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) |
|
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This newsletter is being made available by the Population Information
Network (POPIN) of the United Nations Population Division (DESIPA), in
collaboration with Population Communication International. For further
information please contact Patrice_Newman@together.org
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INTERNATIONAL DATELINE
A Population and Development News and Information Service
JANUARY WORLD POPULATION UPDATE:
5,745,500,000 (Population
Reference Bureau )
JANUARY 1996
STATISTICS ON THE WAYS THAT MUCH OF THE WORLD LIVES AND DIES are
contained in the country-by-country report in the current edition of
the Demographic Yearbook, published by the United Nations. Using
data collected from recent population censuses conducted during the
1985-1994 decade, the yearbook organizes geographic, demographic and
social characteristics assembled from 163 nations and territories.
THE YEARBOOK SHOWS THAT AN 80-YEAR LIFE EXPECTANCY FOR WOMEN IS
INCREASINGLY COMMON IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. Women in Japan, France
and Italy average at least 80 years. Life expectancy for men is
slightly lower in developed countries. The top averages for men are
over 76.1 years in Japan, 73.5 years in Italy and Britain, 72.9 years
in France, and 72 years in the United States. Among the 25 largest
countries, the gap in life expectancy between women and men is widest
in Russia (11.8 years), Ukraine (9.1) and France (8.2); and smallest
in Iran (0.7), India (0.3) and Pakistan (0.2). And while women are
regarded as generally longer-lived than men, the reverse is true in
Bangladesh, where men live nearly a year longer than women.
THE DEMOGRAPHIC YEARBOOK REPORTS THAT FINLAND HAS THE LOWEST
INFANT MORTALITY RATE of reporting countries--4.4 deaths of infants
under one year of age per 1,000 live births. Following Finland among
the top five with the best records are Japan (4.5 infant deaths per
1,000 live births), Singapore (4.7), and Sweden and Hong Kong (4.8
each). Ranked immediately below those in the 4-plus bracket are
Denmark, with 5.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, Norway (5.8),
Ireland (6.0), Switzerland (6.2) and the Netherlands (6.3). Except
for Japan, all of the world's rich industrial powers--for example,
the U.S., Britain and Germany--fall below the ten top-ranked
countries in infant mortality rates.
AGE DISTRIBUTION AND LITERACY DATA ARE ALSO ENUMERATED IN THE
YEARBOOK. On population by age, the yearbook shows that Mexico,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran and Ethiopia are the most youthful. Half
of Ethiopia's entire population is under 20 years of age. Literacy
data show that illiteracy is still high in three African countries:
Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal, where 65 percent
of the population aged fifteen years or older is illiterate. And
eight of the world's 25 largest countries reported the following
illiteracy percentage rates from 1990 census figures: China - 22.2
percent; India - 47.8; Indonesia - 18.5; Vietnam - 12.4; Turkey -
20.8; Thailand - 7.0; Iran - 34.3, and Egypt - 55.8. In many
developing countries, illiteracy is higher among women than men.
Some exceptions to this pattern are in the Seychelles, Uruguay,
Maldives and Malta--where illiteracy is very low for both men and
women. Countries where there is a wide gap in literacy rates between
men and women include: Egypt, Malawi, Mauritania, Bolivia, China,
India and Turkey.
The Demographic Yearbook 1993 is available from the Sales
Section, United Nations (New York, NY 10017 USA or Geneva,
Switzerland), or through major booksellers worldwide. The price--
US$125--may vary in other currencies.
(Press Release, 11 July 1995, Department of Public Information,
United Nations, New York)
* * * * *
IN BRIEF . . .
THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO WILL DETERMINE WHETHER THE PROMISES OF THE
BEIJING CONFERENCE ON WOMEN were serious commitments or empty
rhetoric. That is the suggestion of Halfdan Mahler, Secretary-
General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Based
on his diagnosis of actions based on the Cairo Conference on
Population and Development [held in September 1994], Mahler's
prognosis for post-Beijing action is not encouraging for women. But
he does hope that the goals agreed on in Beijing will reaffirm the
commitments of Cairo. Looking back a year after Cairo, Mahler
observed that 1,500 women died from maternal causes every day...that
15 million teenagers between 15 and 19 gave birth, while 5 million
others had abortions...and that in the time between Cairo and Beijing
there were 50 million unwanted pregnancies. From which he concludes:
"We cannot say we have kept the promises of Cairo. The Cairo
Conference has not changed women's lives."
