On 28 and 29 September 2021, the High-level Commission on the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 Follow-up (HLC) came together once again to take stock and look towards the future, assessing actions that followed the large number of commitments made at the Nairobi Summit. A special focus remained on the 12 overarching, global commitments contained in the Nairobi Summit Statement. As the Summit approaches its second anniversary, a special focus was on the Commission’s first report on the progress achieved, but also on the issues that still need more attention and work.
In the report, the HLC will detail its findings on the progress of the implementation of the Nairobi Summit commitments. The first annual report is to be a landmark publication and a central piece in the HLC’s quest to ensure that concrete actions will follow the event held in 2019. “We remain committed to our agreement to follow-up on the Nairobi Summit and report on progress to accelerate the ICPD Programme of Action”, said H.E. Dr. Jakaya Kikwete, Former President of the United Republic of Tanzania and one of the two co-chairs of the commission. H.E. Michaëlle Jean, former Governor-General of Canada and former Secretary-General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and co-chair of the commission, shared Dr. Kikwete’s enthusiasm: “I join in commending all Commissioners for their passion and investment of time and thought in the work of this commission.”
For the first time since the launch of the Commission a year ago, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting took on a hybrid format. The co-chairs of the High-Level Commission hosted the meeting by joining the Commission’s Secretariat at UNFPA Headquarters, in New York, while all other members continued to join remotely.
The report will be launched in mid-November 2021, marking the groundbreaking Summit’s anniversary. Going forward, the report will be published on an annual basis analyzing achievements and shortcomings.
The Nairobi Summit led to a total of over 1,300 commitments by some 140 Governments, as well as commitments by civil society and other stakeholders from 172 countries and territories, bringing new political momentum to the fulfillment of the promise of the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 and its Programme of Action. The commitments and all actions stemming from them, aim to pave the way towards achieving the three transformative results of zero preventable maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning, and zero gender-based violence and harmful practices and are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
