well-being and a means to enable the individual to gain access to knowledge.

It also affects fertility, morbidity and mortality rates; empowers women; improves the quality of the working population; and promotes genuine democracy.

The increase in the education of women and girls contributes to women’s empowerment, to postponement of marriage and to reductions in family size. When mothers are better educated, their children’s survival rate tends to increase.

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