(IPPF Press, 11 July 1995, International Planned Parenthood
Federation, London)
FISH FACTS: The total world fish and seafood catch in 1993 was
101.3 million tons, including 17 tons of freshwater fish. Almost 16
million tons--some freshwater and some marine--were produced on
farms. The anchovy was the most-caught species, accounting for 8.3
million tons, or ten percent of the marine catch. Carp was the most-
farmed fish. People ate 72.3 million tons of fish in 1993: 27.5
million tons were fresh; 23.5 million tons were frozen; 12.2 million
tons were canned and 9 million tons were cured. Twenty countries
caught 80 percent of the marine total, led by China with 10.1 million
tons--12 percent. The non-local boat catch was 4.7 million tons in
1993, down from a peak of 9.1 million tons in 1989. [see related
story on p. 4]
(The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, U.N. Food and
Agriculture Organization, Rome)
THE SOUTHERN BLUEFIN TUNA is the latest fish to be caught in a
dispute between preservationists and industry--this time in
Australia. Humane Society International (HSI)--the largest animal
protection body in the world--asked the Australian government to list
the tuna under the "Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species" treaty, which restricts trade in endangered wildlife. But
the Tuna Boat Owners Association scoffed at the request, claiming it
would achieve nothing and that there was no scientific evidence to
support it. HSI's director Michael Kennedy said that local fishermen
would still be permitted to catch tuna under a limited quota, but
that the embargo would put pressure on the Japanese. "The Japanese
want to increase the present quota, but Australia and New Zealand do
not agree," Kennedy said, adding, "in recent weeks we've seen them
turning up the pressure on us by boycotting Australian ports."
(Weekend Australian, 26 November 1995)
THE INCIDENCE OF AIDS can be significantly reduced by improving
the detection rate of other sexually transmitted diseases and
treating them with penicillin and similar drugs, according to a team
of Tanzanian and British scientists. A two-year study of 9,000
Tanzanian adults, reported in The Lancet--a medical journal--found
that HIV infection was 42 percent lower in communities given this
specific improved medical treatment. (Globe & Mail, 1 December
1995, Toronto)
PRODUCTION OF A POWERFUL OZONE LAYER DESTROYER will be phased
out in developed countries by the year 2010 under an agreement
reached by more than 100 governments in early December. Methyl
bromide, an agricultural pesticide, was up to this point the only
ozone-weakening industrial chemical not previously designated for
elimination. Scientists estimate that at current levels, the
pesticide would have accounted for about 15 percent of ozone
depletion by 2000. The major ozone-eating chemicals--
chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs--will not be produced anymore in
developed countries as of January 1996 under a 1992 international
agreement. Developing countries are scheduled to phase out CFCs by
2010. Governments also agreed to accelerate an earlier timetable for
phasing out HCFCs--the interim substitute for CFCs--as refrigerants,
solvents and cleaning agents. HCFCs also deplete the ozone layer,
but not as much as CFCs. Developed countries will stop producing
them by 2020, instead of 2030, and developing countries agreed to
freeze production by 2016. (New York Times, 10 December 1995, New
York)
* * * * *
A NOVEL, OFTEN CONTROVERSIAL APPROACH TO FOREIGN AID AND
DEVELOPMENT emerges from one published analysis of the United Nations
Social Summit, held last March in Copenhagen. Author Douglas Lummis
poses a series of questions about traditional approaches to
development and why, in his view, they have failed. Why, he asks,
after half a century of development strategizing, is the gap between
the rich and the poor widening? Why are the poorest countries
getting poorer? Was there ever, he asks, a more absurd expression
than 'negative growth'? And why is the net transfer of wealth from
the poor countries to the rich greater than that from the rich to the
poor? While Lummis concedes that the Program of Action adopted at
the March Social Summit contains some practical proposals, he scoffs
at some of its key arguments and recommendations, including those
dealing with free trade, labor, poverty and "social responsibility."
