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) |
|
************************************************************************
The electronic preparation of this document has been done by the
Population Information Network(POPIN) of the United Nations Population
Division in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme
************************************************************************
AS WRITTEN
INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION
PLACE DU PETIT-SACONNEX
1211 GENEVE 19 (SWITZERLAND)
TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS-INTERPARLEMENT-GENEVE-TELEX 289 784 IPU CH
TELEPHONE (022) 734 41 50 - TELEFAX (022) 733 31 41
MESSAGE OF THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION
TO THE CAIRO CONFERENCE
Over a period of many years the Inter-Parliamentary Union has
taken a particular interest in population issues and has always dealt
with them not as a sector-based problem but as an aspect of development.
The Union thus regards the International Conference on Population and
Development as a major event. and has decided to give it its full
support
Consequently, it has encouraged Parliaments to take an active part
in the preparatory work and discussions, and to ensure a strong
parliamentary presence at the Conference itself. Furthermore, it has
decided to make its own contribution in the form of a document
reflecting the state of its thinking and the consensus positions reached
on population issues.
The Message of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to the Cairo
Conference, which is based on the texts adopted at the Union's statutory
and specialized meetings in past years, sets out the organization's
basic views and a number of its recommendations. It covers only those
issues on which there is as yet little or no intergovernmental
consensus, and does not contain those recommendations already included
in the preparatory document for the Cairo Conference.
THE UNION'S THINKING ON POPULATION ISSUES
The Inter-Parliamentary Union first discussed population issues as
long ago as 1896, when it sought a solution to the problems of
immigrants and foreigners. In 1924, it set up a Social and Economic
Committee to study the different aspects of demographic change and its
impact on the development of societies.
Three main principles underpin the Union's thinking and action
with regard to population:
- Respect for the rights of the individual;
- Recognition of national sovereignty,
- Equality between peoples, between the sexes and between
generations.
The Union's position is based on a century of sometimes intense
parliamentary study and discussion at twenty-five statutory conferences
and at two specialized conferences dealing with population issues.
Since demographic change and its implications raise questions
relating to many different spheres of activity, the solution of the
problems involved requires an integrated approach. It is the Union's
opinion that only favourable social conditions, political independence,
a pluralistic democracy and economic progress, which transmit individual
values and bring about social change, can solve the problems caused by
demographic imbalances.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE WORLDWIDE
PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNITY
THE ROLE OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The globalization of production and trade has led to radically new
scenarios. Major economic operations are carried out in conditions that
are far from equitable and thus affect the population, particularly in
the developing countries. Ever since 1966 the Union has affirmed the
legitimacy of population policies and has maintained that as far as
development is concerned, they are no less important than increased
material wealth. Poverty is now universally recognized as a major cause
of political instability within and between countries.
International relations
There is an urgent need to develop greater transparency in
economic transactions so that the implications for developing countries
in their pursuit of economic growth and social welfare can be better
gauged
Economic efficiency can be sustained only by establishing
democratic structures, improving social and economic justice and
ensuring respect for human rights.
Sustainable development
To achieve sustainable development, development must be viewed
from a different perspective - that of human development, which gives
priority to combating poverty.
The solution of the problems of rapid population growth, high
mortality and morbidity, illiteracy, environmental degradation, hunger
and food security is closely linked with the eradication of poverty.
The eradication of poverty is the shared responsibility of all
countries. Each State must therefore develop its own plan to combat all
forms of poverty and support human development
As appropriate, such plans must include basic health care,
education, housing, cross-sectoral policies and special measures to
assist vulnerable groups and populations living in ecologically
vulnerable areas.
The objectives of the health sector must be associated with those
of the other sectors so that common goals may be identified.
Sustainable development requires that economic growth be pursued
without endangering the natural environment
Human impact on nature depends both on the number of people and
how much energy and resources each person uses or wastes.
The adoption of sound land-use planning measures should ensure
that pressure resulting from the activities and way of life of a
population that is too dense and/or is growing too rapidly does not
destroy resources.
Employment
Increased production no longer automatically means more jobs. The
developing countries and the developed countries alike must urgently
review their economic and social policies so as to give priority to job
creation, since that is the best method of enabling more people to
enjoy the benefits of growth.
