Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Chumakov at the high-level plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development

Mm. President,

The 1994 Cairo Programme of Action on population and development outlined universal benchmarks for international cooperation in this field. That people-centered document identified the principles that are today the basis of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are convinced that the provisions of the Cairo Programme remain up-to-date and do not call for revision. For their effective implementation it is still crucial to take into account economic conditions and cultural traditions of Member States and focus on the common population goals shared by all.

We welcome progress in the implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) outcomes, including the global increase in life expectancy and reduction in maternal and child mortality. However, more needs to be done. This applies to such areas as improving education and public health, controlling non-communicable diseases and promoting healthy lifestyles, empowering women and fostering employment as well as fighting extreme poverty.

Russia remains committed to the provisions of the Cairo Programme of Action that respond to our national priorities. The situation in our country today is characterized by a demographic structure shift towards the older ages and population natural decline. To deal with these challenges, the President of the Russian Federation identified in 2018 the major national development goals for the medium term, which are being implemented as part of the nation-wide projects. Among the targets set is to increase life expectancy, ensure sustained natural population growth, halve the existing prevalence of poverty. Measures are being taken to combat cardiovascular diseases, provide early detection of cancer, reduce infant mortality, preserve and restore reproductive health of the population, increase the accessibility and quality of free of charge medical care for women during pregnancy and childbirth, support families with children.

Russia pays attention to international cooperation in this area. In particular, we fund targeted projects in various countries of the world in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other partners.

In this context, we are interested by the initiative on the organization of the anniversary Nairobi Summit on the ICPD with the support of UNFPA in November 2019. It is our understanding that this event is intended to become a multi-stakeholder platform for sharing experiences on the implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action. At the same time, we proceed on the assumption that the work of this conference, which is not going to be a formal UN meeting, will be based on the approaches to the population agenda as determined by the ICPD consensus and will not result in the adoption of any new additional commitments in this area.

Thank You.