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) |
|
"ICPD 94", No. 12
February 1994
Newsletter of the International Conference on Population and
Development
Cairo, Egypt, 5-13 September 1994
'TOKYO DECLARATION' SETS PRIORITIES
"Bringing about a sustainable balance between population, natural
resources, consumption and production" will require a "global
partnership", declared participants at the Meeting of Eminent
Persons on Population and Development, held in Tokyo from 26-27
January.
The "Tokyo Declaration on Population and Sustainable
Development" adopted by the meeting stated, "A commitment by
developing countries to reduce population growth should be coupled
with a commitment by developed countries to reduce the strain of
consumption patterns on the global environment." Developing
countries with high population growth rates should integrate
population issues into development strategies as an essential
component of sustainable development.
It also sent a clear message on the central issue of financial
resources. Globally, there is a need to increase spending on
population and related activities in the developing countries to
$13 billion annually by the year 2000 and to $17 billion per year
by 2015 to meet the needs of individuals and couples, the
declaration states.
Some 15 internationally distinguished individuals took part in
the meeting, convened as part of the ICPD preparatory process. It
was jointly organized by the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA), the United Nations University (UNU) and the Japanese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and held at the university.
UNU Rector Heitor Gurgulion de Souza welcomed the
participants. Keynote speakers were Japanese Prime Minister
Morihiro Hosokawa; Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of UNFPA and
Secretary-General of ICPD; and Robert McNamara, former President of
the World Bank. Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland,
unable to attend the meeting because of illness, sent a powerful
message which was read by a representative.
Noting that a failure to address population issues effectively
now would leave a legacy of trouble for future generations, Prime
Minister Hosokawa stated that Japan was determined to strengthen
its cooperation with other countries in population and family
planning, but also in providing basic health care to mothers and
children.
Dr. Sadik stressed the interrelationship of many challenges:
"For many people in developing countries, opportunities and
expectations are limited by a vicious circle of poverty, population
growth and environmental destruction," she observed. "Attacking one
sector alone will not break the circle, but attacking each one
simultaneously will contribute to the defeat of the others....
"There can equally be no sustainable development without the
full involvement of women as equal partners ...," she added. "If
women are to realize their full potential in their productive and
community roles, they must be guaranteed their reproductive rights
and must be able to manage their reproductive role."
Prime Minister Brundtland's message emphasized that developed
country consumption levels could be reduced without lowering living
standards, and that aid to developing countries should increase so
that external debt and structural adjustment programmes do not
prevent greater spending on population programmes. Mr. McNamara
contended that rapid population growth was still one of the
greatest barriers to economic growth and social well-being in
developing countries.
Presentations and discussions focused on four themes:
population and sustainable development, introduced by Professor
Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University, author of "The Population
Bomb"; population and family planning activities in developing
countries, introduced by Dr. Fred Sai, President of the
International Planned Parenthood Federation and Chairman of the
ICPD Preparatory Committee; population and the status of women,
introduced by Indian economist Devaki Jain; and population
distribution and migration, introduced by Ieremia T. Tabai, former
President of Kiribati and Secretary-General of the South Pacific
Forum.
Among the participants were Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado,
former President of Mexico; Dr. Maher Mahran, Egyptian State
Minister of Population and Welfare; and Billie Miller, Chairperson
of the NGO Planning Committee for the ICPD.
The Tokyo Declaration and the accompanying call to action
emphasize that Governments need to invest more in the social
sectors, that countries facing difficulties in meeting this goal
need more international aid, and that developed countries need to
promote greater awareness of the need for such assistance.
Separate sections in the declaration addressed population and
sustainable development, women's role in decision making,
reproductive health and family planning, population distribution
and migration, South-South cooperation, moving from commitment to
action, priorities for ICPD, and resource mobilization.
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For printed or electronic copies of the "ICPD 94" newsletter, in
English, French or Spanish, or further information, please contact:
ICPD Secretariat 220 E. 42nd Street, 22nd floor New York, N.Y.
10017, USA Tel: (212) 297-5244/5245 Media contact: (212)
297-5023/5030 or 5279 Fax: (212) 297-5250 E-mail: ryanw@unfpa.org
or icpd@igc.apc.org
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