The International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (“Cairo”) in September of 1994 marked a major turning point within the international public health community from population control to an unprecedented emphasis on gender and rights. It also called for a broad array of reproductive health (RH) services--not just family planning to meet fertility-reduction goals—in order to meet women’s real reproductive and sexual needs. The “Cairo” Program of Action devoted all of Chapter VII to explaining the concepts of RH and reproductive rights and for the first time urged action to address the gender inequity that underlies unwanted high fertility, maternal mortality and STD/HIV among women. This presentation will review the findings of recent “Cairo +5” exercises undertaken by the United Nations and NGOs to assess how well the Cairo Program of Action has been implemented in the intervening years. It will identify gaps in which continuing gender inequity and human rights violations have slowed progress toward Cairo goals, particularly in the area of family planning, maternal mortality, women’s vulnerability to STD/HIV, and violence against women. Finally, it will underscore the importance of a gender and human rights approach—not only as the ethical approach to addressing public health problems in RH but as the most effective approach.
Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to list 1) several areas of progress in implementing the gender-friendly ICPD (Cairo) Program of Action and 2)identify gaps in the implementation related to gender and human rights issues
Keywords: Reproductive Health, Gender
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.