UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
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| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
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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
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AS WRITTEN
UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE POPULATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
STATEMENT
Layashi YAKER
United Nations Under-Secretary-General,
Executive Secretary of the Commission
Cairo, 5-13 September 1994
Mr. Chairman,
Excellency Dr. Maher Mahran, Minister for Population and Family
Welfare and Chairman of the Egyptian Organizing Committee for the ICPD,
Excellency Dr. Naïfs Sadik, United Nations Under-secretary General,
UNFPA Executive Director and ICPD Secretary General,
Excellencies Heads of Delegation and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the onset, let me, on behalf of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa and its member States congratulate His Excellency
President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of
Egypt and through him the great People of his country for hosting this
historic event and for sparing no effort to make it a success.
Let me also congratulate Dr. Nafis Sadik and her dedicated team
for the titanic and excellent preparatory work performed and for the
enduring patience and great sense of purpose they have shown during the
negotiations process. My greetings go also to Dr. Frederick Sai, a
genuine son of Africa, who has presided over the sessions of the
Preparatory Committee.
It is particularly rewarding for Africa, at the turn of this
century, to see the Arab Republic of Egypt, the cradle of one of the
most inspiring civilisations, host this very important Conference, whose
outcome and recommendations are anxiously awaited by all mankind.
As you all know, ICPD-94 is the third conference of its kind
organised by the United Nations. As an International gathering, it is
obviously geared towards debating problems that are relevant to all
continents and regions in the world. But unlike the previous ones, this
Conference is particularly relevant to the specific and acute problems
of Africa.
Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me state at the outset that we in Africa share almost the same
population concerns as other regions of the world. Indeed, the
demographic and development trends in our continent are becoming serious
reason for concern. Our GDP per capita has fallen almost uninterruptedly
over the past fourteen years or so, owing both to inter alia, low output
growth and unsustainable population growth. The rate of population
growth has accelerated dramatically in Africa in recent years to reach
around 3 per cent per annum today, which means a doubling of population
in about 23 years. This is due largely to very high, and almost stable,
fertility rates and a dramatic decline in mortality. Over the period
starting in 1950, the continent's population has expanded rapidly from
some 225 million to about 710 million today. As of now, only a andful of
African countries have started their demographic transition from high to
lower rates of growth that are more compatible with their development
efforts.
Africa holds only slightly over 12 per cent of the world's
population. Only three countries -- Egypt, Ethiopia, and Nigeria --
exceed 50 million; and over half of Africa's population is concentrated
in nine countries. On the other hand, over half of the African
countries have populations of less than 10 millio. On the basis of total
land area, Africa is characterised by a very low population density. And
so, at first glance, Africa does not appear to face a population
crisis.
Unfortunately, these figures belie the true dimensions of the
population problems which Africa faces. At the heart of these is the
unsustainable population growth rate which exerts excessive pressure on
the fragile ecological resource base - soil, water and forest resources,
and diverse habitats of fauna and flora which are Africa's valued
treasures. However, African countries over the last two decades have
not been able to create and maintain physical and social
infrastructures and productive capacities to sustain growth of output at
a rate that would have allowed average personal and family incomes to
grow and to support a rising standard of living.
Population density per unit of arable land has swelled five-fold
over the last fifty years to over 500 persons per square kilometre.
Without a matching increase in agricultural productivity and growth in
he industrial and service sectors of the economy to absorb the
additional population, the results have been increasing resort to
farming practices that are destructive of soil fertility and the
degradation of the fragile ecosystems. In the absence of significant
technological innovations in African agriculture, which would require,
inter alia, more scientific approaches to husbandry and sustainable
exploitation of the continent's renewable and non-renewable natural
resources, Africa is caught in the low-productivity trap and
intensifying poverty. Excessive population pressure in the rural areas
arising from low and declining agricultural productivity, lack of
development of rural off-farm productive employment and income-
generating opportunities, inadequate development of physical and social
infrastructures to improve the rural standard of living -- all these
have propelled surplus population to migrate to the cities. Hence, the
rapid urban-rural migration and the further pressure on the urban
employment opportunities and the over stretching of service facilities.
Indeed, our urban centres are least equipped to absorb -- productively
absorb-these teeming millions in terms of shelter, employment, education
and health facilities. Almost every city is ringed with unsanitary slum
concentrations where the bulk of the urban population live in appallingly
squalid conditions. Homelessness is rife. Under these conditions, it is
impossible to keep the standard of living from declining.
Population problems have been exacerbated by the unabated conflicts which
continue to ravage many countries in the continent. Millions have died
in such conflicts. Over 8 million Africans have been forced to seek
refuge outside their countries, while close to 20 million are internally
displaced by such cataclysms, uprooted from their means of livelihood and
forced to depend on distant charity. The prevailing heart-rending situation
in Rwanda is the latest case in point. Is it coincidental that Rwanda has
sustained one of the highest fertility rates in Africa, and its population
density per unit arable land is exceeded only by that of Egypt's Nile valley
and delta? Circumstances vary from country to country, of course; but
the potential exists elsewhere for conflicts to erupt within and
between countries spurred, among others, by rising population pressures
under outdated, low-productivity technologies and concomitant lack of
economic growth.
