- To assist developing countries in providing quality Reproductive Health and Family Planning services on the basis of individual choice, and in formulating population policies that support sustainable development.
- To advance the Programme of Action (PoA) endorsed by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and reviewed by a special session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 (ICPD+5). The PoA focuses on meeting the needs of individual women and men rather than achieving demographic targets. Key to this approach is empowering women and providing them with more choices through expanded access to education, health services and employment opportunities.
- To promote Gender Equality: Women can and must play a powerful role in sustainable development and poverty eradication. UNFPA strategy on gender focuses on advancing equality for women and adolescent girls, empowering women to exercise their human rights, particularly their reproductive rights, and live free of discrimination and violence.
- To promote cooperation and coordination among United Nations organizations, bilateral agencies, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector in addressing issues of population and development, reproductive health, gender equality and women's empowerment.
Reaching the goals of the ICPD Programme of Action will be critical for reaching the Millennium Development Goals — global targets set by world leaders in 2000 and agreed upon in the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The declaration focuses on making the right to development a reality for everyone. Progress is based on sustainable economic growth, which must focus on the poor, with human rights at the centre.