General Assembly 21st special session
New York, 30 June-2 July 1999The progress achieved and challenges encountered in implementing strategies on population and development were the central theme of this meeting of world leaders convened pursuant to a General Assembly resolution adopted on 18 December 1997.
This special session of the United Nations General Assembly was convened five years after the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, Egypt, 1994) to review and appraise the implementation of the Programme of Action adopted at the 1994 Conference.
Go to official web site: General Assembly 21st special session
Download final report (A/RES/S-21/2)
Source: ECLAC
International Conference on Population and Development
Cairo, 5-13 September 1994The Fifth International Conference on Population and Development was held from 5 to 13 September 1994 under the auspices of the United Nations. More than 180 States participated in this event, at which a new Programme of Action was adopted as a guide for national and international action in the area of population and development for the next 20 years. This new Programme of Action places emphasis on the indissoluble relationship between population and development and focuses on meeting the needs of individuals within the framework of universally recognized human rights standards instead of merely meeting demographic goals. The adoption of this Programme marks a new phase of commitment and determination to effectively integrate population issues into socio-economic development proposals and to achieve a better quality of life for all individuals, including those of future generations.
Go to official web site: International Conference on Population and Development
Download final report (A/CONF.171/13/Rev.1)
Source: ECLAC
International Conference on Population
Mexico City, 6-14 August 1984This Conference, held in August 1984, reviewed and endorsed most aspects of the agreements of the 1974 Bucharest Conference and expanded the World Population Plan of Action in order to incorporate the results of the latest research and data provided by Governments. The human rights of individuals and families, conditions of health and well-being, employment and education were some of the issues highlighted in the Declaration signed at the Conference. Other significant issues were the intensification of international cooperation and the pursuit of greater efficiency in adopting policy decisions relating to population.
Source: ECLAC
World Population Conference
Bucharest, 19-30 August 1974The Third World Population Conference was organized by the United Nations and held in Bucharest, Romania, from 19 to 30 August 1974. This Conference, the first of an intergovernmental nature, was attended by representatives of 135 countries. The debate focused on the relationship between population issues and development. The outcome of the Conference, the World Population Plan of Action, states, among other principles, that the essential aim is the social, economic and cultural development of countries, that population variables and development are interdependent and that population policies and objectives are an integral part (constituent elements) of socio-economic development policies.
Source: ECLAC
World Population Conference
Belgrade, 30 August-10 September 1965The Second World Population Conference was organized in 1965 by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and the United Nations; most of the participants were experts in the field. The focus at this international meeting was on the analysis of fertility as part of a policy for development planning. This Conference was held at a time when expert studies on the population aspects of development coincided with the start-up of population programmes subsidized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Source: ECLAC
World Population Conference
Rome, 31 August- 10 September 10 1954The First World Population Conference organized by the United Nations was held in Rome in 1954 to exchange scientific information on population variables, their determinants and their consequences. This eminently academic Conference resolved basically to generate fuller information on the demographic situation of the developing countries and to promote the creation of regional training centres which would help to address population issues and to prepare specialists in demographic analysis.
Source: ECLAC