This year marks the 15th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), where industrialized and developing countries forged the Cairo Consensus on Population and Development. ICPD defined the concept of reproductive rights; the provision of family planning and reproductive health care services, along with other basic health and education services, to provide individuals with genuine choices about the spacing, timing and number of their children. The important of reproductive rights, under this 20 year plan, was also recognized by the addition, in 2005, of universal access to reproductive health as one of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

A high level conference will be held on 17 December 2009 by UNFPA and ACPD (Albanian Centre for Population and Development) and in close cooperation with the Government of Albania to mark ICPD at 15. This conference will acknowledge the progress and achievements of the Government of Albania in fulfilling the commitments made in Cairo and the gaps and challenges that remain. A review of lessons learned over the last 15 years will be conducted to define priorities and recommendations for accelerating progress in the next five years to attain MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health.