Citing the Program's advocacy of free trade, Lummis says that it can
bring "social disaster both to the poor countries like Mexico and the
rich countries like Japan."
ON THE ISSUE OF POVERTY, THE AUTHOR ASSAILS THE 'VAGUE
EXPLANATIONS' of its cause set forth in the Program of Action. He
contests the document's emphasis on unemployment as a reason for
poverty and points to apparent contradictions. For example, he
notes, while the Summit deplored the long working hours inflicted on
the poor, it cited "underemployment" as a major factor.
"Apparently," Lummis says, "the writers [of the Program] are simply
unable to choke out the word 'underpaid'." Lummis asserts that the
only suggestion the Program offers for improving the situation is an
appeal to employers to exercise "social responsibility"--a call that
he doubts will be answered. What is needed, Lummis summarizes, is
the abandonment of the traditional approach to development
assistance. He adds that the Social Summit may perform a "useful
function of convincing people that the development paradigm really
is in a state of collapse, does not have the power to explain what
we see happening before our eyes and can produce no solution to the
world economic crisis."
LUMMIS CONFESSES THAT HE HAS NO PROPOSALS FOR RESTRUCTURING the
"collapsed" development assistance system. Nevertheless, he suggests
ideas that he sees as necessary elements in any new system. Among
them are:
* The recognition of the right to refuse "development;"
* Talking about the "problem of excessive wealth" instead of the
"problem of poverty;"
* Talking about "overdevelopment" amounting to decadence instead
of talking about "underdevelopment;"
* Sending young people from Third World countries to rich nations
not to learn but to "agitate and educate;"
* Phasing out the existence of the arms industry and others that
produce nothing of social value; and placing their employees in
socially useful jobs;
* Phasing out the advertising industry, "whose main business is to
convince people to buy commodities of no social value;" and,
* Considering all debts of poor countries paid, not "forgiven."
Lummis concludes with the recommendation that the chief actors
in carrying out a restructuring of the development system should be
"the people," not entrepreneurs.
(DAGA Info, 27 March 1995, Documentation for Action Groups in
Asia, Hong Kong); from AMPO Magazine, Vol. 25 No. 3, Pacific
Asia Resource Center, Tokyo, Japan)
* * * * *
AS WORLDWIDE STOCKS OF FOOD FISH ARE DEPLETED TO DANGEROUS
LEVELS, A DEBATE RAGES over who is responsible: Man or nature?
Conventional wisdom as expressed by ecologists and other experts puts
the blame on man for pollution, waste, and--mainly--overfishing. But
to try and help some fishermen in the United States qualify for
federal financial assistance, some politicians are arguing that the
disaster is natural. But scientists are afraid history will be re-
written in this process. In the U.S. state of Massachusetts, the
jobs of 1200 fishermen have disappeared along with the fish from
once-rich grounds that used to attract fleets from around the world.
Such environmental groups as Greenpeace, supported by marine
scientists and the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), put the crisis simply: Too many boats chasing too
few fish. The gross registered tonnage--or total size--of the
world's fishing fleets doubled between 1970 and 1992. And that
excludes millions of small crafts used by local fishermen. In New
England alone, the number of boats has doubled while groundfish
stocks--notably cod, halibut and yellowtail flounder--have declined.
As a result, portions of the Georges Bank, once described as the
world's richest fishing grounds, have been closed. While conceding
that overfishing plays a role in the devastating decline,
Massachusetts politicians are blaming the catastrophe on changes in
water temperature and an explosion of mammals and birds that prey on
fish and other species that sustain fish populations. And while
marine biologists and other experts in the field understand
politicians' desire to secure aid for their constituents, they fear
the approach will skew the focus of the debate away from overfishing.
Eleanor Dorsey, of the Conservation Law Foundation, said: "I think
it's important for us to remember how we got into this terrible
situation so we can make sure we don't do it again and can take the
right steps to get out of it." And another American authority
scoffed at the argument, declaring that "the decline of the fisheries
is no more a natural disaster than someone burning down their own
house."
