Population information was one of the issues that received considerable attention at the Commission on Population and Development during its meeting at New York from 21 February to 2 March 1995.
In describing the United Nations Secretariat's work in the dissemination of population information, Ms. Birgitta Bucht, Assistant Director of the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA), gave particular emphasis to the recent rapid expansion of the Population Information Network (POPIN).
This decentralized network, for which Asia-Pacific POPIN is the focal point for the ESCAP region, coordinates regional and national population information activities, she noted.
Ms. Bucht added that POPIN had been originally established in the early 1980s but, owing to a lack of funding, its activities had been comparatively limited for several years. With new funding provided last year, POPIN had been able to expand some of its activities, she said.
One of the first activities in the new phase of the Network's development was the establishment of an electronic information service on the Internet (information "superhighway") known as the "POPIN Gopher". It includes journals, newsletters, bibliographic and demographic data banks, statistical tables and other population resources, she said.
The popularity of the new POPIN Gopher service was illustrated by its heavy use during the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), which was held at Cairo from 5-13 September 1994.
Regarding future directions of the Network, Ms. Bucht said that POPIN's primary objective was to increase awareness, knowledge and understanding of population and development issues, as recommended in the Cairo Programme of Action.
New communication and information technologies make it possible to quickly and widely disseminate information to the population community in all geographical regions of the world. The only limitation to the expansion of POPIN was the limited size of its staff, she added.
The representative of France to the meeting said that POPIN is very important, especially for developing countries. Training and access to information are a problem for some regions of the world. Researchers also need access to data to evaluate their own work, the representative observed.
The representative of Canada asked about POPIN as a vehicle to share information on international migration issues. POPIN could provide a vehicle to improve the dialogue in that area, she said.
The observer for Norway said that POPIN and the Internet were a revolutionary way of disseminating information. All the documents from the Commission should be entered into the network in a timely manner, he suggested.
The representative of the United States of America commended the Population Division for its exemplary work in preparing for and carrying out the ICPD. She added that the Division's work in developing a variety of databases and their electronic dissemination was also notable.
The representative of China also stressed the value of POPIN and called for its further strengthening.
The Network would serve to disseminate the findings of the many important studies being carried out by the United Nations, he said.
The representative of Pakistan said that an increasing portion of his country's development budget was being devoted to population areas, and that information, education and communication (IEC) was one of the priority areas. Certain innovative media programmes had been created on the topic of population welfare and these programmes had made a discernible change in the attitudes of the target population.
In responding to some of the interventions during the meeting, Ms. Bucht noted that POPIN would supply information on specific topics of interest to users. As an example, the documents for the present Commission meeting had already been entered into the Network, which was being used and could be used for disseminating a wide range of population data and information worldwide. One of the focuses of the POPIN project was to make information produced in one region available in another.
Statements were also made at the meeting by the representatives of regional commissions, including Mr. Nibhon Debavalya, Director of the ESCAP Population Division.
The ESCAP representative said that, in addition to its regular programme of work, ESCAP had implemented various activities in preparation for the ICPD. During 1994, with financial support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), ESCAP conducted collaborative research, provided technical assistance, including various human resources development activities, organized training courses, workshops and study tours, and disseminated valuable population data and Information.
ESCAP also promotes new and better techniques and technologies for handling, sharing and disseminating population information. It supports population information centres and networks belonging to Asia-Pacific POPIN. The aim of its work in this regard is to enable these developing countries eventually to become self-reliant in their information gathering, analyzing, processing and
disseminating capabilities.
With regard to the creation of new information on population and related issues, the meeting was informed of the Secretariat's work in making accurate projections and producing a number of reports and population publications. Mr. Joseph Chamie, Director of the Population Division, DESIPA, said that collaboration is a major pillar of the work of the Secretariat in this regard. It benefitted from the work of the regional commissions and from the entire United Nations system working in concert.
