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In 1994 at the U.N. International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, world leaders reached a new consensus on population. Although the ICPD Program of Action (POA) legitimizes demographic goals set by national governments, it recommends policy approaches based on the promotion of reproductive health, informed free choice, and gender equity. The document specifically rejects the use of coercion in family planning programs and discourages the use of social and economic incentives and disincentives to reduce fertility.
However, today after commemorations of the tenth anniversary of the ICPD have taken place around the world, population control is still with us. While the negative effects of China’s one-child policy have received much attention, recent two-child norm policies in India have also had devastating consequences for women and the poor. It is important that women’s health and reproductive rights activists remain vigilant about the continuing impact of population control.
