The 48th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) took place in New York from 13 to 17 April, with the theme “Realising the future we want: Integrating population issues into sustainable development, including in the post-2015 development agenda”.
Countdown 2015 Europe partners were very active in the run-up to the session, providing written input to versions of the draft CPD 48 resolution before and throughout the negotiation process. As a result of their close collaboration with national civil servants, their expert contributions were widely taken on board by European governments.
Our partners from Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden also participated in the CPD session as members of their national governmental delegations. This allowed them to follow very closely the negotiations taking place and to provide their civil servants with input throughout the talks.
A lack of agreement among Member States on a number of points meant that this year’s CPD unexpectedly ended without a negotiated outcome. Instead, a non-binding summary of the negotiations was circulated by the Chair (Belgium). Positive wording in this document included strong and helpful references to human rights, particularly the human rights of women and girls, and gender equality. The Chair also noted that the importance of access to reproductive health, as well as of reproductive rights, had been broadly recognised.
C2015E is very pleased to have been able to contribute to the progressive positions on reproductive health and family planning taken by several EU countries. CPD also provided a great opportunity to strengthen further our network of European civil servants, which is vital given the parallel discussions taking place on the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.