The representative of Population Communications International spoke on the subject of population information in the context of follow-up to the ICPD. Mr. David Poindexter said that
non-governmental organizations had been meaningfully involved in the preparation for and the carrying out of the ICPD.
His organization was establishing an information clearing-house and documentation centre in New York City near United Nations Headquarters. It would collect as much information as possible about the work of non-governmental organizations and share that information with Governments, the United Nations and the NGOs. His remarks echoed the statement at the inaugural session of the present meeting when Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Mr. Jean-Claude Milleron, said that the next challenge after 1995 would be to sustain the momentum of recent world conferences.
That meant exploring new fields, addressing new questions, and entering new negotiations on the issue of development which covered so many aspects of human life.
He concluded his remarks by urging the Commission not to overlook the importance of collecting and organizing credible data in the overall continuum of population and development activities and noted the close link between analytical competence and operations activities.
Also at the opening session, Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of UNFPA, had reviewed the achievements of the 1994 Cairo Conference, which she called "an outstanding success".
Among its many achievements, the Programme of Action adopted in Cairo broke new ground with regard to reproductive rights, moving away from a narrow focus on family planning and fertility in favour of a comprehensive approach to reproductive health, she said.
Dr. Sadik, who was Secretary-General of the ICPD, emphasized that implementation of the Programme of Action was the job of all members of the international community. Since the Conference, many countries had taken steps to develop strategies based on its outcome, she added.
In noting that such initiatives must be supported and strengthened, Dr. Sadik stated that, at the request of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), an inter-agency task force had been formed to monitor progress in implementation of the Programme of Action.
The work of this task-force would involve various information tasks such as the development of proposals for a common national data system in the field of health, basic education, policy-related issues, and women's empowerment.
The first meeting of the task-force, which took place on 13 December 1994, was attended by representatives of DESIPA and the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the Secretariat, as well as several specialized agencies.
Besides these issues, the Commission during its two-week meeting reviewed the monitoring of world population and policies, as well as multilateral population assistance and activities of UNFPA.
It also examined recommendations contained in the Programme of Action of the ICPD and their implications for the United Nations work programme on population.
The newly revitalized Commission on Population and Development (formerly the Population Commission), as a functional commission assisting the Economic and Social Council, has been charged by the General Assembly with monitoring, reviewing and assessing the implementation of the Programme of Action at the national, regional and global levels and advising the Council.
The overall work programme on population of the United Nations is considered to be an important component of the programme of international cooperation for development.
Its four major functions include the substantive servicing of intergovernmental bodies (principally the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Population and Development); conducting research and analysis, and disseminating the results of that research; providing technical cooperation; organizing and coordinating the follow-up to major
intergovernmental decisions and gatherings.
At its final session on 2 March, the Commission recommended that it should have the primary responsibility for reviewing the follow-up and implementation of the Programme of Action of the ICPD and the Secretary-General's Inter-Agency Task Force, established on a permanent basis, should be accountable through the Commission for system-wide coordination of the
implementation.
The proposed terms of reference call for the Commission to advise the Economic and Social Council on matters such as: population issues and trends; integrating population and development
strategies; and the provision of population assistance to developing countries upon request and, on a temporary basis, to countries with economies in transition.
It should also regularly review the flow of financial resources and the funding mechanisms to achieve the Programme of Action's goals. In addition, the Commission should maintain and enhance public attention and support for the implementation of the Programme through the dissemination of its reports in a concise and clear format.
In addition, in 1999 the Commission would consider a quinquennial review and appraisal of the implementation of the entire Cairo Programme of Action.
In the second annex, the Commission underlined the need for the work programme in the field of population for the 1996-1997 biennium to take fully into account the outcome of the Cairo Conference and other conferences and summits such as the World Summit for Social Development (March 1995) and the Fourth
Conference on Women (September 1995).
That annex also suggests that the work programme should utilize new communication and information technologies to further strengthen and expand the Population Information Network (POPIN), and national population information activities.