2012 International Parliamentarians' Conference on the Implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action

24-25 May 2012 | Istanbul, Turkey

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) participated in the Fifth International Parliamentarians' Conference on the Implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action that took place in Istanbul, Turkey on May 24 and 25, 2012. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey organized this year’s Conference.

The two-day meeting brought together around 300 Parliamentarians from 110 countries that reaffirmed their commitment to fully implementing the ICPD Programme of Action and discussed their role in influencing a new international development framework that follows the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

PGA’s Executive Committee members Dr. Donya Aziz, Member of Parliament (MP) from Pakistan, Dip. Minou Tavarez from Dominican Republic, and Ms. Irene Addo Torshie, MP from Ghana, and Dep. Fernando Lucio Giacobo from Brazil, integrated the official delegation led by Ms. Shazia Z. Rafi, Secretary-General of PGA.  Twenty more legislators, PGA members as well, attended the meeting (please see the complete list as an annex in the final report). 

Dr. Aziz represented PGA as a member of the Steering Committee of the ICPI/ICPD, while Ms. Irene Addo participated in the Drafting Committee, along with legislators from Ethiopia, Mozambique, New Zealand, Chile, Portugal, Switzerland, Jamaica, Palestine, Pakistan and UNFPA staff.

Delegates endorsed the Istanbul Statement of Commitment, Keeping Promises – Measuring Results, which calls on Parliamentarians to pledge on specific actions and/or steps with regards to:

1. Mobilizing the necessary resources for the ICPD agenda
2. Strengthening parliamentary oversight in the implementation of the ICPD agenda
3. Awareness raising, advocacy responsibilities and actions for results in priority areas
4. Understanding and managing the politicization of the ICPD agenda
5. Building partnerships and networking for the ICPD agenda
6. Communication as a critical toll for forging shared understanding and cultivating public support on the ICPD agenda.

At the closing ceremony, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoĝan delivered a thought-provoking address calling for solidarity among countries to combat poverty, conflicts and the lack of justice in the world and endorsed the Istanbul Statement of Commitment.

Parliamentarians pledged to systematically and actively monitor their progress through regularly reporting to regional parliamentary groups and agreed on assessing the advancement on the ICPD Programme of Action in two years, when the IPCI convenes again. 

For more information, please contact Ms. Mónica Adame, Programme Officer, Sustainable Development, Health and Population Programme at and/or 212.687.7755 x. 108