UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
|
| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
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The electronic version of this document is being made available by
the United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN) Gopher of
the Population Division, Department for Economic and Social
Information and Policy Analysis.
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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FURTHER IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE WORLD POPULATION PLAN OF ACTION
CONTENTS
Paragraphs
I. PREAMBLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 11
II. PEACE, SECURITY AND POPULATION . . . . . . . . . . 12
III. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION . . . . . . . . . . 13 - 35
A. Socio-economic development, the environment
and population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
B. The role and the status of women . . . . . . 15 - 17
C. Development of population policies . . . . . . 18
D. Population goals and policies . . . . . . . . 19 - 32
1. Population growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 - 20
2. Morbidity and mortality. . . . . . . . . . 21 - 23
(a) Goals and general guidance for health policies 21
(b) Infant, child and maternal morbidity and mortality 22
(c) Adult morbidity and mortality . . . . . . . . . 23
3. Reproduction and the family . . . . . . . . . 24 - 26
4. Population distribution and internal migration 27
5. International migration . . . . . . . . . . . 28 - 31
(a) General guidelines for formulating international
migration policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
(b) Documented migrant workers . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
(c) Undocumented migrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
(d) Refugees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6. Population structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
E. Promotion of knowledge and policy . . . . . . . . 33 - 35
1. Data collection and analysis . . . . . . . . . 33
2. Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3. Management, training, information, education and
communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
IV. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION . . . . . . . . . . 36 - 37
A. Role of national Governments . . . . . . . . . 36
B. Role of international co-operation . . . . . . . 37
C. Monitoring, review and appraisal . . . . . . . . -
I. PREAMBLE
1. During the years since the United Nations World Population
Conference in 1974, the World Conference Plan of Action a/ has
served as a guide to action in the field of population for
Governments, for international organizations and for
non-governmental organizations. The consensus of Bucharest has
facilitated international co-operation and helped to bring
population issues to the forefront. The principles and objectives
of the Plan have shown themselves to remain valid and are
reaffirmed.
2. However, the demographic, social, economic and political
conditions of the world have changed considerably. In many
developing countries the demographic situation has improved since
1974; fertility has declined, morbidity has diminished, infant
mortality has declined and life expectancy has increased. There
have also been improvements in the social sphere. In many
developing countries school enrolment and literacy rates have
increased, and access to health services has improved. For the
developing countries as a whole, there has been an increase in per
capita calorie supply, though in some regions, such as Africa, per
capita calorie supply has not improved. Economic trends have,
however, been less encouraging. Although per capita income did not
grow as rapidly since 1974 as in the previous 10 years, it is none
the less true that per capita income did grow moderately in a
number of developing countries during that period. During the
latter part of the decade, however, many developing countries
experienced little or no growth in per capita income, and many
experienced actual declines in per capita income, with the result
that the gap between the per capita incomes of many developed and
most developing countries widened during the period. Moreover,
while progress has been made in achieving some goals of the World
Population Plan of Action, other goals have not been met. Some
important gaps in knowledge have been filled and new issues have
emerged to challenge the international community. Therefore, as
foreseen at Bucharest, some of the goals and recommendations of the
Plan now call for complementing and further refinement. Though the
community of nations has made considerable progress in the pursuit
of the goals of the World Population Plan of Action, there is still
a great need for continuation and acceleration in these efforts to
realize those goals, as they have been refined at Mexico City in
August 1984.
3. With respect to some major issues raised in the Plan, the
following facts and trends deserve special mention:
(a) Though the global rate of population growth has declined
slightly since 1974, the world population has increased by 770
million during the decade, and 90 per cent of that increase has
occurred in the developing countries. Furthermore, the annual
additions to the world's population are increasing in size.
Moreover, in many countries of Africa, Latin America and Asia
growth rates have increased owing to mortality declines not
accompanied by equivalent declines in fertility;
(b) At the global level, and in virtually all countries, the
level of mortality has fallen. However, the targets set by the
World Population Plan of Action have not been met. At the same
time, new approaches in the form of primary health care have been
widely adopted;
(c) At the global level, fertility declined substantially
but, as with population growth, the changes in some regions were
far greater than in others. For national and sub-national groups in
populations and sub-populations representing about one fourth of
the world's population, no decline of fertility was observed. The
fertility changes were associated with progress in socio-economic
development, with continued changes in the status of women, with
changes in family structure in some regions, and with the increased
availability of family planning services;
(d) Improvements in the status of women have been promoted by
the World Population Plan of Action and the plans and programmes
generated under the aegis of the United Nations Decade for Women.
However, persisting inequalities between women and men are evident
in the higher incidence of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy
among women, the limited range of employment categories and the
uneven share of home and family responsibilities borne by women. At
the same time, it is increasingly recognized that socio-economic
development is curtailed without the active participation of women
in all fields of activity;
(e) Access to and knowledge of family planning have come to
be much more widely permitted and supported by Governments as a
contribution to maternal and child health, to the human rights of
individuals and couples, and as a demographic measure.
Nevertheless, data from the World Fertility Survey for developing
countries indicate that, of women who wanted no more children and
were exposed to the risk of pregnancy, on average over half were
not using contraception;
(f) As a result of demographic trends, population structures
have changed. In particular, the aging of populations and changes
in household and family structure and composition have continued;
(g) In most regions of the world, urban populations continued
to increase far more rapidly than total populations. In some
developed countries, however, there was a trend towards
deconcentration. Rapid urban population growth has become a matte~
of growing policy concern to most Governments, particularly in the
developing regions in which the urban unemployment level remains
extremely high. In some regions, the continued high levels of rural
population growth renders rural development difficult;
(h) Persistent disparities among countries, particularly in
population and economic development as also the felt needs of some
host countries, have increased the potential of further
international migration. These migrant workers do contribute to the
economic development of receiving countries. However, the
direction, magnitude and the type of international migration flows
is a matter of concern to some countries;
(i) The flows of refugees are increasing in different regions
of the world and are also a matter of increasing concern;
(j) Problems relating to involuntary migration have also
increased;
(k) The overall social and economic development of the
developing countries and the implementation of effective measures
to deal with population trends in the period 1974-1984 have been
greatly hampered by the serious effects of the international
economic crisis on the economies of the developing countries. In
the majority of developing countries, increases in population and
its aspirations have contributed to increasing imports versus
exports - food in particular. Furthermore, existing population
programmes have been greatly affected by a shortage of adequate
resources from both national and international sources;
(l) In many countries the population has continued to grow
rapidly, aggravating such environmental and natural resource
problems as soil erosion, desertification and deforestation, which
affect food and agricultural production. The mechanisms to deal
effectively with these problems are still in an incipient stage in
many countries. There is, however, increasing awareness of the need
to take into account natural resources and the quality of the
environment along with social and economic factors;
(m) In the years since 1974 there have been a number of
hopeful developments. New agricultural technologies, including the
green revolution, have made it possible to better meet the needs of
growing populations. Progress in molecular biology has potential
for influencing both levels of fertility and mortality and the
development of communication satellites may greatly advance mass
education, including education directly related to population
issues. The economic and social consequences of these advances
raise serious ethical questions and may have a fundamental impact
on the future of society.
4. The principles and objectives of the World Population Plan
of Action affirm that the principal aim of social, economic and
cultural development, of which population goals and policies are
integral parts, is to improve the standards of living and quality
of life of the people. Achieving this goal requires co-ordinated
action in population with all socio-economic fields; thus,
population trends must be co-ordinated with trends of economic and
social development. In helping to achieve this co-ordination, the
World Population Plan of Action should become an essential
component of the system of international strategies for the
promotion of economic development, the quality of life, human
rights and fundamental freedoms.
5. The Plan affirms that the consideration of population
problems cannot be limited to the analysis of population trends,
since population variables influence development and are influenced
by them. The present population situation in developing countries
is related, inter alia, to unequal processes of socio-economic
development, which are intensified by inequities in international
relations, and by related disparities in standards of living.
6. It remains true that the basis for an effective solution
of population problems is, above all, socio-economic transformation
and, therefore, population policies must always be considered as a
constituent element of socio-economic development policies and
never as substitutes for them. However, even if social and economic
development is slow or lacking, family planning programmes may have
an impact on the level of fertility.
7. While the importance of integrating women into the
development of society has been recognized by many Governments,
much remains to be done to fulfil the recommendations adopted in
1974 by the World Population Conference as elaborated in 1975 by
the World Conference of the International Women's Year, and in 1980
by the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women. The
Plan, as well as other important international instruments,
stressed the urgency of achieving the full integration of women in
society on an equal basis with men and of abolishing any form of
discrimination against women. In order to provide women with the
freedom to participate fully in the life of society, it is equally
necessary for men to share fully with women responsibilities in the
areas of family planning, child-rearing and all other aspects of
family life. The achievement of these objectives is integral to
achieving development goals, including those related to population
policy.
8. To achieve the goals of development, the formulation of
national population goals and policies must take into account the
need to contribute to an economic development which is
environmentally sustainable over the long run and which protects
the ecological balance.