IN THE THIRD WORLD, THE NUTRITIONAL DEMANDS OF GROWING
POPULATIONS AND THE SCRAMBLE FOR WORK in a declining job market keep
fishing fleets from shrinking despite the small catches available.
The threatened food crisis is illustrated by the fact that over a
billion people in developing countries rely on fish as a major source
of protein. Yet at the same time, almost 70 percent of world marine
stocks are at the limit of use or are in trouble. A few countries
are trying to halt and reverse the trend. Russia and some other
former Soviet republics as well as Canada have enacted restrictions
on fish catches. But others, including Japan, Spain and South Korea-
-with the world's largest non-local fishing industries--continue to
haul in extravagant catches: 914,000 tons, 570,000 tons and 526,000
tons respectively in a single year. The FAO says that eventually,
the worldwide fishing industry's capacity to catch fish will have to
be brought in line with the ability of fish stocks to reproduce,
which means a considerable cut in business. And weighing in
generally on what's happening in Massachusetts, the FAO says that,
"the concept of investment in disinvestment should be promoted,"
which will require sufficient political will to face the economic and
social costs accompanying shrinking fisheries.
(Globe and Mail, 25 March 1995, Toronto, Canada; Boston Globe
26 March 1995, Boston, Massachusetts)
* * * * *
THE VIETNAM GOVERNMENT'S AGRICULTURAL DEREGULATION, COUPLED WITH
INCREASED SPENDING ON HEALTH AND EDUCATION, is digging its citizens
out of some of the country's deepest pockets of poverty. In one
example, farmer Nguyen Van Cu says his has income doubled since Hanoi
eased formerly rigid agricultural restrictions, including those
which--Cu recalls--told him "when to work and when to stop." But the
World Bank reports that rural Vietnamese remain desperately poor,
with one out of every two living below the poverty line. But if the
current trend continues, the World Bank adds, Vietnam's poverty rate
could be cut in half by the end of the decade. The country's overall
economic growth topped 8 percent a year since 1992 and is projected
to continue at that pace for the rest of the century. In recent
years, an estimated 70 percent of the population has grown richer,
20 percent remained the same and 10 percent grew poorer.
SINCE THE HANOI GOVERNMENT LAUNCHED ITS REFORM PROGRAM IN 1989,
spending on health and primary education has been increased to 40
percent of the national budget. The United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) says in its Progress of Nations report that Vietnam is the
Third World's first-placed country for child survival, ahead of China
and Sri Lanka. Since 1990, the infant mortality rate has dropped to
35 deaths from 46 for every 1,000 live births. The child
immunization program has seen the number of measles cases nationwide
plummet from 149,500 cases in 1984 to only 5,000 a decade later.
Polio has virtually vanished in Vietnam, and deaths from malaria have
dropped 85 percent in the past four years.
ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL OBSTACLES TO VIETNAM'S DEVELOPMENT IS ITS
RAPID POPULATION GROWTH. Though scarcely the size of the U.S. state
of California, Vietnam has a population of over 70 million people--
well over twice that of California. And Vietnam's population is
still growing by 1.5 million people a year. Despite the nation's
miracle growth in the production of rice--the food and export staple-
-some experts fear that by the year 2020, Vietnam will once again
face a hungry future unless population growth is curbed. By 2020,
the population is projected to have nearly doubled to 120 million.
A related problem is that in its race to industrialize, the
Vietnamese government has downplayed the need for the infrastructure
necessary to maintain its pace in the agricultural field. Says
Nghiem Xuan Tue, deputy director of the Social Affairs Ministry: "If
population growth continues, it will consume all we create." To
avert that prospect, the government is taking steps to limit
population growth. As one part of that program, the government has
threatened to fire any state employee and to withdraw social welfare
benefits from any other citizens who have more than two children.
