July 11 is World Population Day—designated annually by the United Nations as a focused opportunity to examine population trends and their implications for society. This year, World Population Day offers a chance to reflect on the 30^th anniversary of one of the largest and arguably most influential world population conferences in history—the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

Three decades ago in Cairo, delegates from 179 countries agreed on a broad set of priorities and actions to advance human rights, including reproductive rights, in the context of population and development concerns. The ICPD was groundbreaking in its assertion that empowering women and girls was both the right thing to do—and one of the most reliable pathways to sustainable development and improved wellbeing for all.

A central part of the consensus outlined in the ICPD’s Programme of Action (PoA) is the recognition of reproductive autonomy: the “basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health.”

Reproductive Autonomy Is at the Heart of Population and Development Trends

While the ICPD was notable because of the consensus reached on the value and importance of reproductive autonomy, the agreement in its totality covered a remarkable breadth of population and development topics. It recognized the fundamental importance of population trends in shaping our future, and also highlighted how these trends stem from the rights and opportunities afforded to individuals. The PoA articulated a comprehensive overview of the vital links between reproductive autonomy, population trends, and development.

These interconnections demand a lens that incorporates this dynamism. Yet in recent years, discussions of population trends and their implications have been largely relegated to the sidelines of reproductive rights discourse. A new volume of essays, Revitalizing Population and Development in the 21^st Century: International Conference on Population and Development 30 Years On, foregrounds viewpoints that illuminate the intersection of population and development, while centering rights and demonstrating the growing pertinence of the ICPD’s historic commitments.

The impetus for the publication was the Population Institute’s invitation to a group of thought leaders to reflect on seven key themes from the 1994 PoA—many of which have been forgotten or overlooked. The institute also asked them to suggest commitments and actions needed today to fulfill the PoA’s ambitious agenda. The resulting volume contains perspectives that are both time-tested and fresh on wide-ranging topics that remain central to questions of population and development.

Key Intersections Are In Sharper Focus Today

In the opening essay, Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, a participant in the 1994 conference, examines the theme of population and development integration, lifting up PoA language that reminds us that achieving a “demographic dividend” stems from core investments in addressing social and gender inequities. These are investments that require even greater attention today. Céline Delacroix and Nkechi Owoo explore how the PoA characterized links between population, resources, environment, and development. This language, they write, underscores the importance of “developing rights-based policies that address both global consumption patterns and population dynamics, recognizing their interdependence and the necessity of an integrated approach.”

In her exploration of the ICPD’s characterization of reproductive autonomy, Nandita Bajaj urges readers to look more deeply into the contextual language of the PoA, noting the agreement’s warnings about the dangers of coercion. Bajaj notes that these admonitions have taken on expanded meaning in today’s world of growing pronatalism and the rollback of reproductive freedoms. She also highlights the PoA’s nuanced framing of reproductive autonomy and its balance with other recognized rights and needs, such as the needs of living and future children, and people’s responsibilities towards their communities.  

Migration received robust attention in the 1994 ICPD. Rosario Martínez Álvarez and Aracely Martínez Rodas explore that content through the prism of human mobility and development discourse in Guatemala today. “We propose that there is a right to migrate, and states should make compromises to ensure all efforts are made to guarantee it,” they write. “But simultaneously, there is a right to stay. The latter is often disregarded, as it requires efforts to create conditions for development and wellbeing.”

Kassel F. Garibay, Kelly Hallman, Ángel del Valle, and Lisa Polen outline the ways in which Indigenous-led approaches to gender transformative justice can address the unique challenges of Indigenous people. Such approaches are vital to the PoA’s stated importance of recognizing the distinct perspective of Indigenous peoples on aspects of population and development. William Ryerson and Negussie Teffera share perspectives from their own experience of the 1994 conference, and write an essay that elevates the PoA’s language around the value of entertainment media. This approach was vital in the success of Ethiopia’s population policies, and one that has taken on even greater resonance for behavior change communication around the world today.

And finally, Kathleen Mogelgaard and Dr. J. Joseph Speidel (who was also a participant in the 1994 conference) team up to remind us that the PoA contained clear language on a financing framework—one in which governments committed to sharing costs for global reproductive health and family planning. “The largest generation in history is on the verge of entering their reproductive years,” they write. “This is a potent reminder of our 30-year-old commitment to advance sexual and reproductive health care for all, including the fundamental right to access information and services to plan one’s family. A prominent impediment to achieving this goal is persistently inadequate funding.”

A Fresh Look Can Direct Investment for Future Rights and Sustainability

World Population Day encourages us to revitalize population and development discourse. The fresh look at the 1994 ICPD found in Revitalizing Population and Development in the 21st Century can help guide the way. The conference’s PoA laid out an early framework for a rights-based approach to assessing and addressing intersecting challenges related to population and development that have come into even sharper focus in the 21st century.

Thirty years on, this framework has only gained meaning and value in a diverse world population now grown to 8 billion people, facing immense challenges related to governance, security, food security, environmental sustainability, and human rights