9. The interdependence among countries has become ever more
manifest and requires that national and international strategies
pursue an integrated and balanced approach to population,
resources, environment and development at national and
international levels, by ensuring that the developing countries
achieve significant improvement in their living standards and in
the quality of life through economic and social transformation.
10. As the world enters a second decade after the World
Population Conference of 1974, major challenges and problems in the
area of population that are of primary concern to the international
community and that are particularly relevant to the economic and
social progress of the developing countries are:
(a) The task of reducing poverty, expanding employment and
assuring the right to work by encouraging economic growth, which
includes measures for the just distribution of wealth;
(b) The continued need to further promote the status of women
and the expansion and advancement of their roles;
(c) The annual increments in population, which are projected
to grow larger throughout the decade;
(d) The rate of population growth, which remains high in
developing countries and which, for many countries, may even rise
in the coming years;
(e) Changes in population structures, particularly the aging
of populations, changes in household and family structure and
composition, and the growth of the working-age populations in
developing countries where economies are not growing adequately;
(f) High levels of infant and maternal mortality, and the
important mortality differentials between regions, countries,
social groups and sexes;
(g) The persistence of fertility rates substantially higher
or lower than those desired by Governments and peoples in some
countries;
(h) The unmet needs for family planning in many countries,
which unless they are addressed will grow even greater as the
number of couples of reproductive age increases substantially
during the coming decade;
(i) The disequilibrium between rates of change in population
and changes in resources, environment and development;
(j) The persistence of high rates of internal migration, new
forms of mobility, high rates of urbanization, and the
concentration of population in large cities in developing countries
where these phenomena have negative consequences for development;
(k) The importance and diversity of international migration
and its consequences for countries of origin and destination and
the necessity for co-operation between these countries in this
field;
(l) The need to find solutions to all problems related to
refugees, whose numbers are increasing;
(m) The increasing number of persons who lack sufficient
food, pure water, shelter, health care, education and the other
facilities required to achieve full human potential;
(n) The consequences of progress in agricultural technology
and in genetic engineering, which may lead to essential changes in
the character of societies;
(o) The relatively high proportion of young people in the
populations of the developing countries and the problems and
consequences attendant to this which, unless addressed, will assure
that populations will continued to grow for many decades to come;
(p) The need to strengthen the capacities of developing
countries in data collection, analysis and utilization and to
develop appropriately trained personnel in the population area;
(q) The need for increased national and international support
to implement the Plan, in particular, adequate multilateral
resources to support the efforts of developing countries.
11. The Plan and the following recommendations for its
further implementation should be considered within the framework of
other intergovernmental strategies and plans. In this respect, they
reaffirm the principles and objectives of the Charter of the United
Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (General
Assembly resolution 217 A (III)), the International Covenants on
Human Rights (General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex), the
Declaration on Social Progress and Development (General Assembly
resolution 2542 (XXIV)), the Declaration and the Programme of
Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order
(General Assembly resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI)), the
Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States (General Assembly
resolution 3281 (XXIX)) and the International Development Strategy
for the Third United Nations Development Decade (General Assembly
resolution 35/56, annex) and General Assembly resolutions 34/75 and
35/46 on the declaration of the 1980s as the Second Disarmament
Decade. In addition, the following declarations, plans of action
and other relevant texts that have emanated from intergovernmental
meetings must be stressed because of their relevance to the
objectives of the World Population Plan of Action:
(a) United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child
(1959); b/
(b) Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment and the Action Plan for the Human Environment
(Stockholm, 1972) c/ and resolution 1 adopted by the Governing
Council of the United Nations Environment Programme at its session
of a special character (Nairobi, 1982); d/
(c) Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and
Malnutrition (Rome, 1974); e/
(d) World Plan of Action for the Implementation of the
Objectives of the International Women's Year (Mexico City, 1975) f/
and Programme of Action for the Second Half of the United Nations
Decade for Women (Copenhagen, 1980); g/
(e) Lima Declaration and Plan of Action on Industrial
Development and Co-operation (Lima, 1975); h/
(f) Declaration of Principles and Programme of Action adopted
by the Tripartite World Conference on Employment, Income
Distribution and Social Progress and the International Division of
Labour (Geneva, 1976); i/
(g) Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, 1976; j/
(h) Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (Nairobi, 1977);
k/
(i) Mar del Plata Action Plan adopted by the United Nations
Water Conference (Mar del Plata, 1977); l/
(j) Declaration of Alma-Ata adopted by the International
Conference on Primary Health Care (Alma-Ata, 1978); m/
(k) Programme of Action to Combat Racism and Racial
Discrimination (Geneva, 1978), n/ programme of activities to be
undertaken during the second half of the Decade for Action to
Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination o/ and Declaration and
Programme of Action adopted by the Second World Conference to
Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (Geneva, 1983); p/
(l) Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and
Implementing Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries
(Buenos Aires, 1978); q/
(m) Declaration of Principles and Programme of Action of the
World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (Rome,
1979); r/
(n) Vienna Programme of Action on Science and Technology for
Development (Vienna, 1979); s/
(o) Global Strategy for Health for All by the Year 2000, t/
adopted by the World Health Assembly in its resolution WHA 34.36 of
22 May 1981 and endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution
36/43 of 19 November 1981;
(p) Nairobi Programme of Action for the Development and
Utilization of New and Renewable Sources of Energy (Nairobi, 1981);
u/
(q) Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the
Least Developed Countries (Paris, 1981); v/
(r) International Plan of Action on Aging (Vienna, 1982). w/
II. PEACE, SECURITY AND POPULATION
12. Being aware of the existing close links between peace and
development, it is of great importance for the world community to
work ceaselessly to promote, among nations, peace, security,
disarmament and co-operation, which are indispensable for the
achievement of the goals of humane population policies and for
economic and social development. Creating the conditions for real
peace and security would permit an allocation of resources to
social and economic rather than to military programmes, which would
greatly help to attain the goals and objectives of the World
Population Plan of Action.
III. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION
13. Many of the following recommendations are addressed to
Governments. This is not meant to preclude the efforts or
initiative of international organizations, non-governmental
organizations, private institutions or organizations, or families
and individuals where their efforts can make an effective
contribution to overall population or development goals on the
basis of strict respect for sovereignty and national legislation in
force.
A. SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, THE ENVIRONMENT AND POPULATION
14. The World Population Plan of Action recognizes explicitly
the importance of the interrelationships between population and
socio- economic development and affirms, inter alia, that "the
basis for an effective solution of population problems is, above
all, socio-economic transformation" (paragraph 1) and that
"population policies are constituent elements of socio-economic
development policies, never substitutes for them" (paragraph 14
(d)). Consequently, the Plan of Action includes a number of
recommendations dealing with socio-economic policies, the contents
of which fully deserve reaffirmation and further development. The
following recommendations reflect the view that if national and
international policies are not adopted and implemented to increase
the overall resources and the share of the world's resources going
to the very poor, it will be extremely difficult for many countries
to achieve the levels of fertility and mortality that they desire.
The recommendations reflect the importance to be attached to an
integrated approach towards population and development, both in
national policies and at the international level. The
recommendations also reflect the view that, although the actions of
the developing countries are of primary importance, the attainment
of the goals and objectives stipulated in the International
Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development
Decade will require appropriate policies by the developed countries
and by the international community which support the efforts of the
developing countries to achieve those objectives.
Recommendation 1
Considering that social and economic development is a central
factor in the solution of population and interrelated problems and
that population factors are very important in development plans and
strategies and have a major impact on the attainment of development
objectives, national development policies, plans and programmes, as
well as international development strategies, should be formulated
on the basis of an integrated approach that takes into account the
interrelationships between population, resources, environment and
development. In this context, national and international efforts
should give priority to action programmes integrating population
and development.
Recommendation 2
National and international efforts should give high priority
to the following development goals included in the International
Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development
Decade: the eradication of mass hunger and the achievement of
adequate health and nutrition levels, the eradication of mass
illiteracy, the improvement of the status of women, the elimination
of mass unemployment and underemployment and the elimination of
inequality in international economic relations. To achieve these
goals, it is further recommended that Governments should take
population trends fully into account when formulating their
development plans and programmes.
Recommendation 3
In order to promote the broadly based socio-economic
development that is essential to achieving an adequate quality of
life as well as national population objectives and to respond
effectively to the requirements posed by demographic trends, all
countries are urged to co-operate in efforts to achieve the above
objectives and to accelerate development, particularly in
developing countries, inter alia, through policies to lower
barriers to trade, to increase multilateral and bilateral
development assistance, to improve the quality and effectiveness of
this assistance, to increase real income earnings from the export
of commodities, to solve the problems arising from the debt burden
in a significant number of developing countries, to increase the
volume and improve the terms of international lending, and to
encourage various sources of investment and, wherever appropriate,
entrepreneurial initiatives. To respond to the needs of populations
for employment, food self-sufficiency, and improvements in the
quality of life and to increase self-reliance, productive
investment should be increased, appropriate industries should be
encouraged and substantial investments should be fostered in rural
and agricultural development.
