In the 1990s the United Nations held a series of global conferences addressing a number of economic and social issues of international concern. Besides identifying targets to measure progress in particular fields, these conferences succeeded in forging a consensus on the development issues confronting the international community. The United Nations is now engaged in the review and appraisal of progress in achieving the goals and objectives of those conferences.

The present publication grew out of the participation of the Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in activities aimed at ensuring a coordinated and system-wide implementation of the goals and commitments adopted by the conferences. In 1997, the Population Division issued a Wall Chart on Basic Social Services for All, as a contribution to the work of the system-wide ACC Task Force on Basic Social Services for All. The chart brought together key statistical indicators relevant to the goals adopted at the recent conferences. However, that format precluded an analytic summary of the information or background information about the data sources, coverage and quality. While further information about each indicator is available from the responsible United Nations agencies, this information is scattered among a variety of sources. Recognizing the desirability of an accessible and concise and updated analytic summary of these key indicators, the Population Division has issued the present report.

The report provides information on 12 key socio-economic indicators related to the goals of the conferences. Goals are explicitly identified in documents adopted at the above-mentioned global conferences, particularly, the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II). The indicators are: total population, access to health services, contraceptive prevalence, underweight prevalence among preschool children, maternal mortality, infant and child mortality, life expectancy at birth, school enrolment, adult illiteracy, access to safe water, access to sanitation, and floor area per person. The data are the latest available as of September 1999.

Acknowledgements are due to the various United Nations offices and specialized agencies that assisted in the preparation of the publication. Particular thanks are due to the following organizations which provided data and valuable comments on earlier drafts: the United Nations Children=s Fund (UNICEF) (chap. II, IV, V, X and XI); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (chap. VIII and IX); the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) (chap. XII); the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); and the World Health Organization (WHO) (chap. IV, V, X, and XI). Acknowledgement is also due to the Trust Fund for the Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, which provided partial support for the printing of this publication.

Charting the Progress of Populations, as well as other population information, may also be accessed on the Population Division POPIN world wide web site at www.un.org/popin/

Comments or questions about this report are welcome. Readers may contact the Director, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York, NY 10017, United States of America, at fax 1-212-963-2147, or e-mail to population@un.org.. For further information regarding specific indicators, contact the offices or agencies cited in the source notes.