Resolution on A Mother's Promise, Cairo Programme of Action
March 22, 2004

A resolution to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development by reaffirming our commitment to mothers and children, and the promise embodied in the 1994 Cairo Programme of Action.

As a community, we value and support the promise a mother makes to her child. It is a promise of love, security, shelter, food, good health, a clean environment, and education to help her children secure that future. Unfortunately, poverty, disease, ignorance, injustice — and politics — make this an impossible promise for millions of women.

A decade ago, 179 nations came together in Cairo, Egypt, to confront this reality with a new approach to improve the quality of life for women and families, a Programme of Action that underscored the mutually reinforcing linkages between population and sustainable development. But 10 years later, new challenges and politics have compromised the power and energy of that historic meeting, slowing or stopping progress. In recognition of the 10th anniversary of this historic agreement, this resolution reaffirms our commitment to act now to advance the principles, policies, and promise of Cairo.

Today, Niagara Group of the Sierra Club reaffirms the crucial nature of the principles embodied in the Cairo Programme of Action, and commits to the actions approved at Cairo.

Further, We urge the President and the Congress of the United States — to honor its commitments made in Cairo to help every mother keep her promise to her children, by improving women’s health, access to education and reproductive freedom, and by ensuring every child’s health and opportunity.

Finally, We urge this administration to commemorate the upcoming Tenth Anniversary of the Cairo Consensus by REAFFIRMING the United States’ commitment to the goals, principles and financial commitments expressed in the Cairo Programme of Action.