UNITED NATIONS, New York — A statement by world leaders reaffirming support for the action plan of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) will give an important boost to national implementation and overall development efforts, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, said today.

Present and former government leaders from developing and developed countries have joined prominent figures from the development, business and scientific communities, as well as religious groups and private foundations in signing the statement, which commends the progress made in carrying out the 20-year ICPD Programme of Action to increase access to reproductive health, alleviate poverty and secure gender equality.

They urge leaders in every walk of life to reaffirm “the ICPD’s vision for human development, social justice, economic progress and environmental preservation”. Pledging to do their own part, they call on governments and philanthropic organizations to prioritize and fund the ICPD Programme of Action.

“This most welcome and priceless support provided through the World Leaders’ Statement complements the renewed commitments expressed by the world’s governments and peoples in the regional meetings held over the last two years in preparation for the tenth anniversary,” said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA’s Executive Director. “Based on the resolute, universal commitment of governments at the regional meetings and the exciting support mobilized through this Statement, we are more confident than ever that the hopes of Cairo will be fulfilled and the dreams of the hundreds of millions of women and men in need of health, rights and development will be realized in the coming decade.”

Signatories include: Bashar Al-Assad, President of Syria; Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Jacques Chirac, President of France; Vincente Fox, President of Mexico; Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda; Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan; Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland; Festus Mogae, President of Botswana; Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of Germany; Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan; Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand; Alejandro Toledo, President of Peru; Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister of China; and Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Other signatories include: Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica; Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway; Jimmy Carter and William Clinton, former Presidents of the United States; as well as Nobel Laureates Nadine Gordimer and Desmond Tutu.

UNFPA is grateful for the initiative taken by the Summit Foundation and the United Nations Foundation in developing this statement.

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UNFPA is the world’s largest multilateral source of population assistance. Since it became operational in 1969, the Fund has provided substantial assistance to developing countries, at their request, to address their population and development needs. Making motherhood safer for all women is at the heart of UNFPA’s mandate.

Contact Information:

William A. Ryan
Tel.: +66 2 288 2446
Email: ryanw@unfpa.org