The role and limitations of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development

Population questions have always aroused controversy, but the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) which took place in Cairo in September 1994 was particularly contentious. Yet a consensus emerged amo ng stakeholders previously holding quite divergent positions. A "new paradi gm" in population policy emerged from the conference which shifted emphasis from a macro concern with rapid population growth to individual rights in sexuality and reproduction. This consensus has been widely praised, but was far from predictable. It was arrived at through a complicated inter-weavin g of interests, movements and intellectual trends, as well as owing much to the particular nature of politics - both global and national - at the time . This paper is an analysis of the policy and substantive significance of t he ICPD within the context of the history of UN-sponsored population confer ences. It explores how the outcome of the conference was perceived by the v arious interest groups which played a major role in determining its policy directions, and enumerates some of the critiques of its Programme of Action from different perspectives. It reports on progress and obstacles to imple mentation of its recommendations within a changed political and economic co ntext than that prevailing in 1994. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.