Health, Population and Development

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in September 1994 was a watershed event in the conceptualization, articulation, and acceptance of the reproductive health and rights approach to population policies and programs.

The consensus reached by 180 nations in the ICPD Action Plan defined population activities to include a broader set of reproductive health interventions, "shifting away from an exclusive focus on demographic concerns and targets to one that holds the well-being of individual women and men at the center of sustainable development." The ICPD Program of Action (POA), however, required countries to make new and increased investments without a clear assessment of the resources available for health, reproductive health and family planning at the national and international level.

The Center's project on Health, Population and Development was designed to examine and understand the extent to which countries have committed to their endorsement of the Cairo POA through policies and financing, as well as the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for effective international cooperation in addressing health, population and development problems.

In the course of this project, the Center brought together a multi-disciplinary group of research scientists to examine key policy and financial questions related to the comprehensive reproductive health agenda of ICPD and its POA. The purpose of the project was to determine through case studies how countries — both developing countries and donors-understood and were acting on the endorsement of the Cairo agenda through policies, programs, and financing; how efforts to implement the agenda could be assessed; and where obstacles existed to moving forward. While focusing sharply on the core agenda of ICPD POA, the project also sought to understand the nature and scope of consensual agreements and the ideologies and processes shaping health policies across selected countries, in particular, the appropriateness, viability, and sustainability of the comprehensive reproductive health agenda and its estimates; current and alternative sources and mechanisms for reproductive health financing at the national level; and the current and future role and importance of international donor aid. Finally, the project sought to identify creative approaches to collaborations among donors, national governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector in implementation of the core and the broad-based agenda.

Publications

Promoting Reproductive Health: Investing in Health for Development
edited by Shepard Forman and Romita Ghosh (Boulder, Colorado, Lynne Rienner Publishers: 1999)

The Reproductive Health Approach to Population and Development
by Shepard Forman and Romita Ghosh, Paying for Essential Policy Paper, 1999

Refugee Crises of the 1990s: A Discussion with Sadako Ogata on March 10, 2005 at New York University

On March 10, 2005, CIC hosted a book launch discussion and reception with Sadako Ogata, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Sadako Ogata came to NYU to discuss her new book and the challenges of refugee protection and her tenure as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with students and faculty from New York universities. During her decade in office, the world saw unprecedented refugee and population displacement crises during civil wars and complex emergencies in Iraq, the Balkans, the African Great Lakes region, and Afghanistan. Her new memoir, The Turbulent Decade: Confronting the Refugee Crises of the 1990s has just been released by W.W. Norton. Mrs. Ogata talked about UNHCR’s efforts to protect and repatriate refugees from Afghanistan during the Taliban regime and Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, and reflected on the role of personal and institutional leadership in meeting the responsibilities of protecting the displaced who are the world’s most vulnerable group. Discussants included Andrea Bartoli, Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution at SIPA and Barnett R. Rubin, Afghanistan Expert and Director of Studies at CIC.

Purchase The Turbulent Decade: Confronting the Refugee Crises of the 1990s

Copenhagen Seminar on Civilian Crisis Management

CIC researchers prepared five background papers for the Copenhagen seminar, hosted by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The seminar brought together members of the UN Secretary-General´s High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change as well as leading experts in the field of civilian crisis management to discuss how UN capacity in this field could be strengthened.

Beyond Reconstructing the Central State:
Building Local Governance in Post-Conflict Societies
Friday April 23, 2004

The Changing Nature of Global Problem Solving:
The Case of International Criminal Justice
Courts, Tribunals, and the Role of Non-State Actors
Wednesday 7, April 2004

The Changing Nature of Global Problem-Solving:
Humanitarian Action Mounting Challenges, Emerging Approaches
Monday, February 9, 2004

The Changing Nature of Global Problem-Solving:
Innovative Arrangements in International Environmental Governance
Opportunities and Dilemmas
Friday January 16, 2004

Senator Chuck Hagel
Meeting the Security Challenges of our Time
postponed until December 2003

The Coming Democracy:
New Rules for Running a New World
November 10, 2003

America’s Role in the World
Security Options for the United States
October 15, 2003