Recommendation 4
In countries in which there are imbalances between trends in
population growth and resources and environmental requirements,
Governments are urged, in the context of overall development
policies, to adopt and implement specific policies, including
population policies, that will contribute to redressing such
imbalances and promote improved methods of identifying, extracting,
renewing, utilizing and conserving natural resources. Efforts
should be made to accelerate the transition from traditional to new
and renewable sources of energy while at the same time maintaining
the integrity of the environment. Governments should also implement
appropriate policy measures to avoid the further destruction of the
ecological equilibria and take measures to restore them.
B. THE ROLE AND THE STATUS OF WOMEN
15. The World Population Plan of Action (paragraphs 15 (e), 32 (b),
42 and 43) as well as other important international instruments -
in particular the 1975 Mexico City Plan of Action, the 1980
Copenhagen Programme of Action for the United Nations Decade for
Women and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (General Assembly resolution 34/180,
annex) - stress the urgency of achieving the full integration of
women in society on an equal basis with men and of abolishing any
form of discrimination against women. Comprehensive strategies to
address these concerns will be formulated at the 1985 Nairobi
Conference which is being convened to review and appraise the
achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women.
16. In view of the slow progress made since 1974 in the
achievement of equality for women, the broadening of the role and
the improvement of the status of women remain important goals that
should be pursued as ends in themselves. The achievement of genuine
equality with respect to opportunities, responsibilities and rights
would guarantee that women could participate fully with men in all
aspects of decision-making regarding population and development
issues that affect their families, communities and countries.
17. The ability of women to control their own fertility forms
an important basis for the enjoyment of other rights; likewise, the
assurance of socio-economic opportunities on an equal basis with
men and the provision of the necessary services and facilities
enable women to take greater responsibility for their reproductive
lives. The following recommendations take into account the need for
actions to ensure that women can effectively exercise rights equal
to those of men in all spheres of economic, social, cultural and
political life, and in particular those rights which pertain most
directly to population concerns.
Recommendation 5
Governments are strongly urged to integrate women fully into
all phases of the development process, including planning, policy
and decision-making. Governments should pursue more aggressively
action programmes aimed at improving and protecting the legal
rights and status of women through efforts to identify and to
remove institutional and cultural barriers to women's education,
training, employment and access to health care. In addition,
Governments should provide remedial measures, including mass
education programmes, to assist women in attaining equality with
men in the social, political and economic life of their countries.
The promotion of community support and the collaboration, at the
request of Governments, of non-governmental organizations,
particularly women's organizations, in expediting these efforts
should be given paramount importance.
Recommendation 6
Governments should ensure that women are free to participate
in the labour force and are neither restricted from, nor forced to
participate in, the labour force for reasons of demographic policy
or cultural tradition. Further, the biological role of women in the
reproductive process should in no way be used as a reason for
limiting women's right to work. Governments should take the
initiative in removing any existing barriers to the realization of
that right and should create opportunities and conditions such that
activities outside the home can be combined with child-rearing and
household activities.
Recommendation 7
Governments should provide women, through education, training
and employment, with opportunities for personal fulfillment in
familial and non-familial roles, as well as for full participation
in economic, social and cultural life, while continuing to give due
support to their important social role as mothers. To this end, in
those countries where child-bearing occurs when the mother is too
young, Government policies should encourage delay in the
commencement of child-bearing.
Recommendation 8
Governments concerned should make efforts to raise the age of
entry into marriage in countries in which this age at marriage is
still quite low.
Recommendation 9
Governments should promote and encourage, through
information, education and communication, as well as through
employment legislation and institutional support, where
appropriate, the active involvement of men in all areas of family
responsibility, including family planning, child-rearing and
housework so that family responsibilities can be fully shared by
both partners.
Recommendation 10
All Governments which have not already done so are strongly
urged to sign and ratify or accede to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
C. DEVELOPMENT OF POPULATION POLICIES
18. The World Population Plan of Action urges that population
policies should not be considered substitutes for socio-economic
development policies but rather should be integral components of
those policies (paragraph 2). In formulating population policies,
Governments may aim to affect one or more of the following
population trends and characteristics, among others, population
growth, morbidity and mortality, reproduction, population
distribution, internal and international migration and population
structure. The Plan also recognizes the sovereignty of nations in
the formulation, adoption and implementation of their population
policies (paragraph 14), consistent with basic human rights and
responsibilities of individuals, couples and families (paragraph
17).
Recommendation 11
Governments are urged to adopt population policies and social
and economic development policies that are mutually reinforcing.
Such policies should be formulated with particular attention to the
individual, the family and community levels, as well as to other
factors at the micro-level and macro-level. Special emphasis needs
to be given to linkages between population trends, labour supply
and demand, the problems of unemployment and the creation of
productive employment. Governments are urged to share their
experience in integrating population policies into other social and
economic development policies.
Recommendation 12
Governments are encouraged to provide adequate resources and,
where appropriate, to adopt innovative measures for the
implementation of population policy. To be effective and
successful, population programmes and development activities should
be responsive to local values and needs, and those directly
affected should be involved in the decision-making process at all
levels. Moreover, in these activities, the full participation of
the community and concerned non-governmental organizations, in
particular women's organizations, should be encouraged.
D. POPULATION GOALS AND POLICIES
1. Population growth
19. United Nations population projections, as assessed in
1982, indicate that, between 1984 and the end of the present
century, the growth rate of the world population will decline more
slowly than during the past 10 years. This is partly due to the
fact that, as a consequence of high fertility levels in the past,
the number of women of child-bearing age (15-49) will continue to
grow rapidly. Although, according to the medium variant
projections, the total fertility rate during this period is
expected to decline from 3.6 to 3.0 children per woman, the annual
rate of growth is projected to reach only 1.5 per cent. For the
world as a whole, the present annual increment of 78 million is
projected to increase to 89 million by 1995-2000. Thus, in the 16
years from 1984 to 2000, the world population is expected to
increase by 1.3 billion, from 4.8 billion in 1984 to 6.1 billion in
2000.
20. These global perspectives conceal significant demographic
differences existing at the regional as well as the country levels.
According to the United Nations estimates, the current total
fertility rates range from 6.4 children per woman for Africa, 4.7
for South Asia, 4.1 for Latin America, 2.3 for East Asia, to 1.9
for Europe and North America. During the remainder of the present
century these differences are not expected to narrow significantly.
Moreover, these projections assume a continuation of present
efforts and policies without which uninterrupted declines in both
fertility and population growth cannot be achieved. The World
Population Plan of Action invites countries to consider adopting
population policies, within the framework of socio-economic
development, which are consistent with basic human rights and
national goals and values (paragraph 17). It is in the light of
that provision and the above-mentioned trends that the following
recommendation is made.
Recommendation 13
Countries which consider that their population growth rates
hinder the attainment of national goals are invited to consider
pursuing relevant demographic policies, within the framework of
socio-economic development. Such policies should respect human
rights, the religious beliefs, philosophical convictions, cultural
values and fundamental rights of each individual and couple, to
determine the size of its own family.
2. Morbidity and mortality
(a) Goals and general guidance for health policies
21. The World Population Plan of Action set targets for
those countries with the highest mortality levels for 1985 and
noted the progress necessary for each region to attain an average
life expectancy of 62 years by 1985 and 74 years by 2000
(paragraphs 22 and 23). Recommendation 14 below updates the targets
for countries with higher mortality levels and challenges countries
with intermediate or lower mortality levels to continue and
strengthen their efforts for the improvement of health and the
reduction of mortality in the context of overall population and
development planning. The targets are feasible, provided a
commitment is made and resources are well allocated. Their
achievement requires that communities become increasingly involved
in efforts to promote their health and welfare, that all agencies
and institutions of government be involved in this endeavour, and
that each programme be evaluated. The achievement of these targets
will also require that countries will not be subject to aggression
(paragraph 24 (f)). The attainment of reduced levels of morbidity
and mortality is in accordance with the Declaration of Alma Ata,
endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 34/58 of 29
November 1979.
Recommendation 14
All Governments, regardless of the mortality levels of their
population, are strongly urged to strive to reduce morbidity and
mortality levels and socio-economic and geographical differentials
in their countries and to improve health among all population
groups, especially among those groups where the morbidity and
mortality levels are the highest. Countries with higher mortality
levels should aim for a life expectancy at birth of at least 60
years and an infant mortality rate of less than 50 per 1,000 live
births by the year 2000. Countries with intermediate mortality
levels should aim to achieve a life expectancy at birth of at least
70 years and an infant mortality rate of less than 35 per 1,000
live births by the year 2000. The countries with lower mortality
should continue their efforts to improve the health of all
population groups and to reduce mortality even further, in keeping
with their social and economic capacities. Levels, trends and
differentials in mortality should be monitored in order to evaluate
the success of programmes in achieving these goals.
Recommendation 15
Governmental, intergovernmental, parliamentary and
non-governmental organizations should involve the community in all
possible ways in the planning, implementation and evaluation of
health improvement programmes.