WOMEN AT THE CORE OF THE STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Since the Bucharest Conference in 1974 the Union has emphasized
the links between development, the status of women and family planning.
Because of the external factors affecting the status of women,
development problems cannot be solved unless women participate in all
areas of social, economic and political life on an equal footing with
men.
Models
Without destabilizing cultures or imposing values foreign to the
national culture, it is important to enhance or re-enhance women's
dignity and to allow the emergence of a more balanced image of the
capacity of men and women to participate in the management of private
and public affairs.
The two complementary concepts of parity and partnership should be
developed in order to disseminate the idea that women and men are
different but nonetheless equal, and that a creative synergy can help
them effectively tackle their own problems and those of the community.
The images and models transmitted through education, the media and
advertising messages should be changed so as to eliminate any
suggestion that one sex is superior to the other.
The role of women in the home must be recognized and enhanced,
particularly through the institution of a method to remunerate the work
they perform there
The economic value of domestic work must be recognized and
considered as part of the gross national product.
Education
Education and training must be broad-based and launched as a
system of lifelong learning so as to strike a new balance
between practical and academic skills.
Campaigns must be organized to overcome the prejudices of
parents and to encourage families to send their daughters to
school. In that connection, special provisions and benefits in
the form of grants or allowances should overcome such material
obstacles as may be encountered by parents.
Educational material must be the same for both sexes and must
not give or suggest an image of men's superiority over women.
Health and family planning
Health must be considered as a fundamental right and an
objective in itself. Family planning is a fundamental right of
women.
Family planning and sex education must be integrated into
health services so that terminations of pregnancy are resorted
to only in exceptional cases and, if possible, only under proper
medical conditions.
It is important to change attitudes, reform stuctures and
mobilize suffficient resources to improve health and family
planning services so as to reduce the high population growth
affecting the health of mothers and children.
Legislation
The principle of equality between men and women must be explicitly
spelt out in basic legislation. It must be recognized in the
Constitution or in any other basic text of constitutional rank
A special law must define the various practical applications of
the principle of equality and create a mechanism to ensure respect for
it.
Customary law must be harmonized with positive law wherever it
tends to disadvantage women.
Men and women must receive suffficient information on their
rights and responsibilities.
National legislation and health programmes must ensure respect
for women's rights with regard to procreation, particularly their right
to be informed about family planning methods and to have safe methods of
contraception.
In the same spirit, national legislation must guarantee the moral
and physical integrity of women through stringent legislation that
punishes conjugal violence and physical mutilation of women.
Girls and boys must be subject to the same obligatory period of
school attendance so as to facilitate access to schooling for girls
under legal conditions identical to those for boys.
Measures must be taken to promote the access of women to
professional training and employment on equal terms with men.
Measures must be taken to give equally qualified men and women
equal opportunities to belong to decision-making bodies at the local,
provincial and national levels.
The participation of a proportion of women in government must be
established as one of the rules of democracy. All governments must thus
include a proportion of women.
A parliamentary committee composed of men and women whose
specific terms of reference are to deal with issues relating to the
status of women must make a significant contribution to the
implementation of the principle of equality in all national legislation.
THE PROTECTION AND INTEGRATION OF THE ELDERLY
Since 1984 the Union has been studying the impact of changes in
the demographic structure and has been drawing governments' attention to
the need to establish social policies for the protection of the elderly.
By the year 2000 the number of people over the age of 80 will have
increased by 70 per cent in a number of countries.
Specific needs
The specific needs of the elderly should be identified so that
their well-being can be better ensured. Medical care is a key need.
Governments, the private sector, families and society as a whole
all have responsibility for the way in which the elderly are treated.
Legislation
The fundamental rights of the elderly must be recognized.
The elderly must not be discriminated against in any way - on
the basis of sex, income, education, and so forth - or marginalized.
o In adopting laws and social measures, parliamentarians must bear
in mind that a technological approach to illness is tending to replace
a human approach to the patient As a result, there is a loss of
individual perspective, and the elderly have a very strong feeling of
self dispossession because of their great vulnerability.