(Globe and Mail, 4 & 8 May 1995 (Com Tien & My Tho, Vietnam),
Toronto, Canada)
* * * * *
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE FACES ENORMOUSLY COSTLY PRODUCTION AND
FINANCIAL LOSSES from the worldwide pandemic of HIV/AIDS. but
according to the periodical AIDScaptions, companies are only now
beginning to take steps to cope with the situation by providing work-
based education and prevention programs. Published by Family Health
International, AIDScaptions says that of the 16 million adults
infected with HIV, 90 percent range in age from 24 to 44--the age
bracket that is the backbone of any workforce. And around the world,
8,000 more adults are being infected every day. According to author
Karen Sai, the most promising approach to structuring AIDS-prevention
programs for the workplace offers employees and their families a
complete range of formal and informal education, training and
services.
THERE ARE MULTIPLE ADVANTAGES TO SETTING SUCH PROGRAMS IN THE
WORKPLACE, says Sai, primarily stemming from the fact that it
frequently plays a central role in the lives of employees.
Workplaces are often primary community centers, says Sai, as in
Uganda, where they provide for sugar and tea plantation workers'
medical and social needs. In the United States, a study of a dozen
workplaces found that employees considered information offered
through on-the-job programs more believable than that obtained
through the media or public health messages. And, Sai says, private-
sector employers usually have greater resource bases and an
increasing incentive to support comprehensive projects for their
workers. Another important factor in the success of work-based
programs is long-term stability--necessary to carry through any
educational program that attempts to influence sexual behavior. But
Sai says that indifference and resistance to dealing with HIV and
AIDS abound around the world. In Asia, most employers are well aware
of the impact of HIV, but managers in the private sector see the
disease as "someone else's problem," and one that is "best addressed
by the medical profession and health ministries."
NEVERTHELESS, MORE AND MORE INDUSTRIES ARE ESTABLISHING IN-HOUSE
AIDS-PREVENTION PROGRAMS as management begins to realize the cost of
ignoring the problem. A study of Kenyan businesses disclosed that
the average annual cost of a comprehensive program is US$18 to $24
per worker. But if neglected, the average yearly impact of HIV and
AIDS on these companies will cost an estimated $122 per worker within
the next 10 years. Perhaps largely because of the financial
incentive, workplace programs are spreading. In Brazil, Shell Oil
has launched a project that is expected to bring AIDS-prevention
education and condoms to nearly 3,000 of its employees. A similar
program was instituted by the Tanzanian Electrical Company. In
Zambia, Barclays Bank of Zambia, Limited, acted after discovering
that the HIV-related death rate among employees increased more than
five times between 1987 and 1992--to a toll of at least 115. Now the
bank offers its employees HIV/AIDS education through lectures,
videotapes and literature, and provides free condoms. And its
personnel policy prohibits discrimination in recruitment and
termination based on HIV status.
AIDScaptions is published three times yearly by Family Health
International's AIDS Control and Prevention Project (AIDSCAP), 2101
Wilson Blvd., Suite 700, Arlington, Virginia 22201 USA. In
approximately 40 pages, the journal contains articles, news, and
opinion columns relating to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted
diseases.
(AIDScaptions, February 1995, Family Health International,
Arlington, Virginia, USA)
* * * * *
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE MAY FACE HUNGER EARLY IN THE NEXT
CENTURY because of the increasing disappearance of arable land needed
to produce adequate food. According to a study by Population Action
International (PAI), world population is already growing eight times
as fast as the cultivatable land area. To raise production levels
would require expensive and often environmentally destructive
chemical fertilizers, says the study, titled Conserving Land:
Population and Sustainable Food Production. It is estimated that in
the next century, 3 billion more people than are alive today will
have to be fed from increasingly degraded land. The signs are
already ominous. In the early 1960s, only four countries--Kuwait,
Singapore, Oman and Japan--were too land-poor to feed their
populations without highly intensive agriculture. Fortunately, all
four were wealthy enough to either import food or increase
agricultural output with sophisticated and costly modern farming
methods. But in less than a generation, the number of countries
unable to grow enough food for their populations had risen to nine,
and included the Netherlands, South Korea and Egypt. And in another
30 years, at least 17 more are expected to join the land-scarce
ranks, among them are Somalia, Bangladesh, Kenya, Mauritania and
Yemen--some of the world's poorest countries.
