UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, recommitted to the revolutionary decision taken at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) to ensure that every woman, man, child and young person is able to exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Twenty-five years ago, a global revolution started in Cairo when 179 world leaders met at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and recognized that individuals have a basic human right to make free and responsible reproductive choices. The ICPD Programme of Action stressed that women's empowerment is a precondition for development. Despite progress in Africa, the quest to fulfill the ICPD...

Fifty years ago, it was hard for women to obtain contraception and relatively easy to die giving birth. Many women were unable to decide whom and when to marry, and when or whether to have children. A worldwide movement to give women real choices in life culminated in the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), where a consensus was reached about the links between women’s empowerment, sex...