I. Justification

At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, the international community agreed to allocate an annual sum of $18.5 billion by 2005, $20.5 billion by 2010 and $21.7 billion by 2015 for population and reproductive health programmes in developing countries. Two thirds of the target would come from developing countries themselves and the remaining one third would come from external donor funding.

While both donors and developing countries achieved their 2005 targets as set out in the ICPD, there remain serious gaps in population funding which make it difficult for countries to provide the information, services and commodities needed to meet the ICPD goals by 2015. 

First, recent research shows that the funding targets set a decade ago in Cairo were substantially underestimated for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. A report by the Secretary-General released this year at the Commission on Population and Development estimates that the annual cost of meeting current needs for population activities is $64.7 billion (in 2010), which is much higher than the original 1994 estimates of $20.5 billion for the same year.  Based on these estimates, in 2010, donors will have allocated only one third of the needed funds, and developing countries only half.

Second, funding for reproductive health, especially family planning, has suffered significantly because of a shift of population assistance funds to HIV/AIDS. Funds for reproductive health and family planning are not keeping up with the needs of an increasing number of couples of reproductive ages in developing countries.  On the other hand, funds needed to address AIDS remain inadequate in spite of recent, large increases in funding for STD/HIV/AIDS. 

Third, while developing countries as a whole are making progress in providing domestic resources for their population programmes, the poorest countries continue to depend entirely on external assistance.  They will not be able to meet the needs of their populations unless donors increase their support. 

Another important challenge for advancing the ICPD agenda is the creation and nurturing of an enabling environment in the domestic context, which can be realized by adopting and improving relevant laws, policies and programmes on population and development. Significant progress has been made in this area in the past decade.  For example, 96% of the 151 countries that responded to a recent UNFPA’s global survey reported action to integrate population concerns into development policies and strategies. 

Yet, many of the laws and policies, while improved, are still not where they should be.  Also, the implementation of existing laws and policies remains a challenge in many countries.  Today, more than 201 million women still lack access to a full range of family planning. Over half a million women die every year from treatable complications of pregnancy and delivery.  Population growth in developing countries is still contributing, along with high resource consumption by affluent populations, to increasing stress on the global environment. It is obvious that much more needs to be done in the next five years in order to meet all of the ICPD goals. 

Whether or not we can fill the gaps in laws, policies and funding, and whether or not we can achieve the ICPD and the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, depends on the political will of governments in both developed and developing countries.  Strong support of parliamentarians is critical to building this political will. 

II. 2002 Ottawa, 2004 Strasbourg and 2006 Bangkok Conferences

It is against this background that the first International Parliamentarians’ Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action (IPCI/ICPD) was held in Ottawa, Canada, from 21 to 22 November 2002.  The conference, held at the Canadian Parliament, brought together 103 elected representatives from 72 countries and territories, along with secretariats of national, regional and global parliamentary groups, panelists and resource persons, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). 

The Ottawa conference also established, for the first time, a global system of regular monitoring and follow-up for parliamentarians. The conference was crafted to be the first in a series of conferences to be held every two years around the same themes, i.e. resource mobilization and creation of an enabling environment for population and development. The location of the conference would rotate between the Asia and the Pacific, the African, the Arab, the Inter-European and the Inter-American regions.

The second IPCI/ICPD was held on 18-19 October 2004, in Strasbourg, France under the auspices of the Council of Europe, which is Europe’s oldest and most representative political institution. It attracted 119 elected representatives from 82 countries and territories, including ministers and speakers of parliaments from both developed and developing countries.

The third IPCI/ICPD was held on 21-22 November 2006, in Bangkok, Thailand at the United Nations Conference Centre. The conference brought together over 300 parliamentarians, governments, non-governmental organizations and other participants from 100 countries.

At the Bangkok Conference participants took stock of the progress made so far by parliamentarians in advancing the ICPD agenda and come up with regional action plans to take their collective efforts to a next level. 

All three conferences generated tremendous results, with parliamentarians around the world making the Ottawa Strasbourg and Bangkok Commitments a point of reference for their work in supporting the ICPD Programme of Action. Numerous parliamentary declarations and reports have been adopted at the national, regional and global levels in the past six years, which refer to or build on the three Commitments and their calls to action.  

Since the Ottawa conference, UNFPA has served as the IPCI/ICPD secretariat responsible for monitoring progress and disseminating information to parliamentarians on a regular basis. It has set up and is running an email newsletter entitled Global Population Policy Update, which regularly reports on the progress made by parliamentarians and governments in fulfilling their commitments.  The newsletter has served as a constant reminder that parliamentarians, governments and civil society are all working towards the common goal of realizing the ICPD agenda.

III. 2009 Addis Ababa Conference

2009 is the turn of the Africa/Arab region to host the fourth IPCI/ICPD. The year is especially important as it marks the 15^th anniversary of the ICPD conference that resulted in an impressive and ambitious set of goals for improving sexual health and reproductive rights all over the world. Addis Ababa is ideal as it hosts the African Union, which is akin to being the Capital of the African continent.

The 2009 conference will be an opportunity to reinvigorate ownership, commitment and action by the lawmakers during the last stretch of the ICPD mandate. The parliamentarians will consider urgent, quick win and strategic actions to significantly reduce the gap remaining between commitment and actual result, in time for 2015. It would provide a perfect opportunity for such an exercise, as parliamentarians have the achievements of Ottawa, Strasbourg and Bangkok to build upon, as well as the 10-year review of the ICPD in 2004 and the World Summit in 2005. Through this exercise, parliamentarians would be able to chart the way forward to speeding up the achievement of both the ICPD goals and the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The conference is expected to produce a forward-looking and action-oriented declaration that would build on the previous IPCI Commitments and provide a clear sense of direction for the remaining five years of the ICPD mandate.

Purpose

To promote dialogue among parliamentarians from all regions of the world on the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, with a view to achieving further commitment to collective action in the areas of resource mobilization and creation of an enabling policy environment for population and development. 

Hosts

The Forum of African and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development (FAAPPD) in collaboration with:

v       European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (EPF)

v       Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD)

v       Inter-American Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (IAPG)

v       Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)

Organizers
FAAPPD and UNFPA in collaboration with the host Ethiopian Parliament (latter to be confirmed)

Sponsors

The Government of the Netherlands, others TBD

Date and Venue

27-28 October 2009 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the United Nations Conference Centre

Agenda

Attached separately.

Participants

Approximately 400 participants are expected to attend the conference, including:

v       Over 200 parliamentarians from all regions of the world

v       Representatives from the national, regional and global parliamentary groups

v       Panelists and resource persons (including ministers from donor and developing countries)

v       UNFPA and IPPF

v       Non-governmental organizations

v       Representatives of Host Government

Cost of Participation

For parliamentarians and other invited guests, the cost of travel and other necessary expenses will be covered from the conference budget borne by UNFPA.  Observers, including NGOs are asked to pay for their own travel costs.

Steering Committee

A steering committee consisting of two parliamentarians each from AFPPD, EPF, FAAPPD, IAPG and PGA was established to prepare for the conference. Its first meeting took place in Tunis on 14 November 2008.

Expected Outcome

v       A Statement of Commitment and Plans of Action that will spell out concrete actions to be taken by parliamentarians to further mobilize resources and create an enabling environment for the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.

v       Expansion the IPCI/ICPD network of parliamentarians and cultivation of champion parliamentarians in every participating country and region for achieving both the ICPD agenda and the MDGs by 2015.