Recommendation 16
The promotion and preservation of health should be the
explicit concern of all levels and branches of government. It is
strongly urged, therefore, that governmental action in the area of
mortality and health should go beyond the health sector and involve
all relevant sectors of national and community development. All
development programmes should be monitored and analysed by the
Government concerned in order to assess and to improve their impact
on health.
(b) Infant, child and maternal morbidity and mortality
22. The World Population Plan of Action (paragraphs 24 and 32
(a)) gives special attention to measures aimed at reducing foetal,
infant and early childhood mortality, and related maternal
morbidity and mortality. The following recommendations give more
precise guidelines for the implementation of the Plan, in
accordance with the objective of the Global Strategy for Health for
All by the Year 2000, which was adopted by the World Health
Assembly and endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution
36/43 of 19 November 1981.
Recommendation 17
Governments are urged to take immediate steps to identify the
underlying causes of morbidity and mortality among infants and
young children and develop special programmes to attack these
conditions. Strategies to be considered include emphasis on mother
and child health services within primary health care, the
introduction and support of a package of specific intervention
measures, and massive community-wide education and mobilization to
support them. Special efforts should be made to reach under-served
and deprived populations in rural areas and urban slums. The
international community should take concerted action to support
national efforts to this end.
Recommendation 18
All efforts should be made to reduce maternal morbidity and
mortality. Governments are urged:
(a) To reduce maternal mortality by at least 50 per cent by
the year 2000, where such mortality is very high (higher than 100
maternal deaths per 100,000 births);
(b) To provide prenuptial medical examinations;
(c) To provide prenatal and perinatal care, with special
attention to high-risk pregnancies, and ensure safe delivery by
trained attendants, including traditional birth attendants, as
culturally acceptable;
(d) To give special emphasis in nutritional programmes to the
needs of pregnant women and nursing mothers;
(e) To take appropriate steps to help women avoid abortion,
which in no case should be promoted as a method of family planning,
and whenever possible, provide for the humane treatment and
counselling of women who have had recourse to abortion;
(f) To support family planning as a health measure in
maternal and child health programmes as a way of reducing births
that occur too early or too late in the mother's life, of
increasing the interval between births and of diminishing higher
birth orders, and by giving special consideration to the needs of
those in the post-partum and/or breast-feeding period;
(g) To encourage community education to change prevailing
attitudes which countenance pregnancy and childbearing at young
ages, recognizing that pregnancy occurring in adolescent girls,
whether married or unmarried, has adverse effects on the morbidity
and mortality of both mother and child.
Recommendation 19
Governments are urged, as a special measure, to take
immediate and effective action, within the context of primary
health care, to expand the use of techniques such as child growth
monitoring, oral rehydration therapy, immunization and appropriate
birth spacing, which have the potential to achieve a virtual
revolution in child survival. All available communication channels
should be used to promote these techniques. The important role of
the family, especially of mothers, in the area of primary health
care should be recognized.
Recommendation 20
Governments are urged to promote and support breast-feeding.
Information should be widely disseminated on the nutritional,
immunological and psychological benefits of breast-feeding, as well
as its influence on child spacing. Nursing mothers, especially
those in the labour force, should be provided with appropriate
maternal benefits, including day-care facilities, access to proper
food supplements for themselves, and complementary weaning and
foods for their infants, in order to ensure adequate nutrition
throughout infancy and early childhood. Governments which have
accepted it should be urged to take the necessary steps to
implement the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk
Substitutes, as adopted by the 34th World Health Assembly
(resolution WHA 34.22).
Recommendation 21
Governments are strongly urged to take all necessary
measures, including, whenever they consider it useful, utilizing
the services of non-governmental organizations, to raise the level
of education attained by women as an end in itself and because of
its close link to child survival and spacing. In countries where
there are still many illiterate women, a supplementary effort
should be made to extend mass education programmes.
(c) Adult morbidity and mortality
23. The levels of adult morbidity and mortality and their
major causes are still of concern for many Governments in both
developing and developed countries. The World Population Plan of
Action recognizes the importance of improving health conditions for
the working-age population and stresses the need for the
eradication of infectious and parasitic diseases (paragraphs 24 (d)
and (e)). In countries where infectious and parasitic diseases have
reached low levels of incidence, chronic and non-infectious
conditions still require urgent attention. As personal health
practices and behaviour affect health, dissemination of the
relevant information is important so that people can act on the
basis of full information
Recommendation 22
Governments of countries where mortality is still high are
urged, with adequate international support, to implement intensive
programmes to control infectious and parasitic diseases, provide as
far as possible sufficient potable water and adequate sanitation
facilities, and implement other elements of primary health care for
both adults and children.
Recommendation 23
Governments, assisted by intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations, are urged to provide individuals
and families with all relevant information on the ways in which
personal behaviour or practices affect health, and to ensure that
the necessary resources are available for them to act on the basis
of this information. In this context, Governments are urged to
initiate or strengthen preventive action programmes to reduce the
consumption of tobacco, alcohol, drugs and other products
potentially dangerous to health.
Recommendation 24
Governments are urged to take necessary preventive or
corrective measures to eliminate the negative consequences for
health that characterize many occupations.
3. Reproduction and the family
24. The World Population Plan of Action recognizes the
family, in its many forms, as the basic unit of society and
recommends that it should be given legal protection and that
measures should be taken to protect both the rights of spouses and
the rights of children in the case of the termination or
dissolution of marriage and the right of individuals to enter
marriage only with their free and full consent (paragraph 39). It
also recommends that all children, regardless of the circumstances
of their parentage, should enjoy equal legal and social status and
the full support of both parents (paragraph 40). The family is the
main institution through which social, economic and cultural change
affects fertility. While the family has undergone and continues to
undergo fundamental changes in its structure and function, the
family continues to be recognized as the proper setting for mutual
love, support and companionship of spouses, as the primary
determinant of the survival of children born into it, as the first
agent of the socialization of future generations, and in many
societies as the only supporting institution for the aged. The
family is also an important agent of social, political and cultural
change. Therefore, in the design and implementation of fertility
policies, Governments must respect individual rights while at the
same time giving full recognition to the important role of the
family.
25. The World Population Plan of Action recognizes, as one of
its principles, the basic human right of all couples and
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing
of their children (paragraph 14 (f)). For this right to be
realized, couples and individuals must have access to the necessary
education, information and means to regulate their fertility,
regardless of the overall demographic goals of the Government
(paragraphs 28 and 29 (a)). While this right is widely accepted,
many couples and individuals are unable to exercise it effectively,
either because they lack access to information, education and/or
services or because, although some services are available, yet an
appropriate range of methods and follow-up services are not.
Indeed, data from the World Fertility Survey for developing
countries indicate that, on average, over one fourth of births in
the year prior to the Survey had not been desired. In addition, the
decline in the prevalence of certain traditional practices, such as
prolonged breast-feeding and post-partum abstinence, has increased
the relative importance of non-traditional family planning as a
tool for the proper spacing of births.
26. While the Plan also stresses the responsibility of
individuals and couples in exercising their right to choose, the
experience of the past 10 years suggests that Governments can do
more to assist people in making their reproductive decisions in a
responsible way (paragraph 14 (f)). Any recognition of rights also
implies responsibilities; in this case, it implies that couples and
individuals should exercise this right, taking into consideration
their own situation, as well as the implications of their decisions
for the balanced development of their children and of the community
and society in which they live. The following recommendations
reaffirm the provisions of the World Population Plan of Action and
suggest specific measures for the attainment of the objectives of
the Plan in these areas.
Recommendation 25
Governments should, as a matter of urgency, make universally
available information, education and the means to assist couples
and individuals to achieve their desired number of children. Family
planning information, education and means should include all
medically approved and appropriate methods of family planning,
including natural family planning, to ensure a voluntary and free
choice in accordance with changing individual and cultural values.
Particular attention should be given to those segments of the
population which are most vulnerable and difficult to reach.
Recommendation 26
Governments are urged to promote the best conditions for
family formation and family life, ensuring, inter alia, that
children enjoy the most favourable environment for their physical,
psychological and social development.
Recommendation 27
Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations are urged to allocate, in accordance with national
policies and priorities, the necessary resources to family planning
services, where these services are inadequate and are not meeting
the needs of a rapidly growing population of reproductive age.
Recommendation 28
Governments are urged to improve the quality and enhance the
effectiveness of family planning services and of the monitoring of
those services, including appropriate follow-up. Coverage should be
extended as rapidly as possible to all couples and individuals of
both sexes, particularly in rural areas. Family planning services
should be made available through appropriate and practicable
channels, including integrated health-care programmes (especially
maternal and child health and primary health care), community-based
distribution, subsidized commercial retail sales, and, in
particular, local distribution through retail outlets where health
infrastructure and health referral services exist. Also,
Governments should bear in mind the innovative role which
non-governmental organizations, in particular women's
organizations, can play in improving the availability and
effectiveness of family planning services. All countries should
ensure that fertility control methods conform to adequate standards
of quality, efficacy and safety.
