‘In a World of Stark and Destabilizing Inequality’, 1994 Promise Made in Cairo Must Be Upheld, Population and Development Commission Hears as Session Opens
Among More than 40 Speakers, Many Agree Investing in Young People Would ‘Unleash a Demographic Dividend’ of Inclusive, Sustainable Growth
In a quest to reach agreement on the population issues that were central to defining and implementing a post-2015 vision for sustainable development, the Commission on Population and Development opened its forty-eighth session today under the theme, “Realizing the future we want: integrating population issues into sustainable development, including in the new agenda”.
Speaking for the Secretary-General, Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that the Commission was meeting at a time of great demographic shifts relating to youth, centegenarians and migration. He said that, given the unprecedented number of youths, there must be access to health care, including reproductive health, and decent jobs, while the greying population must live in societies where older people could enjoy the dignity and social protections they deserved.
Turning to migration as a component of development, he said that too many migrants suffered from rights violations. Addressing that issue would help them to contribute to both countries of destination and origin. In a world of stark and destabilizing inequality, where hundreds of millions faced assaults on their human dignity, the promise made in at the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo, in 1994, must be kept to meet the needs of the people while developing sustainably, he said.
In his own capacity, he noted that the session also came as the world prepared for three major conferences that would shape global sustainable development. The third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, should provide a foundation for the conferences to come on the post-2015 agenda, in New York, and on the climate change summit in Paris. He hoped for the highest-level representation at all as a demonstration of the international community’s commitment.
John Wilmoth, Director of the United Nations Population Division in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, also called the current session critical, as it took place at a time when the world was seeking to create a new, rights-based development framework to eradicate poverty and promote inclusive sustainable development that left no one behind, while ensuring that a healthy planet for future generations.
In Cairo, in 1994, he said, the world had acknowledged the importance of the population dimension, but it had also cautioned against efforts to manipulate aggregate trends, out of concern that such policies risked violating individual human rights. Even though major population trends might not be visible in the sustainable development goals, they mattered significantly. Some would even drive their outcomes. The lesson of Cairo was that the collective concerns about current or future population trends should never become a justification for violating the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals.
Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said that, as a post-2015 development agenda was designed, the Commission, by integrating population issues into sustainable development, could turn its principles and commitments into reality. Dramatic advancements could be made towards realizing the dignity and human rights for all by ensuring that the inextricable link between human rights and development was firmly rooted in the new development paradigm.
Investments in the rights and well-being of adolescents and youth would unleash a demographic dividend of inclusive, sustainable economic growth in many countries. Young people, especially adolescent girls, must be empowered to make informed decisions to have control over their bodies and to stay healthy. It was imperative to integrate population issues into development, as there could be no sustainable development without people, he said, stressing that “we cannot afford to wait, the time is now”.
In a keynote address, Tim Dyson, Professor at the London School of Economics, said that demographic transition was a very important phenomenon, stretching over many decades with profound implications for many aspects of human life. All countries faced challenges as a result of population dynamics. Demographic forces often operated in underlying ways, influencing such areas as urban and economic growth, gender relations and political participation.
Knowledge of the demographic transition was crucial to understanding development, he said. Indeed, negotiating the transition constituted a large part of what development was. A key policy prescription towards population and development issues was to make safe, effective and affordable contraception available to all who wanted to use them.
Bénédicte Frankinet, Commission Chair, agreed that with people at the centre of the process, it was critical to understand and account for demographic changes in the coming 15 years when designing and implementing the new development agenda.
Delegates also spoke on two topics in general debate — actions for the further implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action, and national experience in population matters in the context of the session’s theme.
In other business, the Chair noted that the Commission had previously elected Mesbah Ansari Dogaheh (Iran) as Vice-Chair and Bénédicte Frankinet (Belgium) as Chair. Today, it elected by acclamation Christine Kalamwina (Zambia); Lidija Bubanja (Serbia); and Rubén Armando Escalante Hasbún (El Salvador) as Vice-Chairs. Mr. Ansari Dogaheh was also designated by acclamation as Rapporteur for the session.
The Commission also adopted its agenda for the session (document E/CN.9/2015/1) as well as its organization of work (document E.CN.9/2015/L.1). Ms. Frankinet introduced the report of the Commission’s Bureau on its intersessional meetings (document E/CN.9/2015/2).
Also introducing reports today were Barney Cohen, Assistant Director, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; Benoit Kalasa, Director, Technical Division, UNFPA; and Ann Pawliczko, Population and Development Branch, Technical Division, UNFPA.
Also speaking were representatives, including at the ministerial level, from China, Liberia, Cuba, Japan, Uganda, Italy, Cambodia, Germany, South Africa (for the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Niger (for the African Group), Latvia (for the European Union Delegation), Bahrain (for the Arab Group), Ecuador (for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), Nauru (also for Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa and the Solomon Islands), Malaysia, Tunisia, Swaziland, Egypt, Burundi, Honduras, Belgium, Ghana, Sweden, Mongolia, Mexico, Indonesia, Myanmar, Finland, Brazil, Mozambique, Denmark and Uruguay.
A representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) also participated in the debate.
The Youth Ambassador for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of the Netherlands also spoke.
The Commission will meet next at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 14 April.
