Integrating population concerns into development plans.

The Cairo Conference was truly a watershed event and a great success. The ICPD Program of Action places human beings rather than human numbers at the center of all population and development activities. It encourages the international community to address global problems by meeting individual needs while maintaining the responsibility and sovereignty of governments. The Program of Action recognized the right to sexual and reproductive health universal education the empowerment of women and gender equality as decisive factors needed to facilitate development reduce poverty and strengthen the institutions of democracy. In Cairo 179 governments agreed on the Program of Action to establish a balance between the population of the world and the distribution of resources. The Cairo consensus was a hard-won consensus that provides a roadmap for sustainable human development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. (excerpt)