Preface

The Cairo Consensus: The Right Agenda for the Right Time is the International Women's Health Coalition's (IWHC) analysis of the remarkable consensus forged at the United Nations' International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, in September 1994.

Section I explores the consensus: what it was, how it came about, and what it may mean for population-related policies into the 21st century. Section II contains a brief summary of the main points in each chapter of the Program of Action agreed on in Cairo. Section III quotes directly from some of the most important paragraphs in the Program, including those critical to achieving the consensus.

We believe that the conference and the document it produced are a watershed. The conference showed what is possible when the international community acts with goodwill and integrity to overcome differences to address major challenges. The Program of Action leads the way for new approaches to population and development, with women's health, their empowerment, and rights at their center. We hope that this publication clarifies what our governments agreed to in Cairo. More important, we hope it inspires and enables you to work to ensure that national governments and the international community act to move the Cairo consensus from rhetoric to reality.

JOAN B. DUNLOP
President
International Women's Health Coalition


"This is the first time since the end of the cold war, indeed, since the end of the Second World War, that issues closely intertwined with matters deeply rooted in our values, religious principles, beliefs and worldly practices were tackled concurrently."

AMRE MOUSSA, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF EGYPT
Closing Statement to the ICPD

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