Recommendation 29
Governments are urged to ensure that adolescents, both boys
and girls, receive adequate education, including family-life and
sex education, with due consideration given to the role, rights and
obligations of parents and changing individual and cultural values.
Suitable family planning information and services should be made
available to adolescents within the changing socio-cultural
framework of each country.
Recommendation 30
Governments are urged to ensure that all couples and
individuals have the basic right to decide freely and responsibly
the number and spacing of their children and to have the
information, education and means to do so; couples and individuals
in the exercise of this right should take into account the needs of
their living and future children and their responsibilities towards
the community.
Recommendation 31
Legislation and policies concerning the family and programmes
of incentives and disincentives should be neither coercive nor
discriminatory and should be consistent with internationally
recognized human rights as well as with changing individual and
cultural values.
Recommendation 32
Governments which have adopted or intend to adopt national
fertility goals should translate these goals into specific policies
and operational steps that are clearly understood by the citizens.
Recommendation 33
Governments that have adopted or intend to adopt fertility
policies are urged to set their own quantitative targets in this
area. Countries implementing family planning programmes should
establish programme targets at the operational level, respecting
the basic right of couples and individuals to decide freely and
responsibly the number and spacing of their children, taking into
account the needs of their living and future children and their
responsibilities, assumed freely and without coercion, towards the
community.
Recommendation 34
Family policies adopted or encouraged by Government should be
sensitive to the need for:
(a) Financial and/or other support to parents, including
single parents, in the period preceding or following the birth of
a child, as well as the period during which parents assume the
major responsibility for the care and education of children;
(b) A strengthening of child welfare services and child-care
provisions;
(c) Maternity and paternity leave for a sufficient length of
time to enable either parent to care for the child, with adequate
remunerative compensation and without detriment to subsequent
career prospects and basic communal facilities that will enable
working parents to provide care for children and aged members of
their families; and
(d) Assistance to young couples and parents, including single
parents, in acquiring suitable housing.
Recommendation 35
Governments wishing to decrease fertility levels should adopt
development policies that are known to reduce the level of
fertility, such as improved health, education, integration of women
and social equity. Governments that view the level of fertility in
their countries as too low may consider financial and other support
to families to assist them with their parental responsibilities and
to facilitate their access to the necessary services. Such policies
should not restrict access to education, information and services
for family planning.
4. Population distribution and internal migration
27. The World Population Plan of Action makes a number of
recommendations in regard to population distribution and internal
migration that are of continuing relevance (paragraphs 44-50). The
Plan recommends that population distribution policies should be
integrated with economic and social policies. In formulating and
implementing migration policies, Governments are urged to avoid
infringing the right of freedom of movement and residence within
States, to promote more equitable regional development, to locate
services and industry so as to promote interpersonal equity as well
as efficiency, to promote networks of small and medium-sized
cities, and to improve economic and social conditions in rural
areas through balanced agricultural development. In addition, the
Plan recommends that migrants should be provided with information
on economic and social conditions in urban areas, that employment
creation, systems of land tenure and the provision of basic
services should be improved in rural areas and that Governments
should share experiences relevant to their policies. The area of
population distribution and internal migration is still one of
great concern to many Governments. The following recommendations
indicate the means for the further implementation of the Plan of
Action.
Recommendation 36
Population distribution policies must be consistent with such
international instruments as the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949), wherein
article 49 prohibits individual or mass forcible transfers from an
occupied territory and forbids the occupier from transferring parts
of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
Furthermore, the establishment of settlements in territories
occupied by force is illegal and condemned by the international
community.
Recommendation 37
Governments are urged to base policies aimed at influencing
population distribution on a comprehensive evaluation of costs and
benefits to individuals, families, different socio-economic groups,
communities, regions and the country as a whole. Population
distribution goals (e.g., target growth rates for primate cities or
rural population retention goals) should be pursued to the extent
that they help to achieve broader societal goals, such as raising
per capita incomes, increasing efficiency, making the distribution
of income more equitable, protecting the environment and improving
the quality of life. In so doing, Governments should ensure
that the rights of indigenous and other groups are recognized.
Recommendation 38
Governments are urged, in formulating population distribution
policies, to take into account the policy implications of various
forms of population mobility (e.g., circular, seasonal,
rural-rural, and urban-urban, as well as rural-urban), to consider
the direction, duration and characteristics of these movements and
the interrelationships between territorial mobility and levels and
characteristics of fertility and mortality.
Recommendation 39
Governments are urged to review their socio-economic policies
in order to minimize any adverse spatial consequences, as well as
to improve the integration of population factors in territorial and
sectoral planning, particularly in the sectors concerned with human
settlements.
Recommendation 40
Governments wishing to minimize undesired migration should
implement population distribution policies through incentives,
rather than migration controls, which are difficult to enforce and
may infringe human rights.
Recommendation 41
Governments which have adopted, or intend to adopt, a
comprehensive urbanization policy, should seek to integrate such
policies into the overall development planning process, with the
aim of achieving, inter alia, a reduction in current high migration
to capital cities and other large urban centres, the development of
medium-sized towns and a reduction of rural-urban and regional
inequalities. Developed countries and the international community
should extend the necessary assistance to the efforts of developing
countries in this direction.
Recommendation 42
Governments should support programmes of assistance,
information and community action in support of internal migrants
and should consider establishing networks of labour exchanges that
could allow potential migrants to have adequate information about
social conditions and about the availability of employment in
receiving areas.
Recommendation 43
Rural development programmes should be primarily directed
towards increasing rural production and efficiency, raising rural
incomes and improving social conditions and rural welfare,
particularly for small peasant producers and rural women.
Governments should therefore improve the accessibility of basic
social services and amenities to scattered populations, regularize
land ownership, facilitate access to credit, new technology and
other needed inputs, and adopt pricing policies geared to the needs
of smallholders. Appropriate measures must be taken to carry out
agrarian reform as one of the important factors which increase
agricultural production and promote the development of rural areas.
Recommendation 44
Governments should adopt effective policies to assist women
migrants, especially those who are agricultural workers, as well as
women, children and the elderly left behind unsupported in rural
areas. Governments are also urged to pay special attention to the
difficulties of adaptation encountered in urban areas by migrant
women of rural origin and to take appropriate measures to overcome
these difficulties.
5. International migration
(a) General guidelines for formulating international migration
policies
28. The general validity of the recommendations
made in the World Population Plan of Action with respect to
international movements is reaffirmed (paragraphs 51-62). However,
recent developments regarding the trends of international migration
flows demand greater attention from the international community,
especially with regard to certain types of migrants, such as
documented migrant workers, undocumented migrant workers and
refugees. The guidelines set out below give due consideration to
the basic fact that international migration is of concern to both
the receiving countries and the countries of origin, particularly
when the migration of skilled persons is involved. They reflect the
bearing that international migration may have on the process of
establishing a New International Economic Order and recognize that
the effective safeguarding of the basic human rights and
fundamental freedoms of all migrants, without discrimination on the
basis of race, culture, religion or sex, is an essential
prerequisite for the realization of their positive contributions to
the host society.
Recommendation 45
International migration policies should respect the basic
human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals as set out in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, x/ the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights y/ and other pertinent
international instruments. In keeping with these documents,
receiving countries should adopt measures to safeguard the basic
human rights of all migrants in their territory and to ensure the
respect of their cultural identity. Measures should also be taken
to promote the mutual adaptation of both immigrant groups and the
population of the receiving country.
Recommendation 46
In formulating policies on international migration,
Governments of receiving countries should take into account not
only their own country's economic and social needs but also the
well-being of the migrants concerned and their families and the
demographic implications of migration. Governments of countries of
origin concerned with the continuing outflow of skilled workers and
professionals should seek to retain those workers as well as
encourage their return through, inter alia, the promotion of an
economic environment favourable to the expansion of employment
opportunities. To redress the existing imbalance of skills,
Governments should try to identify alternative skill resources.
Governments should formulate national and international measures to
avoid the brain-drain from developing countries and to obviate its
adverse effects. While pursuing these purposes in a manner
consistent with respect for human rights, Governments are invited
to conduct, inter alia, consultations or negotiations, on either a
bilateral or a multilateral basis, with the support, upon request,
of competent international organizations.
Recommendation 47
High priority should be placed on the rehabilitation of
expelled and homeless people who have been displaced by natural and
man-made catastrophes. In all cases, Governments are urged to
co-operate fully in order to guarantee that the parties involved
allow the return of displaced persons to their homes and ensure
their right to possess and enjoy their properties and belongings
without interference.
