Patchy progress on the ICPD: are we asking the right questions?

摘要

The International Conference on Population andDevelopment (ICPD) agenda, set in 1994 in Cairo andrevisited 25 years later in Nairobi in 2019, includedgoals for equitable education of women, reductionof infant and child mortality, reduction of maternalmortality, and access to reproductive and sexual healthservices, including family planning, through its wellknown Programme of Action.1 The ICPD was groundbreakingin recognising the benefits that empowermentof women and girls would have for themselves, theirfamilies, and, ultimately, their countries. Notably,179 countries signed onto the Programme of Action andfocused efforts on providing access to contraceptionas a basic human right. Yet progress on these goals hasbeen patchy, as evidenced by the advocacy for a lateinclusion of contraceptive prevalence as target 5B in theMillennium Development Goals,2 and the indicator forthe current Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.7.1to meet 75% of the demand for family planning in allcountries by 2030.3 In 2019, the reported estimatesvaried from 51·1% to 90·1% depending on the country.