UNFPA Mandate

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy and productive lives.

It is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where:

·       Every pregnancy is wanted

·       Every childbirth is safe

·       Every young person’s potential is fulfilled

UNFPA is on the ground improving lives in about 150 countries that are home to 80 per cent of the world’s population. UNFPA helps countries use population data to assess and anticipate needs, and to monitor progress and gaps in delivering on our promises.

UNFPA helps to ensure that the reproductive health and rights of women and young people remain at the very centre of development.

UNFPA provides technical guidance, training and support to empower our partners and stakeholders in the field.

Guided by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (ICPD PoA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UNFPA partners with governments, civil society, media, academia, other UN agencies and the private sector to advance its mission. 

International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (ICPD PoA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The ICPD (Cairo, 1994) was a watershed event that forged an international consensus on population and development. It shed new light on the linkages between reproductive health and rights and other aspects of development.

At the conference, 179 governments, including China, endorsed a 20-year Programme of Action (PoA), which focused on individuals' needs and rights, rather than on achieving demographic targets.  Concrete goals include providing universal education; reducing infant, child and maternal mortalities; and ensuring universal access by 2015 to reproductive health services, including family planning, assisted childbirth and prevention of sexually transmitted infections and HIV.

The global review of ICPD in 2014 revealed the progress has been made and the significant work that remains to be done, with recommendations for the linkages with the new 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN in 2015. The ICPD’s focus on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights is central to sustainable development. Many SDGs overlap with UNFPA’s strategic objectives and the ICPD PoA. Achieving the global goals will depend in part on the extent to which the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and young people are protected and on whether young people are healthy, educated and can access services and opportunities.

UNFPA is helping countries achieve the SDGs----in particular Goal 3 on health, Goal 4 on education and Goal 5 on gender equality—and contribute to achieving the other goals.