With the 20-year anniversary of the landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) on the horizon, the UN General Assembly asked the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to lead a global process aimed at taking stock of the progress that has been made in implementing the Programme of Action adopted by the ICPD in Cairo in 1994, and at identifying priorities for the future.

In the region comprising Europe, Central Asia, North America and Israel, UNFPA, together with the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), initiated a comprehensive process of consultations with governments, civil society, academia, youth and parliamentarians to solicit their input and ideas for an updated population and development agenda for the 21st century.

Key elements of this process include a survey completed by governments across the region, a series of expert meetings on a broad range of ICPD issues, specific consultations with youth and parliamentarians, and a high-level regional conference, “Enabling Choices: Population Priorities for the 21st Century”, in Geneva in 1-2 July 2013.

This report, “Population Trends and Policy Responses in the UNECE Region”, was commissioned by UNFPA’s Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia to supplement the information gathered from governments and civil society with academic research. The report, prepared by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Wittgenstein Center for Demography and Human Capital, analyses recent population trends related to the ICPD agenda, looks at existing policy responses and makes recommendations for closing policy gaps in light of potential future population scenarios.