(b) Documented migrant workers
29. The World Population Plan of Action calls for the proper
treatment of migrant workers and their families (paragraphs 55 and
56) whose migration has been promoted by countries facing labour
shortages and who are referred to hereafter as "documented migrant
workers". The Plan also addresses the concerns of countries of
origin (paragraph 54) and suggests concerted action at the
bilateral and multilateral levels (paragraphs 54 and 62). In 1979,
recognizing that, despite the efforts made by the States involved,
documented migrant workers were still not able to exercise their
rights as defined by the relevant international instruments, the
General Assembly called for the elaboration of an international
convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers
and their families (resolution 34/172 of 17 December 1979). Many of
the following recommendations reflect the contents of the draft of
this convention. z/ It is hoped that upon adoption of the
convention, it may serve as a guideline for the treatment of
migrant workers and their families.
Recommendation 48
Governments of receiving countries should work towards
extending to documented migrant workers and accompanying members of
their families whose situation as regards stay and employment in
the receiving country is regular, treatment equal to that accorded
their own nationals with regard to the enjoyment of basic rights,
including the equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of
working conditions, social security, participation in trade unions
and access to health, education and other social services. In
achieving this aim, Governments are invited to use as guidelines
all relevant international instruments, in particular, the ILO
Convention concerning Migration for Employment (Revised) 1949 (No.
97) and the ILO Convention concerning Migrations in Abusive
Conditions and the Promotion of Equality of Opportunity and
Treatment of Migrant Workers, 1975 (No. 143), part II. aa/
Recommendation 49
Governments of receiving countries that have not already done
so are urged to consider adopting appropriate measures to promote
the normalization of the family life of documented migrant workers
in the receiving country concerned through family reunion.
Demographic and other considerations should not prevent Governments
from taking such measures.
Recommendation 50
Countries of origin and receiving countries should undertake
information and education activities to increase the awareness of
migrants regarding their legal position and rights and to provide
realistic assessments of the situation of migrants, including the
availability of job opportunities. Receiving countries should
recognise the right of migrants to form associations so that they
may participate more effectively in the receiving society while
maintaining their cultural identity.
Recommendation 51
Governments of countries of origin and of receiving countries
should encourage and promote the widest dissemination, inter alia,
through the mass media, of information aimed at promoting public
understanding of and preventing any activity prejudicial to the
contribution of documented migrant workers to economic development
and cultural interchange.
(c) Undocumented migrants
30. The World Population Plan of Action recommends that
Governments bear in mind humanitarian considerations in the
treatment of undocumented migrants (paragraph 56). Owing to the
irregularity of their situation, undocumented migrants are
particularly vulnerable to exploitation and mistreatment. It is
therefore urgent that their basic human rights and fundamental
freedoms be universally recognized and that they enjoy
international protection as well as the protection of receiving
countries within the framework of bilateral conventions. The widest
recognition of the rights of all migrant workers and the effective
safeguarding of these rights will tend to discourage exploitation
of undocumented migrants, particularly exploitation in the sphere
of employment, by employers who wish to reap the benefits of unfair
competition. bb/
Recommendation 52
All measures adopted or implemented by countries of departure
and of arrival to reduce the illegal entry, stay or employment of
undocumented migrants (including amnesties, other regularization
schemes, border controls and deportations) should respect their
basic human rights.
Recommendation 53
In formulating laws and regulations to limit undocumented
migration, Governments of receiving countries are invited to
consider the guidelines set forth in the ILO Convention concerning
Migrations in Abusive Conditions and the Promotion of Equality of
Opportunity and Treatment of Migrant Workers, 1975 (No. 143), part
I. cc/ To be effective, such laws and regulations should address
the treatment not only of the undocumented migrants themselves but
also of those persons inducing or facilitating undocumented
migration.
(d) Refugees
31. The World Population Plan of Action addresses the
problems of refugees (paragraph 53). Since its adoption in 1974,
refugees have been a source of growing concern to the international
community because of their increasing numbers, the fact that a
large proportion of them are from the vulnerable groups - women,
children and the aged - and particularly because most refugees
originate and relocate in developing countries, which have had to
cope with the added economic and social burdens imposed on them.
This concern has resulted in programmes by developing countries, as
well as by third countries of resettlement, generally developed
countries, to alleviate the dislocations associated with the influx
of refugees. There seems to be broad agreement that through
international co-operation within the framework of the United
Nations an attempt should be made to remove the causes of new flows
of refugees, having due regard to the principle of non-intervention
in the internal affairs of sovereign States. In view of the
existing situation, the recommendations set out below emphasize the
need for continued international co-operation in finding durable
solutions to the problem of refugees and for the provision of
support and assistance to countries of first asylum.
Recommendation 54
States that have not already done so are invited to consider
acceding to the international instruments concerning refugees, in
particular to the 1951 Convention dd/ and the 1967 Protocol ee/
relating to the Status of Refugees.
Recommendation 55
Governments and international agencies are urged to find
durable solutions to problems related to refugees and refugee
movements and to work towards the elimination of the causes of
these problems. Governments, international organizations and
non-governmental organizations are urged to continue to promote the
protection of refugees and to provide support and assistance to
first asylum countries in satisfying the basic needs of refugees.
Efforts towards the creation of conditions in which voluntary
repatriation may take place should be pursued and assistance should
be provided in rehabilitating returnees. The basic freedoms and
human rights of returnees and their families should be guaranteed
and assistance should be provided in developing opportunities for
a return to a normal and productive way of living. In situations
where neither voluntary repatriation nor resettlement in third
countries appears to be feasible, Governments, international
organizations and non-governmental organizations are urged to
provide support and assistance to the countries of first asylum in
developing the capacity of the national economic and social
infrastructure to sustain and, subject to the full approval of the
host countries, to integrate refugees.
6. Population structure
32. The World Population Plan of Action (paragraphs 63-67)
takes particular note of changing population age structures
resulting from sustained demographic change, and of the effect of
such changes on socio-economic development and on family and
household structures. Closely linked issues such as employment for
rapidly expanding working age groups, shifts from agricultural to
non-agricultural occupations and health needs of particular age and
sex groups are dealt with elsewhere in these recommendations. In
countries where fertility levels are high, the large absolute and
relative number of children and youth is a continuing burden for
social and economic development, including educational development.
On the other hand, the aging of the population has become an
important issue in developed countries, and an emerging one in
those developing countries which experienced declines in fertility
in the recent past. The rising proportion of the aged in these
populations is imposing an economic burden with respect to national
expenditures for social security and social services. It is noted,
however, that the aged can make significant contributions to
society. The following recommendations note the above and contain
proposals to foster the growth and value of all age and sex groups
in the community.
Recommendation 56
Governments and the international community should continue
to bear in mind the considerations that led to the designation of
the International Year of the Child, as well as the recommendations
of the World Population Plan of Action with respect to age
distribution, giving due attention to the full range of the needs
of children.
Recommendation 57
Governments, specialized agencies of the United Nations
system and other concerned intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations are invited to intensify their efforts in the
execution of specific programmes related to youth, duly taking into
account the situation, the needs, the specific aspirations of youth
and the Specific Programme of Measures and Activities to be
undertaken before and during the International Youth Year endorsed
by the General Assembly. ff/
Recommendation 58
Governments are urged to reaffirm their commitment to the
implementation of the International Plan of Action on Aging. w/ In
this context, further efforts should be made to analyse the issue
of aging, particularly its implications for overall development,
social services, medical care and other related fields, and on the
basis of such data Governments are urged to take appropriate
measures to secure the welfare and safety of older people, paying
particular attention to the situation and the needs of older women.
Governments and international agencies should increase their
efforts and activities with a view to improving care for the aged
within the family unit. Moreover, Governments should view the aging
sector of the population not merely as a dependent group, but in
terms of the active contribution that older persons have already
made and can still make to the economic, social and cultural life
of their families and community.
Recommendation 59
In planning for economic and social development, Governments
should give appropriate consideration to shifts in family and
household structures and their implications for requirements in
different policy fields.
E. PROMOTION OF KNOWLEDGE AND POLICY
1. Data collection and analysis
33. The recommendations of the World Population Plan of
Action regarding data collection and analysis (paragraphs 72-77)
continue to be both valid and urgent and thus every effort should
be made for their full implementation. The collection and analysis
of population and related statistics is an indispensable basis for
a full and accurate understanding of population trends and
prospects for formulating population and development plans and
programmes and for monitoring effectively the implementation of
these plans and programmes. During the past decade considerable
progress has been achieved in the field of data collection and
analysis. For example, nearly all countries have carried out a
population census; well-designed fertility and other surveys were
carried out in many developed and developing countries; efforts
aimed at improving continuing national survey-taking capabilities
were initiated in a number of developing countries; and major
advances were made in the development of methods for use in the
analysis of incomplete data. However, a number of critical gaps in
official statistics remain, including those related to the
classification of data for urban agglomerations. In view of these
developments and future requirements, priority attention should be
given to the following recommendations.
Recommendation 60
Governments are urged to develop durable capabilities for
data collection, processing and analysis, including needed computer
facilities, to provide reliable and timely information in support
of population and other development programmes. They are also urged
to accord priority to the development of national and regional
population information systems. Required assistance should be
provided to developing countries by the international community to
develop these activities.
