Morning Briefing

Inter Press Service reports on the Fifth International Parliamentarians' Conference on the Implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) program of action, taking place in Istanbul, Turkey. "According to a preliminary draft Istanbul Declaration issued by conference participants, the world's parliamentarians are determined to play their role in mobilizing the necessary resources for the ICPD agenda, as well as strengthening parliamentary oversight in ensuring its implementation," IPS writes, adding, "In the draft declaration, to be finalized and adopted Friday, parliamentarians committed to looking ahead to ensure that future priorities are included in the goals and targets being developed through the post-2015 development agenda processes." The news service also notes that "one of the outcomes of this meeting will be a call for governments to allocate 10 percent of their national budgets to ICPD programs" (Atarah, 5/25).