IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 688 
Recognizing 25 years since the 1994 International Conference on Population 
and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt and reaffirming the goals 
and ideals of the ICPD Programme of Action, including comprehensive 
sexual and reproductive health and rights. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 
Ms. FRANKEL (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mrs. 
LAWRENCE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. 
ESPAILLAT, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. WILD, Mr. 
PAPPAS, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. 
TITUS, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 
Mrs. TORRES of California, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. PETERS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. 
LOWEY, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 
SMITH of Washington, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. CON-
NOLLY, Mr. KEATING, and Mr. BROWN of Maryland) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing 25 years since the 1994 International Con-
ference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, 
Egypt and reaffirming the goals and ideals of the ICPD 
Programme of Action, including comprehensive sexual 
and reproductive health and rights. 
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Whereas the United States played a central role in the cre-
ation of the United Nations in 1945 following World War 
II to promote international cooperation; 
Whereas the United States encouraged the establishment of 
the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 1969 
and continues to serve on its Executive Board; 
Whereas the International Conference on Population and De-
velopment (ICPD), which was attended by officials from 
the Executive Office of the President, Congress, and 
United States civil society and private sector organiza-
tions, was convened by the UNFPA and the Population 
Division of the United Nations Department for Economic 
and Social Information and Policy Analysis in Cairo from 
September 5 to September 13, 1994, for the purpose of 
addressing critical issues regarding population, develop-
ment, and human rights; 
Whereas the resulting ICPD Programme of Action, to which 
the United States is a signatory, asserts that the focus 
of development policy must be the improvement of indi-
vidual lives, measured by progress in addressing inequal-
ities; 
Whereas civil society played an indispensable role in shaping 
and executing the ICPD Programme of Action and con-
tinues to do so today; 
Whereas since the adoption of the ICPD Programme of Ac-
tion in 1994, significant progress has been made towards 
universal access to sexual and reproductive health and 
rights, including but not limited to— 
(1) a global increase in voluntary access to modern 
contraception by 25 percent; 
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(2) a decline in the number of deaths due to unsafe 
abortion from 69,000 in 1990 to 22,800 in 2014, due to 
liberalization of abortion laws and increased access to 
safe and effective methods of abortion across the globe; 
(3) a decrease in maternal deaths by 40 percent 
globally; and 
(4) enhanced access to medical advances such as the 
development of antiretroviral therapies, which 23,300,000 
people living with HIV accessed in 2018, contributing to 
significant decreases in HIV acquisition and trans-
mission; 
Whereas gaps and challenges in achieving the goals of the 
ICPD Programme of Action remain as progress has been 
unequal and fragmented and new challenges have 
emerged, such as— 
(1) 214,000,000 women worldwide who still have 
unmet contraceptive needs; 
(2) 295,000 women who still die annually from com-
plications during pregnancy and childbirth globally, near-
ly all of which are preventable and 1 out of 4 of which 
could be prevented by access to contraception; 
(3) up to 13.2 percent of maternal deaths that can 
be attributed to unsafe abortion; 
(4) more than 1,000,000 STIs that are— 
(A) acquired worldwide every day because ac-
cess to education about STIs and STI testing is not 
universally available due to a lack of trained per-
sonnel, comprehensive sexual education, laboratory 
capacity, and medicines; and 
(B) exacerbated by the separation of STI serv-
ices from other services, such as primary health care 
or family planning; 
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(5)(A) 1,700,000 people who became newly infected 
with HIV in 2018, 54 percent of which are among key 
populations and their sexual partners; and 
(B) the risk of acquiring HIV is 22 times higher 
among men who have sex with men, 22 times higher 
among people who inject drugs, 21 times higher for sex 
workers, and 12 times higher for transgender people; 
(6) adolescent girls and young women (ages 15–24) 
who are at a higher risk of becoming infected with HIV 
and 4 out of 5 new infections among adolescents (aged 
15–19) in sub-Saharan Africa are among girls; 
(7) 35 percent of women worldwide who have experi-
enced physical or sexual intimate partner violence or sex-
ual violence, or sexual violence by a non-partner at some 
point in their lives, a vulnerability that may increase as 
a result of characteristics such as sexual orientation, dis-
ability status, HIV status, and pregnancy, or contextual 
factors, such as humanitarian crises and conflict; and 
(8) 35,000,000 women and girls of reproductive age 
who are in need of humanitarian assistance; 
Whereas the ICPD Programme of Action and other inter-
national human rights standards recognize that access to 
comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care, in-
cluding abortion, is an essential human right, and that 
ending gender-based violence and the prevention and 
treatment of HIV are key priorities to advancing sexual 
and reproductive health and rights for all people, and at-
taining the ICPD Programme of Action milestones and 
the Sustainable Development Goals; 
Whereas the ICPD called on governments to commit them-
selves at the highest political level to achieving the goals 
and objectives of the Programme of Action and to take 
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a leading role in coordinating the implementation, moni-
toring, and evaluation of follow-up actions; and 
Whereas the General Assembly of the United Nations en-
dorsed the ICPD Programme of Action in 1995, affirmed 
that governments should commit themselves to their 
goals and objectives, and called upon all governments to 
give the widest possible dissemination of the Programme 
of Action and seek public support for its goals, objectives, 
and actions: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) commends the notable progress made in 
achieving the goals set in 1994 at the ICPD and the 
follow up and outcomes of subsequent review con-
ferences; 
(2) recommits to the achievement of these 
goals; 
(3) champions the right to bodily autonomy and 
self-determination for all, regardless of race, eth-
nicity, religion, income, country of domicile or origin, 
migratory or refugee status, sexual orientation or 
gender identity, disability, HIV status, marital sta-
tus, age, or socioeconomic status; 
(4) recognizes sexual and reproductive health 
and rights, including family planning, abortion care, 
maternal health, STI and HIV prevention, testing 
and treatment, and freedom from gender-based vio-
lence and discrimination, as key to achieving gender 
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equity, universal health coverage, sustainable devel-
opment, and economic empowerment; 
(5) commits to advocating for and providing 
such services and rights to marginalized and key 
populations, including men who have sex with men, 
transgender people, sex workers, people who are in-
carcerated, people in conflict or humanitarian set-
tings, adolescent girls and young women, and people 
who inject drugs; 
(6) acknowledges that without a firm, rights- 
based approach to development, reproductive health, 
and gender equality, it will not be possible to meet 
the goals of either the ICPD or the Sustainable De-
velopment Goals; 
(7) acknowledges and condemns the recent 
backsliding that has occurred globally, particularly 
regarding abortion access, that is contrary to evi-
dence-based health practices and established human 
rights norms and could set back the progress made 
on reducing unsafe abortions; 
(8) accepts the responsibility of the United 
States, as the largest funder of global health, to en-
courage the goals of ICPD among other countries 
and set a global example through United States 
funding and policies; 
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(9) urges the United States Government to 
demonstrate its commitment to the vision outlined in 
the ICPD Programme of Action by reinstating fund-
ing for UNFPA, the lead United Nations agency fo-
cused on sexual and reproductive health, and by re-
scinding harmful policies, such as the Mexico City 
Policy and its multiple expansions; and 
(10) encourages the international community to 
adopt a bold vision for comprehensive sexual and re-
productive health and rights at the 2019 Nairobi 
Summit to mark the 25th anniversary of the ICPD 
Programme of Action. 
Æ 
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