Recommendation 61
Governments are urged to monitor population trends and to
assess future demographic prospects and their implications on a
regular basis. Inasmuch as population projections provide basic
tools for economic and social development planning, efforts should
be made to prepare statistics relevant for this purpose.
Co-ordination and co-operation in this work within and between
countries should be promoted.
Recommendation 62
Governments are urged to ensure that population and related
data are tabulated and published separately by sex, as well as data
concerning other demographic, social and economic variables, so
that the situation of women is rendered clearly and in order to
measure the impact on women of changes that will ensue from the
implementation of the World Population Plan of Action.
Recommendation 63
Governments are encouraged to tabulate and publish data about
minority groups to assist in assessing the impact of the World
Population Plan of Action on such groups. Recommendation 64
Because migration is the least developed area of current
demographic statistics, Governments may consider undertaking a
comprehensive programme of migration statistics, in line with
national priorities, focusing on such areas of concern as (1)
internal migration, (2) urbanization and (3) international
migration. It is also recommended that migration should be studied
in the context of the family. To this end, Governments should
consider ways of strengthening their national population censuses,
sample surveys or administrative record systems in order to obtain
needed migration data and estimates. Countries of origin and of
destination are urged to exchange such pertinent statistical data,
through the relevant United Nations authorities and other competent
international organizations, where appropriate.
Recommendation 65
All countries are requested to participate in the 1990 World
Population and Housing Census Programme and endeavour to improve
further their censuses, giving particular attention to the timely
publication of census results in order to assist, inter alia, in
the evaluation of population and development trends at all levels.
Required assistance in support of these activities should be
provided to developing countries by the international community.
Recommendation 66
Governments, in collaboration with appropriate international
organizations, are urged to establish or strengthen national sample
survey programmes that can provide, in conjunction with data from
other sources, a continuous flow of integrated statistics in
support of population and other development programmes, and to
build enduring capabilities for conducting surveys. It is
recommended, in particular, that surveys should be carried out
periodically on fertility, family planning health of mothers and
children, mortality and migration and that technical assistance for
this purpose should be made available from international sources.
Recommendation 67
Governments are urged, in the collection, analysis and
dissemination of statistical data, and in the context of national
laws and practices, to ensure that confidentiality and the privacy
of the individual are safeguarded.
Recommendation 68
Governments are urged to collect, compile and publish on a
timely basis the full range of vital statistics, as well as other
demographic and related social and economic statistics needed to
plan and evaluate population and health programmes, including
family planning programmes. To this end, Governments should
establish or strengthen civil registration systems and make use of
well-designed sample surveys, special studies and available
administrative reporting systems, such as population registers.
2. Research
34. The World Population Plan of Action (paragraphs 78-80)
gives great emphasis to research activities relating to population
and identifies a list of research priorities related to the
theoretical, operational and policy-oriented aspects of population
analyses. Throughout the course of the review and appraisal of the
World Population Plan of Action, in each of the expert group
meetings convened as part of the preparations for the International
Conference on Population, 1984, as well as in all other review
activities, the continuing need for research both to fill gaps in
knowledge and to support programmatic activity was made evident.
Increased research efforts together with the necessary
institutional and financial support are made necessary by changes
in the social and economic contexts within which population
policies are formulated and implemented. Similarly, changes in
population policies and in demographic conditions themselves and
new research findings, including those concerning contraceptive
technology, call for an expansion of research activities.
Recommendation 69
Governments and funding agencies are urged to allocate
increased resources for research in human reproduction and
fertility regulation, including biomedical research, in order to
improve the safety and efficacy of existing family planning
methods, to develop new methods (including those for males), to
develop better methods of recognizing the female fertile period and
to address problems of infertility and subfecundity, including
those caused by environmental pollution. Such research should be
sensitive to the varying acceptability of specific methods in
different cultures. Other important aspects requiring increased
research efforts and support include epidemiological research on
the short- and long-term adverse and beneficial medical effects of
fertility-regulating agents. Modernization and updating of the
official requirements for the preclinical and clinical assessment
of new fertility regulating agents and a strengthening of the
research capabilities of developing countries in these areas are
also urgently needed.
Recommendation 70
Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations should give priority to service and operational
research, including (a) acceptability of programmes and methods;
(b) programme design and implementation; (c) management of
programmes, including training of personnel, monitoring, logistics
and impact evaluation; and (d) effectiveness of programmes,
including information on planning the number of children. To
increase the acceptance and to improve the design of family
planning service programmes, priority should be given to social
research into the determinants and consequences of fertility.
However, substantive priorities should continue to reflect the
needs of countries. The allocation of research tasks should be
pragmatically divided among institutions that operate at the
national, regional or global levels, in order to make the best
possible use of available resources.
Recommendation 71
Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations should provide required assistance for the
development and continued effectiveness of research capabilities,
especially at the country level, as well as at the regional and
global levels. Arrangements to facilitate the exchange of research
findings within and between regions should also be further
strengthened. Results of such research should be used in the
implementation of action programmes, which in turn should have
adequate built-in evaluation procedures.
Recommendation 72
In setting population research goals, Governments and
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations should
endeavour to make them relevant to policies and programmes, with
the objective of making innovations in policy formulation,
implementation and evaluation. Special emphasis should be given to
research on the integration of population processes with
socio-economic development, considering not only applied but also
theoretical and methodological topics.
3. Management, training, information, education and
communication
35. The World Population Plan of Action contains a series of
recommendations on management, training, information, education and
communication in the field of population (paragraphs 81-93). Since
its adoption, the need for the further development of management in
all fields related to population has been acknowledged, both
nationally and regionally, in order to enhance the effectiveness of
population programmes. In view of the importance of considering the
changing demographic situations as well as the interrelationships
between population and development in the formulation of population
policies and measures, training programmes in population and
population-related studies need to be further strengthened. There
is also a growing awareness of the supportive roles in population
policies and programmes of dissemination of population information
and of population education at national, regional and global
levels. The following recommendations relate to these
activities.
Recommendation 73
Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations should increase their support to the management of
population programmes. They should also expand training programmes
in population fields, particularly in the areas of demography,
population studies, survey research, management, family life, sex
education, maternal and child health, family planning and
reproductive physiology. Such efforts should focus on
action-oriented training, reflecting the milieu of the area,
country or region concerned. Local-level training should be
supplemented by programmes of technical co-operation among the
developing countries and between the developed and the developing
countries, so that they can learn from each other's experience.
Development and expansion of national and regional population
training institutes and facilities should be encouraged and
strengthened. Special attention should also be given to the need to
train those who will be involved in training activities. In order
to ensure increased participation of women in the design,
management, implementation and evaluation of population programmes,
special attention should be given to the need to include women in
all training activities.
Recommendation 74
Governments, with the assistance, as appropriate, of
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, should
continue to explore innovative methods for spreading awareness of
demographic factors and for fostering the active involvement and
participation of the public in population policies and programmes
and to intensify training of national personnel who are engaged in
information, education and communication activities (including the
management and planning of those activities), in developing
integrated communication activities and education strategies,
utilizing mass media and community-level and interpersonal
communication techniques.
Recommendation 75
Governments are invited to develop an adequate corps of
trained persons for the effective formulation and implementation of
integrated population and development policies, plans and
programmes at all levels. In this regard, increased efforts should
be made by Governments and training institutions, both at national
and international levels, to further facilitate the integration of
population studies into training curricula for policy-makers and
executives who plan and implement development programmes.
Recommendation 76
Governments and intergovernmental organizations are urged to
make more effective use of available population data and, for this
purpose, to promote forums for assessing the priorities in the
population fields, based on the results of population data and
studies, and for considering their reorientation, as necessary;
moreover, national and international support should be increased
with a view to improving the dissemination and exchange of
information at the national levels.
IV. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION
A. Role of national Governments
36. The World Population Plan of Action underscores the
primary role of national Governments in the formulation,
implementation and achievement of the principles and objectives of
the Plan (paragraphs 96-99). The experience of the last decade has
demonstrated the variety of policy approaches that can be effective
when designed and implemented by Governments with due regard for
the particular political, social, cultural, religious and economic
conditions of their countries. However, many factors, including the
lack of definite commitment, inadequate resources, ineffective
co-ordination and implementation and insufficient data, have
limited the effectiveness of Governments in the implementation of
their national population policies. The following recommendations
emphasize specific means whereby Governments can enhance the
effectiveness of population policies within the context of the
guidelines articulated in the Plan of Action.
Recommendation 77
Governments are urged to attach high priority to the
attainment of self-reliance in the management of their population
programmes. To this end, Government
are invited:
(a) To establish monitoring and evaluation systems and
procedures as an important managerial tool for policy-making and
programming;
(b) To strengthen the administrative and managerial
capability needed for the effective implementation of population
programmes;
(c) To ensure that international assistance is provided under
arrangements and on conditions that are adapted to the
administrative resources of the recipient country, and that such
assistance is co-ordinated at the national level in a manner
that will facilitate effective and efficient programmes;
(d) To involve communities more actively in the planning and
implementation of population programmes.
