The corridors are clogged with the representatives of 180 nations, among them thousands of women of every race and creed. They have won much more than they had dared hope. Women have been centrally involved in the debate.
Human rights are at the centre of the discussion at Cairo, and the action to follow.
The world's nations have publicly acknowledged that health and well-being, equity and equality for women, are important ends in themselves. They have agreed that finding the balance between resources and population, development and sustainability, concerns people, not numbers. The Programme of Action for the International Conference on Population and Development can actually change the future course of humanity. The Cairo Programme of Action sets a course for the next twenty years, focusing on people and people's needs. If the Programme of Action is successful, however, life will improve for these same people, and the foundations will be laid for the end of poverty.