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"
April 1994
Number 14
Newsletter of the International Conference on Population and
Development
Cairo, Egypt, 5-13 September 1994
NEWS IN BRIEF
A 30 March conference on Population and Economic Growth:
Perspectives from the Global South explored the links between
population, economic growth and sustainable development. The
meeting, in Washington, D.C., was sponsored by The American
University's Center for the Study of the Global South with support
from UNFPA.
In a keynote speech, Dr. Nafis Sadik, ICPD Secretary-General,
observed, "A quarter century of experience shows that the most
effective way to alter population growth and other demographic
trends is to invest in people. ... The process should start with
meeting present needs -- providing modern, safe and effective
family planning services to everyone who wants to avoid pregnancy,
an estimated 120 million people today."
The participants -- diplomats, NGO representatives, professors
and students -- agreed on 21 recommendations to be presented at
PrepCom III. These address such issues as: poverty alleviation;
structural adjustment policies; health care, education and economic
opportunity for women; resource consumption; and access to family
planning programmes.
*
Parliamentarians from 14 countries in the Asian, African and
Latin American/Caribbean regions decided on 6 April to organize a
one-day meeting of Parliamentarians, to be known as "Global Forum",
in Cairo during ICPD.
The decision, taken during a meeting at UNFPA Headquarters in
New York, was the result of an initiative by the Asian Forum of
Parliamentarians on Population and Development. A steering
committee, comprised of one representative from each region, will
prepare for the Cairo meeting. The Asian Forum secretariat based in
Tokyo will serve as the steering committee's secretariat.
*
Australia's Department of Immigration has launched a national essay
competition for secondary school students on the issue of world
population and development, as a means of promoting awareness of
ICPD and population issues. The winner will be flown to Cairo to
attend public sessions of the Conference.
*
To provide input into the ICPD process from the perspective of
youth, 68 young people and youth workers from 30 African countries
met in Accra, Ghana, from 25-29 March. The Youth Forum '94 on
Population and Sustainable Development adopted an Accra
Declaration, which was distributed at PrepCom III. The meeting was
organized by the Ghanaian Ministry of Youth and Sports and a
Ghanaian NGO, Youth for Population Information and Communication.
In a 5 April address to the PrepCom opening plenary, Nelson G.
Agemang, president of Youth for Population Information and
Communication, presented highlights from the declaration. In
Africa, he noted, 55 per cent of the population is below age 25.
Young people face such problems as changes in family structure,
early parenthood, rural-urban migration, unemployment, an increase
in sexually transmitted diseases including HIV infection and AIDS,
and substance abuse -- and are often denied the chance to
participate in matters affecting their lives.
The Accra Declaration calls on the international community to
actively promote the well-being of youth, particularly the
under-privileged; and to recognize their special needs for social
support, economic opportunity and access to reproductive health
care. It recommends legal action and education campaigns to do away
with harmful practices like child marriage and female genital
mutilation, and special programmes for young men that focus on the
reproductive rights of women, including the right to refuse sexual
advances.
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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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