NGUGI: After the talks, photos and per diems, get down to work and give us results
Delegates from different parts of the world queue outside City hall on November 12, 2019 as they wait to be accredited to attend the International Conference on Population and Development. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Between November 12 and 14, the second International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Nairobi. The first one was held in Cairo in 1994. The conference addressed maternal health, reproductive rights and other issues that affect women. Its goals, if achieved, would be the missing pieces in Africa’s development puzzle. There is only one problem: These goals will not be achieved, at least not in the next 50 to 100 years.
As in other conferences, symposia or forums organised by the UN, its member states or NGOs, commitment and substance are overtaken by posture and formalism. The real fight to win against these problems is replaced by good-natured shadow boxing.