PARLIAMENTARIANS, KEY PROTAGONISTS IN DEVELOPMENT
A supportive national and international climate is an essential
precondition for sustainable development. With that in mind,
parliamentarians must participate in the elaboration of innovative
mechanisms to promote equitable multilateral relations and the
democratization of decision-making processes for the world economy.
Parliamentarians have a unique contribution to make in shaping
the institutions and policies for a more interdependent world.
Parliaments must be more involved in the governance of those
institutions.
The Giro Conference must contribute to establishing a new
mandate for parliaments in the sphere of programs dealing with
demographic parameters and the status of women.
Efforts to promote a greater awareness of information for the
interrelationships between demographic change and sustainable
development must include the better provision of information for
parliamentarians, decision-makers, planners and the general
public.
In view of the central role of women in achieving sustainable
development, parliamentarians must ensure that a significant
percentage of official development assistance is earmarked for
programs and projects which promote the participation of women,
and that these are managed by women.
The periodic evaluation of progress towards implementing global
targets and the regular exchange of information on the situation
of the elderly must be monitored by parliamentarians.
Parliamentarians must ensure the mobilization of the essential
financial resources for making a reality of the commitments under
undertaken at the Cairo Conference.
ACTION IN SUPPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT
(Cairo, 5-13 September 1994)
Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 154th session (Paris, 21 March 1994)
The Inter-Parliamentary Council,
Noting with satisfaction that, by decision of the United Nations
Economic and Social Council, a third international conference on
population questions will be held in Cairo from S to 13 September 1994,
Recalling that, since its creation, the Inter-Parliamentary Union
has considered population questions with sustained interest and has
regularly included these issues in its-,s debates, and stressing that it
has supported the United Nations Population Fund by enriching the
elaboration of intergovernmental consensus by contributing the thinking
of the interparliamentary community,
Concerned by the growth of demographic and socio-economic trends
likely to strengthen the intra-national and international imbalances
relating to the standard and quality of life of individuals,
Aware of the importance of guaranteeing exercise of reproductive
rights in the context of respect for human rights, and recognizing that
there is a close relationship between the implementation of adequate
information and reproductive health care policies and success in the
world-wide struggle against AIDS,
Convinced that the International Conference on Population and
Development will be an essential step in the series of United Nations
Conferences aiming to strengthen political resolve and to combat poverty
and the inequalities and imbalances prevailing in many spheres of the
lives of individuals and communities, as advocated by the world-wide
parliamentary community in the final document of the Conference on
"North-South Dialogue for Global Prosperity" held in Ottawa in October
1993,
Noting also that the establishment of conditions for sustainable
development at the planetary level call for profound changes in all
societies, particularly as regards attitudes, economic organization,
political relations and the choice of technologies, and that these
changes must take account of and go hand in hand with a fundamental
revision of the management of the demographic characteristics of the
various populations,
1. Welcomes the fact that the International Conference on
Population Development is adopting an overall and pluridisciplinary
approach through which population policies are a key element of human
and sustainable development, of which equality for women, health and
education are fundamental components that are also among the priority
concerns of the Union;
2. Supports the preparation of the Conference on Population and
Development hoping it will contribute to strengthening concerted action
by the international community based on:
- The importance of considering demographic changes of populations
as a key parameter for sustainable development;
- The urgent need to define the modalities for implementing and
following up population programmes;
- The need to mobilize the essential financial resources for
making that commitment a reality;
3. Requests parliaments and MPs to keep themselves informed
about the state of preparation of the Conference and to participate
actively in the work and discussions underway in that respect;
4. Calls on parliaments to ensure that MPs are included in
national delegations to the Conference;
5. Requests the Secretary General of the Union to prepare a
document reflecting the work of IPU and the state of the thinking and
consensus within the Organization on population issues and to present it
as the Union's contribution to the Cairo Conference in September 1994;
6. Invites the Secretary-General of the Conference to provide
the Union with a summary of the results of the Cairo Conference
including a synopsis of the programme of action and modalities for
implementation which are of particular interest to MPs;
7. Requests the Union's Executive Committee to consider the
results of the Conference in order to envisage appropriate action by
which the Union and its members can contribute to the implementation and
follow-up of the Plan of Action on Population.