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. 15
May 1994
Newsletter of the International Conference on Population and
Development
Cairo, Egypt, 5-13 September 1994
NEWS IN BRIEF
"Population is a complex phenomenon that affects every country,
developed or developing. It touches economics, politics, the
environment; it underlies and drives many of the stories that you
cover in the course of a working day. Women are at its centre and
their empowerment is its key," UNFPA Executive Director and ICPD
Secretary-General Dr. Nafis Sadik told an international gathering
of television journalists last month.
Introduced by Jane Fonda, Dr. Sadik delivered the keynote
address, "Understanding Population", at a 4 May breakfast meeting
of the CNN World Report Contributors Conference in Atlanta,
Georgia.
The Conference, on the theme "Global Communications:
Confronting the Future", addressed the power of television and how
it joins nations and people of diverse cultures. Attending the
week-long meeting were television producers and reporters from
throughout the world whose programmes are aired on the CNN World
Report.
Among the other featured speakers were: U.S. President Bill
Clinton; South African President Nelson Mandela and Executive
Deputy President F. W. de Klerk; Palestine Liberation Organization
Chairman Yasser Arafat; Israeli Prime Minister Yizhak Rabin; 1992
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchu; and UNFPA Ambassadors
of Goodwill Ted Turner and Jane Fonda.
*
Harvard University Professor Amartya K. Sen, in a lecture at UN
Headquarters on 18 April, disputed the view that unchecked
population growth will lead to a global catastrophe. He cited
demographic and development statistics to show that population
growth in the 1980s and 1990s has been matched by a marked rise in
per capita food production and consumption. Arguing that "scare
tactics" would lead to harmful policies, he argued that the
population issue must be addressed within the context of social and
economic development.
Professor Sen, recently elected as president of the American
Economics Association, spoke in the Trusteeship Council chamber to
an audience of more than 150 guests. The lecture was organized by
the Eminent Citizens Committee for Cairo '94.
*
The Independent Commission for Population and Quality of Life
organized a conference in New Delhi from 25-27 April to address the
connection between poverty and rapid population growth. A panel of
experts cited inadequate health care, poverty, insufficient budget
resources for social programmes and a lack of education --
particularly among women -- as impeding efforts to reduce high
population growth. South Asian officials, politicians and
non-governmental organizations offered various suggestions to
improve the quality of life and lower fertility rates.
The consultation was one of several being held around the
world this year. The commission, headed by former Portuguese
Premier Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, is to release its findings and
proposals in mid-1995.
*
Zero Population Growth, a U.S.-based NGO (1400 Sixteenth St., N.W.,
Suite 320, Washington, D.C. 20036), has compiled an 8-page
catalogue of "Selected Resources on Population". It includes brief
descriptions of 33 books on world population growth and global
environmental issues, including four that offer "a different
viewpoint" and four written "especially for kids"; 15 periodicals;
16 handbooks, reports and wall charts; and 10 videos and films. A
section on resources for teachers lists various materials for
teaching about population issues, including computer software
(mathematical models, simulations and games) and descriptions of
classroom activities.
*
Between 85 million and 114 million girls and women have been
subjected to female genital mutilation, according to a report
presented to the 47th World Health Assembly in Geneva in May. Most
of them live in 26 African countries, a few in some Asian
countries, and increasingly in Europe, Canada, Australia and the
United States.
The report states that although both mortality and morbidity
following female genital mutilation are believed to be high,
available information is very limited. Since female genital
mutilation is a deeply rooted tradition, World Health Organization
Director-General Hiroshi Nakajima has declared, "What we must aim
for is to convince people, including women, that they can give up
a specific practice without giving up meaningful aspects of their
own cultures."
*
On behalf of the Andean Governments, the "Andean Declaration on
Population and Development" was presented to PrepCom III by the
delegation of Peru. The Declaration (available in Spanish and
English) was adopted by the Governments of Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia at the Andean Meeting on Population and
Development, held in Lima, Peru, from 1-3 December 1993.
***
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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