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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Investing Directly in People The Secretary-General of the ICPD told PrepCom 11 delegates that all developing country governments should increase the share of national public expenditures invested in the social sector at home, to at least 20%. At the same time, she asked donor countries to increase the level of official development assistance allocated to population activities from 1.34% to 4%., and stressed that there was "no option" to such a shift of priorities. "The results of our Conference must provide you with the necessary support for these changes in priorities", said the ICPD Secretary-General, Dr. Nafis Sadik, in her 14 May speech at PrepCom 11. Dr. Sadik went on to say, "we must give an unequivocal signal in our decisions that such investment is essential, indeed, that investing in people, in the quality of life each individual deserves is as important as investments in infrastructure and more direct economic activity". The issue of financing is of fundamental importance if the international community is to adequately address the needs of the extra 5.5 billion people expected to populate this planet by the middle of the next century. Of the 5.5 billion presently living on Earth, over I billion people - or a fifth of the world's population, currently live in abject human conditions, according to a 1993 report from the British aid organization, Action Aid. The report also stated that the figure for people living in absolute poverty is overtaking population growth and could reach 1.5 billion by the year 2000 "We are not faring well in providing for these additional human beings judging by most economic and social indicators", said Dr. Sadik. The 1989 Amsterdam Declaration attempted to provide a general assessment of financial requirements for population-related activities for the next decade. It stated, inter alia, that approximately $9 billion, including both domestic investment and external financing, would be needed by the year 2000 to fund core population activities. World expenditures on family planning and other population activities in all developing countries were half that amount in 1987; and in 1991, donor governments committed, on average, only 1.34% of official development assistance to help fund population activities. Where to find the extra funds will be a central challenge of the Cairo Conference It was clearly stated at PrepCom 11 that the extra funds needed to address population and development challenges in decades ahead would have to come, in large part, from countries themselves. But the role of international assistance would continue to be vital in a number of crucial areas. Many delegates at PrepCom 11 said that more work would need to be done before the Cairo Conference, to better quantify financial requirements and reach agreement on funding responsibilities. This issue is expected to be a topic of substantial debate at the third session of the Preparatory Committee, to be held 11-22 April 1994. The subject of finance will likely be taken up under Chapter Xll on "National Action" and Chapter Xlll on "International Cooperation " . Achieving developed country levels Dr. Sadik pointed to the deplorable gap between developed and developing countries in key social indicators and called on all governments to achieve current developed country levels by the year 2015, in areas such as infant and maternal mortality, life expectancy, access to family planning services, etc. "I hope you will be properly shocked", said the ICPD SecretaryGeneral as she sought to awaken delegates to the extent of human suffering as a result of insufficient investment in the social development sector. We know why these infants are dying. The remedies are affordable if the resources are made available". Delegations at PrepCom 11 reacted with a general endorsement of the Secretary-General's proposal to include a set of quantifiable goals in the final Cairo Document and overtly acknowledged that more resources would be needed to achieve them. Dr. Sadik presented delegates with a set of quantifiable goals, which could be attained by the year 2015. In the area of infant mortality, Dr. Sadik said the current global rate of 62 infant births per 1,000 live births could be reduced to 12 per I ,000 by the year 2015; maternal mortality rates could also be substantially reduced to 30 per 100,000 women by the year 2015, and life expectancy at birth could be extended to 75 years in all countries. Dr. Sadik further suggested that all pregnant women should have access to pre-natal services by 2015, and that all school age children be entitled to complete their primary education, which should be accessible to all She proposed that 71% contraceptive prevalence be attained by 2015, and that family planning information and services be universally accessible. The above goals, which already appear in other international commitments, will need to be refined and harmonized with goals adopted at other international fora. They will also need to take into consideration regional and national variations. This will be done by the Secretariat in further preparatory work on the Cairo Document. Many delegations endorsed the 20 year time-frame proposed by the Secretary-General to achieve these goals and further suggested that they be translated into 5 and 10-year intermediate goals. Progress towards achieving these goals will need to be carefully monitored. Delegates at PrepCom 11 stressed that no coercion whatsoever should be exercised in their pursuit. Some delegations also asked that a set of qualitative goals and objectives be included in the document, and that some social and economic goals be reflected as well.