WHILE ADDITIONAL ACREAGE IS CONSTANTLY COMING UNDER THE PLOW,
the loss of formerly cultivated land keeps such "new" land from
increasing the arable total. It is estimated that while 100 million
hectares is newly cultivated yearly, a roughly equal area becomes too
degraded to farm. And also on a yearly basis, about 25 billion
metric tons of nutrient-rich topsoil is eroded away by wind and rain-
-and what remains is less able to hold water and can eventually
become too dense for roots to penetrate. Salination--the buildup of
salts and other minerals--is destroying one-sixth of the world's
irrigated farmland--which produces a third of all crops and half of
all cereal grains. Modern force-feeding of soil with chemical
fertilizers and pesticides not only poisons the land but destroys
beneficial organisms in the soil and pollutes sources of drinking
water, says the PAI report.
TO CHECK THE DESTRUCTION OF FARMLAND, THE PAI STUDY RECOMMENDS
A STRATEGY focusing on three points:
1) Enhancing the capability of farmers to grow more and better-
quality food;
2) Encouraging the restoration and preservation of the natural
resource base; and,
3) Supporting the ongoing decline in population growth rates by
improving health, education and economic opportunities.
THE PAI STUDY RECOMMENDS MEASURES TO EASE POPULATION DEMANDS on
finite resources. Co-authors Robert Engelman and Pamela LeRoy agree
that increasing access to education and family planning services is
the best step governments can take towards realizing population
stabilization--and thereby easing the pressure on farmers to
constantly produce more food. As Engelman concludes: "A long-term
strategy integrating agricultural development and population policies
would make possible a world in which ending hunger and conserving
resources are not at odds with each other."
(Press Release, 10 April 1995, Population Action International,
Washington, DC)
* * * * *
LIFE HAS BECOME HARDER IN SOME CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES since
they became independent of Moscow after the 1991 breakup of the
Soviet Union. Kyrgyzstan, for instance, experienced a drop of almost
one-third in its "human development index," including a rise in
infant mortality rates. Kazakstan, which the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) ranks a low 61st among 173 countries in
human development terms, has seen its economic output shrink by more
than 50 percent since achieving independence. With UNDP's help, both
countries completed locally-prepared National Human Development
Reports profiling the status of their populations. Kyrgyzstan's
report shows that it has dropped to the development level of Sri
Lanka. Unemployment has risen, income levels have fallen and the
infant mortality rate has climbed. Kyrgyzstan's report was prepared
by a group of Kyrgyz social scientists with financial support from
UNDP and the governments of Sweden and Japan. Kazakstan's report,
also prepared with outside financing, shows a decline similar to
Kyrgyzstan's. Since its 1991 independence, economic output has
shrunk by more than 50 percent and per capita income has plunged to
US$800 from $1,500.
For more information, contact: Richard Kollodge [tel: 212-906-
6776; fax: 212-906-5364] or Simona Petrova [212-906-5717] at UNDP,
United Nations DC-1, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10017 USA.
(Press Release, 4 August 1995, United Nations Development
Program, New York)
* * * * *
NGO SUPPLEMENT January 1996
For and About NGOs and their Work
JAPANESE NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs) ARE SUFFERING
FUNDING LOSSES that could affect programs in developing countries.
Diminished profits from export trading have pushed Japanese companies
to downsize and banks in that country to lower interest rates--both
of which affect the cash flow for Japanese NGOs. One of Japan's
leading environmental NGOs, the Defense of Green Earth Foundation,
says the reduction in bank interest rates over the last five years
has slashed its income from that source by at least half. Corporate
membership--in which a company joins with an NGO by donating a
certain sum of money--is another way Japanese NGOs raise funds, and
the current economic climate has caused levels of corporate
membership to drop. In 1988, an NGO called the Green Earth
Foundation had more than 100 companies registered as members. Today,
corporate membership has slipped to around 75. Another incentive
that helped Japanese NGOs financially was a Post and
Telecommunications Ministry plan that encouraged tax free donations
to NGOs. But the Nature Conservation Society says that people are
pulling out, "having second thoughts on spending money on
environmental protection" and other issues on which NGOs focus. So
far, according to one NGO spokesperson, developing country projects
already underway seem to be unaffected. But new projects under
discussion are being relegated to the back burner--waiting for a
change in Japan's economic backdrop.
