On 14 November, the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (EPF) and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (EPF) brought together 21 Members of Parliament from Europe and Central Asia, UNFPA and civil society in Istanbul.

The aim of this conference was to discuss the progress made in Eastern Europe and Central Asia on achieving the ICPD Programme of Action and to develop a Roadmap of future Parliamentary activities to improve the legislative and factual situation of SRHR in the region in the next two years.

After the welcome address by EPF President Hon. George Tsereteli, MP (Georgia) and AFPPD Vice-Chair Hon. Aitkul Samakova, MP (Kazakhstan), Ms. Thea Fierens, Regional Director of UNFPA Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office addressed the participants in a keynote address on UNFPA priorities in the Eastern Europe and Central Asian region and the role of Parliamentarians in advancing ICPD Programme of Action. Prof. Hakan Satiroglu, President of the Family Planning Association of Turkey spoke to Parliamentarians and other invited guests on the role of NGOs in the implementation of ICPD Programme of Action.

In three panels, Parliamentarians reviewed the regional progress in achieving universal access to reproductive health, discussed how to enhance their involvement in advancing ICPD in the region and to mobilise political commitment and elaborated Action Points for the next 2 years of their work, focusing in three main directions:

• New regional and national partnerships
• Concrete future steps and actions within the next 2 years
• Necessary tools and research for further successful work

The Parliamentary Conference on 14 November followed the two regional UNFPA events which took place in Istanbul: the High-Level Meeting on Maternal Health and Universal Access to Reproductive Health on 11 November and the High-Level Regional Forum on the 15th Anniversary of ICPD on 12-13 November. The two events brought together Members of Government, Members of Parliament, representatives of United Nations agencies, civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, researchers and academics, young activists to take stock of regional achievements and to renew their commitment to improving maternal and reproductive health as well as to formulate key strategic actions to further accelerate the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action in Europe and Central Asia.