Mr. Chairman,
We in Africa therefore can no longer ignore the linkages between
the rate of population growth, on one hand, and the rate of economic
growth, sectoral diversification, social development and the standard
of living, on the other. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the
destructive impact of rapid population growth on fragile ecological
resources. We can no longer refuse to recognise the pressures that
propel rural-urban migration. Forced repatriation to the land, without
creating the necessary conditions for enhancing agricultural
productivity and entitlement can only produce further misery. What is
in fact needed is both integrated rural development perceived within a
technological upgrading and a conscious development of our cities. This
will ensure a symbiotic mutual dependence between the two segments of
the society. Robust and sustainable economic growth and diversification
in the cities must stimulate economic and social progress in the
surrounding countryside. -Sustained and sustainable expansion of
agricultural output and cottage industries in the countryside must
supply the cities with abundant quantities of food, industrial inputs
and vibrant demand for the cities' industrial output and services.
Our countries should devise realistic urban development policies
which fully exploit the dynamic potentialities of well-managed cities
that are efficiently linked to their country-side and to other cities,
as economic and social growth poles, and as high-productivity sinks for
the surplus population which will inevitably be displaced from the land
by increased agricultural productivity and the need to conserve ecological
resources. Much attention must be given to the establishment of
competent, accountable and democratic municipal structures with adequate
autonomy and self-governing mandate to find solutions to the problem of
sustained and sustainable urban growth. African urban development policy
must aim at a dispersed network of small and medium-sized towns and cities
rather than horrific, unmanageable, polluted and unsanitary mega-cities.
Above all, cognizant of the tremendous resources which must be
invested in order to sustain socio-economic development, African society
as a whole and governments, in particular, must begin to grapple with
the problem of bringing the rate of population growth in line with the
potentials of individual countries for economic growth and social development
without exerting unsustainable and destructive pressures on land, water,
forests, other ecological resources and the very air we breathe .
Similar efforts are needed as regards the size of population and
its structures. We need to avoid a Malthusian trap and this could only
be attained through ensuring rates of growth of production at significantly
higher levels than those of population and the adoption of population
policies that are consistent with the maximization of the production
potential, which itself could be significantly enhanced through technological
development. We need foremost to improve our production possibilities.
That is the surest way to overcoming the demographic problem over the
long-term. But African societies and governments should make every
possible effort to bring population growth to manageable levels, with
the aim of raising the standard of living throughout the continent. The
unwarranted low population entitlement in terms of natural resources
were engendered no doubt by the desperate low productivity labour
intensive production techniques which characterize African production
functions. We would therefore need to address this question squarely by
working on both sides of the equation -- increasing productivity and
empowering the population. We should not treat the population parameter
only as a datum and a denominator. Populations should be transformed
into productive - highly productive- factors of production. Hence the
need for human resources development.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
One of the building blocks of this strategy is the conscious development
of the family, a process in which education and guidance should play a
major role. At the centre of the strategy should be the respect for the
human being. On the part of society, individuals and couples must learn
to exercise their responsibility.
On their part, African governments have a duty to open up possibilities
to create conditions conducive for individuals and couples to exercise
their decisions. They should also endeavourto empower, financially,
economically and politically their citizens. Above all, they should
create conducive conditions for the emancipation of women from eons of
social subjugation.
Non-governmental organizations, as agents of society and as partners
with governments, dedicated to promoting sustained, equitable and
sustainable development, social progress, building human capacities,
eradicating poverty and empowering women, involved with the formulation
and implementation of rural-7 development projects, have a very important
role to play in harmonizing population growth with development in this
great continent.
Inadequately informed about their sexuality, reproductive health, and
the various attendant risks, too often our adolescent children -- many
of them barely in their early teens -- find themselves deep in trouble.
Many opt for desperate, lifethreatening solutions. On the other hand,
abortion, miscarriage, death in labour, all are truly regrettable
consequences. Every year, over 220,000 African women die as a
consequence of pregnancy or difficult child-birth, a risk which UNFPA
has estimated at 1 in 25. Each one of these deaths is unacceptable and
could have been averted through proper reproductive health care.
At 95 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, on average, Africa's infant
mortality rate is well above the average for all developing countries.
At barely 54 years, African life expectancy at birth is nearly 25 years
shorter than that of the world's most affluent societies. Africa's
disease and disability burden, including sexually transmitted diseases
and HIV/AIDS, is the highest among all regions of the world.
Intensified information and education; wider access to family services;
improved general public health care; universal access by boys and girls
to primary and secondary education -- all these are necessary
ingredients of a comprehensive population policy in Africa.
Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The importance of population factors in the development process is now
recognized almost universally. In Africa, countries are determined, more
than ever before, to address their demographic concerns, as largely
reflected by the outcomes of the second African Population Conference
held in 1984 in Arusha, Tanzania which came out with the Kilimanjaro
Programme of Action on Population (KPA) and the third-8
African Population Conference, held in Dakar, Senegal, 1992, which
promulgated the Dakar/Ngor Declaration. The fact that the Kilimanjaro
Programme of Action on Population (KPA) remains a viable framework for
the development of the region was generally acknowledged at the Third
African Population Conference when the efforts made by member States in
implementing the KPA recommendations were reviewed.
The Conference noted that despite the increased number of explicit
population policies formulated since the KPA, no significant change
occurred.
Accordingly, the Conference adopted the Dakar/Ngor Declaration on
Population, Family Planning and Sustainable Development urging member
States to establish a follow-up mechanism to foster an accelerated
implementation of the KPA recommendations. It was also stressed that no
population policy could be implemented without a peaceful and stable
political and social environment.
Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
You will recall that the United Nations New Agenda for the Development
of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF), the programme of action for Africa's
economic recovery adopted by the United Nations in December 1991, as a
compact between Africa and its bilateral and multilateral partners-in-
development outlined Africa's major concerns for the 1 990s and beyond
and the strategies to be adopted to address them. Under the New Agenda,
inter alia, "Africa is committed to the deliberate and systematic
integration of population factors into the development process ...". To
this end, it endorses the principles, objectives, targets and policy
recommendations of the KPA, "including a reduction in maternal and child
mortality and provisions for family development and female education and
the achievement of substantial and sustained increases in the quality of
life and standard of living of the entire population".The implementation
of the Agenda was perceived as a partnership package between Africa and
its development partners whereby the international community would
supply a minimum of US$30 billion of net transfers in the form of
official development assistance (ODA) in 1992 to be increased in real
terms by 4 percent annually subsequently and to reduce the burden of
debt service which presently drains away about 30 percent of exports.
The additional costs of addressing the population programme which this
Conference is due to consider are estimated by OAU and UNECA at US$2.2 -
3.0 billion annually (at constant 1993 dollars) over 1995 to 1999;
US$2.9 - 3.8 billion over 2000-2004; US$3.5 - 4.6 billion over 2005-
2009; and US4.3 - 5.6 billion over 2010-2015. Realistically, Africa can
barely support about half of the costs involved.
However, the present magnitudes of net resource fiows to Africa are well
below the desired minimum of the 1992 level, while there has hardly been
any significant progress on reducing Africa's debt, not to speak of
these additional requirements of addressing population concerns. Indeed,
the resource constraint has even tightened further. It is in fact on the
domestic front that efforts at resource mobilization have been more
pronounced and encouraging. In itself that uncomplemented effort cannot
support a sufficient level of economic and social development. it is
regrettable that Africa's development partners have not been
sufficiently forthcoming particularly that the continent is currently in
the throes of multiple transitions - from war to peace, rehabilitation
and reconstruction; from autocratic rule to democracy, pluralism,
accountability and human rights; from apartheid to non-racial society;
and from command economics to private initiative. The desired
transformations - all of which are central to the demographic
transitions, cannot be accomplished and sustained without enhanced
support from the international community.-10Mr. Chairman,
UNECA attaches utmost importance to the principles, objectives, goals
and targets which underlie the Programme of Action that this Cairo
Conference is about to adopt, as these are in line with the principles
which African countries have already adopted in their Dakar/Ngor
Declaration. The great concerns which are the subject of deliberations
at this Conference are part of the mosaic of sustainable humancentred
development which the universal human family has been examining in
earnest all this decade within the fora of the United Nations. African
societies and governments, however, are not in a position to shoulder
the full financial costs of activities in the areas of family
development; basic reproductive health; the prevention of sexually-
transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS; and data gathering, research,
analysis, policy formulation and implementation, which have been
identified as forming the core of the Cairo Programme of Action.
Africa is beset with acute problems on all fronts of the struggle for
sustainable human-centred development, each of which calls for massive
resource outlays. Nothing short of a heroic effort is required over the
next two decades, for favourable conditions to be created in Africa for
a sustainable population growth.
A second complementary problem, however, has been in the past the lack
of political will on the part of Africa's leadership and on the part of
its external partners to mobilize every effort and all possible
resources, to do what it would take to achieve development objectives
and targets. It is time, indeed high time, for a firm restatement of
commitment and action.- 1 1 Mr. Chairman,
The whole world is challenged to come to Africa's assistance to
translate these noble objectives and far-sighted undertakings into deeds
and results.
I have cause to believe that strong political will is now gathering
force within the African society and among its governments to bring
about a change. I call upon our brothers and sisters in the world
community to show understanding, forbearance, commitment and support to
our development cause. For, in the final analysis, there can be no
common future for humankind, nor sustainable development if over 12 per
cent of the universal family is left to languish in abject poverty,
malnutrition, disease and ignorance, eking a miserable existence by
mining ecological resources. The spirit of human solidarity could not
possibly accept such indifference. For all these reasons, we, at UNECA,
attach utmost importance to the deliberations of this Conference.
I thank you for your kind attention.