(Report by Suvendrini Kakuchi, 5 December 1995, Inter Press
Service, Tokyo)
* * * * *
WOMEN'S NGOs IN ZIMBABWE HAVE SOME SUPPORT FROM THE GOVERNMENT
BUT FACE AN UPHILL BATTLE IN PROMOTING THE PROMISES OF BEIJING--the
United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held this past
September in China. According to Elizabeth Gwauza, coordinator of
the Zimbabwe chapter of Women in Law in Southern Africa (WILSA),
"most women do not want to listen to the messages of their
empowerment..." Gwauza and her colleagues have had trouble finding
audiences for their message, especially in rural areas where 70
percent of Zimbabwe's 11 million people live. According to Charles
Mtetwa, writing for the Inter Press Service, violence against women
and girls is rampant in rural Zimbabwe and few rural women openly
question their lot. Some Zimbabweans feel that women's advocacy
groups need to change their strategy. "The problem is that a lot of
donor funds have been poured into national and regional workshops
that have barely included the majority," says Dorcas Dengu, a
lecturer at a local teachers college. She adds, "the few elite women
who receive the funds hold workshops for the already enlightened."
But Gwauza denies that women's activists only function in conference
rooms. "We use pamphlets, TV ads and meetings to bring our message
across, but what can you do when you have somebody who does not want
to heed to messages of change?" Gwauza asks.
ZIMBABWE'S NATIONAL AFFAIRS MINISTER SAYS THAT HER GOVERNMENT
AIMS TO WORK WITH NGOs on realizing action points approved in
Beijing. Minister Florence Chitauro--one of three women among
Zimbabwe's 26 governmental ministers--told journalists that: "All
that is left now is [to develop] a strong women's machinery in
popularizing the [Beijing] Global Platform for Action and help in
shaping people's attitudes toward gender." Chitauro also said that
her ministry is "now working toward the alleviation of the
formalization of poverty among women." And while Chitauro called the
Beijing women's conference, "the beginning of a new era in the
struggle for women's fight for equality, development and peace,"
Florence Butegwa, the national coordinator of the Women in Law and
Development organization, says that past women's conferences have
failed to yield the desired results. Butegwa says that, "NGOs have
seen what happened after the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies
[produced at the Third World conference on Women, held in 1985 in
Nairobi] and are determined to ensure the success of the Beijing
resolutions." She adds: "Hopefully, the Beijing conference will be
different."
(Report by Charles Mtetwa, 30 October 1995, Inter Press
Service, Harare)
* * * * *
A BOOK ON HOW TO DESIGN PROGRAM EVALUATIONS IS AVAILABLE from
the Center for the Study of Evaluation at the University of
California, Los Angeles. Written to guide program managers in
planning and managing evaluations, the book is designed to answer
hundreds of questions an evaluator might ask. It offers detailed
advice, clear definitions and useful procedures in non-technical
language. Available in English, the book can be bought separately
for US$11 or as part of a nine-book Program Evaluation Kit for US$95.
Contact: SAGE Publications Ltd., 6 Bonhill St., London EC2A 4PU,
United Kingdom.
THE CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND POPULATION ACTIVITIES IS
PUBLISHING A TRAINING MANUAL SERIES, and Volumes 1 and 2 are now
available. Training Trainers in Development, the first volume in the
series, is intended for trainers of trainers in both governmental and
non-governmental development organizations. It provides specific
instructions on how to conduct sessions on 12 topics, including
training techniques, facilitation skills and evaluation of training
events. Volume 2 in the series, called Project Design for Program
Managers, addresses the life cycles of projects, community needs
assessment, project implementation planning, monitoring and
evaluation, record-keeping systems and project sustainability. Both
publications are available in English for US$12 each from: The Centre
for Population and Development Activities, 1717 Massachusetts Ave.,
NW, Washington, DC 20036 USA.
(AIDScaptions, March 1995, Family Health International,
Arlington, Virginia)
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