Recommendation 78
Governments are encouraged to continue to utilize technical
co-operation among developing countries; subregional, regional and
interregional co-operation should be encouraged.
B. Role of international co-operation
37. The World Population Plan of Action outlines the
supportive role of the international community in providing
technical and financial assistance to achieve the goals of the Plan
(paragraphs 100-106). Since the Bucharest Conference, international
co-operation activities of multilateral and bilateral agencies and
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations have achieved
a number of notable successes in attaining these goals. Technical
assistance among developing countries has also become increasingly
effective. As noted in the Review and Appraisal of the World
Population Plan of Action (E/CONF.76/4) the needs of developing
countries for assistance in population have increased dramatically.
Although the resources available have more than doubled in nomina
terms, this increase has not been sufficient either to keep pace
with the demand or to compensate for erosion due to inflation. The
developing countries themselves are allocating increasing shares of
development expenditure for population programmes. The need for
assistance for population programmes as for all development
programmes continues to grow. The recommendations in this section
encourage further assistance for development and population, both
to enlarge programmes where effective use of resources has been
demonstrated and to initiate new activities.
Recommendation 79
The international community should play an important role in
the further implementation of the World Population Plan of Action.
For this purpose, among other things, adequate and substantial
international measures of support and assistance should be provided
by developed countries, other donor countries and intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations.
Recommendation 80
Organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system
and donor countries which play an important role in supporting
population programmes, as well as other international, regional and
subregional organizations, are urged to assist Governments at their
request in implementating these recommendations. Of no less
importance will be the review of existing criteria for setting
co-operation priorities, bearing in mind considerations of regional
equity and the proper balance between the various phenomena in the
field of international co-operation.
Recommendation 81
The international community should give particular emphasis
to:
(a) Initiation and expansion of research and action
programmes;
(b) Institutionalization of the integration of population
planning in the
development process;
(c) Improving the status and strengthening the role of women
and providing appropriate financial and technical support for this
purpose in population programmes;
(d) Biomedical and social science research;
(e) Collection and analysis of needed data;
(f) Identification of successful programmes, ascertaining
those factors accounting for their success and disseminating such
information to those developing countries which initiate
programmes;
(g) Implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems in
order to ascertain the effectiveness and impact of programmes and
their continued responsiveness to community needs;
(h) Promotion of exchanges between countries with common
experiences;
(i) Education and training in population matters.
Recommendation 82
Governments are urged to increase the level of their
assistance for population activities in the light of continuing
needs in the field and the increasing commitment of developing
countries, with a view to reaching the goals set for this purpose
in the International Development Strategy for the Third United
Nations Development Decade. In this context Governments of
developed countries and other donor countries are urged to allocate
increased contributions for population and population-related
programmes in accordance with national goals and priorities of
recipient countries. This increase should not be detrimental to the
levels of economic development assistance in other areas.
Recommendation 83
In view of the leading role of the United Nations Fund for
Population Activities in population matters, the Conference urges
that the Fund should be strengthened further, so as to ensure the
more effective delivery of population assistance, taking into
account the growing needs in this field. The Secretary-General of
the United Nations is invited to examine this recommendation, and
submit a report to the General Assembly on its implementation as
soon as possible but not later than 1986.
Recommendation 84
National non-governmental organizations are invited to
continue, in accordance with national policies and laws, their
pioneering work in opening up new paths and to respond quickly and
flexibly to requests from Governments, intergovernmental and
international non-governmental organizations, as appropriate, for
the further implementation of the World Population Plan of Action.
Governments are urged, as appropriate, within the framework of
national objectives, to encourage the innovative activities of
non-governmental organizations and to draw upon their expertise,
experience and resources in implementing national programmes.
Donors are invited to increase their financial support to
non-governmental organizations.
Recommendation 85
Members of parliament, the scientific community, the mass
media, and others in influential positions are invited, in their
respective areas of competence, to create an awareness of
population and development issues and to support appropriate ways
of dealing with these issues.
Recommendation 86
Policy makers, parliamentarians, and other persons in public
life are encouraged to continue to promote and support actions to
achieve an effective and integrated approach to the solution of
population and development problems by arousing public awareness
and working towards the implementation of national population
policies and programmes. The United Nations Fund for Population
Activities and the other international organizations concerned are
invited to continue providing support for such actions.
Recommendation 87
The General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the
Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme and
legislative and policy-making bodies of the specialized agencies
and other intergovernmental organizations are urged to examine and
support the recommendations for the further implementation of the
World Population Plan of Action and to include population questions
among their major priorities.
C. Monitoring, review and appraisal
Recommendation 88
The monitoring of population trends and policies and review
and appraisal of the World Population Plan of Action should
continue to be undertaken by the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, as specified in the Plan. The monitoring of multilateral
population programmes of the United Nations system aimed at the
further implementation of the World Population Plan of Action
should be undertaken by the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, through appropriate arrangements. The next comprehensive
and thorough review and appraisal of progress made towards
achieving the goals and recommendations of the World Population
Plan of Action will be undertaken in 1989.
Notes
a/ See Report of the United Nations World Population
Conference, 1974, Bucharest, 19-30 August 1974 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.75.XIII.3), chap. 1)
b/ General Assembly resolution 1386 (XIV).
c/ Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment, Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972, (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.73.II.A.14 and corrigendum), chaps. I and
II.
d/ See Official Records of the General Assembly,
Thirty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 25 (A/37/25), part one,
annex 1.
e/ Report of the World Food Conference, Rome, 5-16 November
1974 (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.75.II.A.3), chap. I.
f/ Report of the World Conference of the International
Women's Year, Mexico City, 19 June-2 July 1975 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.76.IV.l), chap. II, sect. A.
g/ Report of the World Conference of the United Nations
Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, Copenhagen,
14-30 July 1980 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.80.IV.3
and corrigendum), chap. I, sect.
A.
h/ See A/10112, chap. IV.
i/ See Meeting Basic Needs: Strategies for Eradicating Mass
Poverty and Unemployment (Geneva, International Labour Office,
1977).
j/ Report of Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements, Vancouver, 31 May-11 June 1976 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.76.IV.7 and corrigendum), chap. I.
k/ Report of the United Nations Conference on
Desertification, Nairobi, 29 August-9 September 1977
(A/CONF.74/36), chap. I.
l/ Report of the United Nations Water Conference, Mar del
Plata, 14-25 March 1977 (United Nations publication, Sales No.
E.77.II.A.12), chap. I.
m/ See Primary Health Care: Report of the International
Conference on Primary Health Care, Alma-Ata, USSR, 6-12 September
1978 (Geneva, World Health Organization, 1978).
n/ Report of the World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial
Discrimination, Geneva, 14-25 August 1978 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.79.XIV.2), chap.
II.
o/ General Assembly resolution 34/24, annex.
p/ Report of the Second World Conference to Combat Racism and
Racial Discrimination, Geneva, 1-12 August 1983 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.83.XIV.4 and corrigendum), chap. II.
q/ Report of the United Nations Conference on Technical
Co-operation among Developing Countries, Buenos Aires, 30 August-12
September 1978 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.78.II.A.11
and corrigendum), chap. I.
r/ Report of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and
Rural Development, Rome, 12-20 July 1979 (WCARRD/REP) (Rome, Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1979), part
one.
s/ Report of the United Nations Conference on Science and
Technology for Development, Vienna, 20-31 August 1979 (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.79.I.21 and corrigenda), chap.
VII.
t/ Global Strategy for Health for All by the Year 2000,
"Health for All" Series, No. 3 and corrigenda (Geneva, World Health
Organization, 1981).
u/ Report of the United Nations Conference on New and
Renewable Sources of Energy, Nairobi, 10-21 August 1981 (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.81.I.24), chap. I, sect. A.
v/ Report of the United Nations Conference on the Least
Developed Countries, Paris, 1-14 September 1981 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.82.I.8), part one, sect. A.
w/ Report of the World Assembly on Aging, Vienna, 26 July-6
August 1982 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.82.I.16),
chap. VI, sect. A.
x/ General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).
y/ General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
z/ See A/C.3/38/WG.l/CRP.2/Rev.l; for the deliberations of
the Working Group on the drafting of an international Convention on
the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their
Families, see A/C.3/35/13, A/36/378, A/36/383, A/C.3/36/10,
A/C.3/37/1, A/C.3/37/7 and Corr.l and 2, A/C.3/38/1 and A/C.3/38/5.
aa/ See International Labour Conventions and
Recommendations, 1919-1981 (Geneva, International Labour Office.
1982).
bb/ See, in this connection, the draft Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families
(A/C.3/38/WG.l/CRP.2/Rev.l), preambular paragraph 18 and proposed
preambular paragraph 19, and the report of the Working Group on its
meetings during the thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly
(A/C.3/36/10), para. 25.
cc/ See International Labour Conventions and
Recommendations, 1919-1981 (Geneva, International Labour Office,
1982).
dd/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, No. 2545, p.
137.
ee/ Ibid., vol. 606, No. 8791, p. 267.
ff/ General Assembly resolution 36/28.