United States Renews Full Commitment to ICPD

UNITED NATIONS —United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today marked the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) by announcing her government’s renewed commitment to reaching the ICPD goals and other related United Nations agreements, including the Millennium Development Goals, by 2015.

Secretary Clinton made her remarks just a few months after the announcement by the United State to restore funding for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund—the lead international organization entrusted with implementing the ICPD Programme of Action.

“UNFPA welcomes and commends the strong support of the United States and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the agreement reached at the 1994 ICPD,” said UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. “UNFPA also applauds the commitment of the United States to advance universal access to reproductive health to protect the well-being of men, women and youth worldwide and reduce poverty.”

At the 1994 ICPD held in Cairo, 179 nations reached consensus on actions needed to achieve universal access to education, especially for girls; reductions in infant, child and maternal mortality; and universal access to reproductive health over the next 20 years.

“With the support of the United States and other nations,” said Ms. Obaid, “we can double current investments in reproductive health, which would reduce maternal death by 70 per cent and cut infant death nearly in half.”

A transcript of Secretary Clinton’s speech is available on www.icpd2015.org.