Opening Remarks
BÉNÉDICTE FRANKINET (Belgium), Commission Chair, said that the Commission, tasked with assessing the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, had as its theme this year — realizing the future we want: integrating population issues into sustainable development, including the post-2015 development agenda. The session provided an excellent opportunity to reach agreement on the population issues that were central to defining and implementing a post-2015 vision for sustainable development. With people at the centre of that process, it was critical to understand and account for demographic changes in the coming 15 years when designing and implementing the new development agenda.
WU HONGBO, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, presenting a statement from the Secretary-General, said that the Commission was meeting at a time of great demographic shifts relating to youth, centegenarians and migration. Given the unprecedented numbers of youths, there must be access to health care, including reproductive health, and decent jobs, while the greying population must live in societies where older people could enjoy the dignity and social protections they deserved.
Noting that more than half the world’s population lived in cities and that that proportion would continue to grow, he said that conditions must be created for sustainable urbanization. Further, irregular migration flows required means for safe and orderly migration. Too many migrants suffered from rights violations. Addressing the issue would help them to contribute to both countries of destination and origin. In a world of stark and destabilizing inequality where hundreds of millions faced assaults on their human dignity, the promise made in 1994 must be kept to meet the needs of the people while developing sustainably.
Speaking in his own capacity, he said that the Commission was meeting at a critical time as the world prepared for three major conferences that would shape global sustainable development. The third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, should provide a foundation for the conferences to come on the post-2015 agenda, in New York, and on climate change in Paris.
Noting the overlaps between the Millennium Development Goals and the sustainable development goals, he said that the latter also included commitments made in 1994, such as protecting the rights of migrants and facilitating their contributions. He emphasized the importance of planning for sustainable urban development and harnessing the productive use of migratory forces. He hoped that Government representatives at the highest level would participate in the upcoming conferences to demonstrate the international community’s level of commitment.
BABATUNDE OSOTIMEHIN, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said that, as a post-2015 development agenda was designed, the Commission on Population and Development, by integrating population issues into sustainable development, could turn its timeless principles and commitments into reality. By ensuring that the inextricable link between human rights and development was firmly rooted in the new development paradigm, dramatic advancements could be made towards realizing the dignity and human rights for all. Investments in the rights and well-being of adolescents and youth, now and throughout their lives, would unleash a demographic dividend of inclusive, sustainable economic growth in many countries. Young people, especially adolescent girls, must be empowered to make informed decisions to have control over their bodies and to stay healthy.
Noting that half of all non-communicable diseases could be attributed to behaviours that began in childhood and adolescence, such as tobacco and alcohol use, and unhealthy diets or lack of physical activity, he said it was also important to reach young people early in life to foster positive life-long health behaviour. Investing in the health, education and employment of young people today was the best investment to improve the lives of older persons tomorrow. Highlighting the challenges of inequality, economic fragilities and climate change, he said the poor and marginalized required much-needed support to build lives and livelihoods that were resilient, flexible and adaptable. Also, in light of increased migration and urbanization, investments in data and statistical capacity must be significantly increased to plan for and monitor sustainable development. It was imperative to integrate population issues into development, as there could be no sustainable development without people, he said, stressing that “we cannot afford to wait, the time is now”.
JOHN WILMOTH, Director, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said the Commission’s current session was of critical importance as it took place at a time when the world was seeking to create a new, rights-based development framework to eradicate poverty and promote inclusive sustainable development that left no one behind, while ensuring environmental sustainability that left a healthy planet for future generations. While much had been heard about the three pillars of sustainable development — social, economic and environmental — the Commission could ask where the population dimension was in this discussion. In Cairo, in 1994, the world had acknowledged the importance of the population dimension, but had also cautioned against efforts to manipulate aggregate trends, out of concern that such policies risked violating individual human rights.
Even though major population trends might not be visible in the sustainable development goals, he said, those mattered significantly, and some would even drive their outcomes. Continued rapid population growth would make it more difficult for some countries to improve health, provide adequate housing, achieve universal education, and provide adequate job opportunities over the next 15 years. Similarly, rapid population ageing would challenge the sustainability of social protection systems, in particular, old-age pension and health-care systems. It was reassuring that the sustainable development goals framework did not dictate aggregate population trends, which was consistent with the wisdom of Cairo.
However, he went on, the other extreme must also be avoided. The lesson of Cairo was that the collective concerns about current or future population trends should never become a justification for violating the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals. Population trends mattered for all three pillars of sustainable development. That was the added value brought by this Commission, he said, adding that that was why the body would matter even more looking forward to the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.
BARNEY COHEN, Assistant Director, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introducing the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Integrating Population Issues into Sustainable Development, Including in the Post-2015 Development Agenda” (document E/CN.9/2015/3), said it combined the latest available demographic data on current population estimates with the latest population projections produced by the United Nations’ Population Division, to clarify how the world was changing, both absolutely and relative to the experience of the past 15 years.
Highlighting some of the main findings in the report, he said the world’s population was projected to grow from 7.3 billion in 2015 to 8.4 billion in 2030, roughly equivalent to adding approximately 73 million people every year. By 2030, the global economy would need to support a population that was approximately 15 per cent larger than it was today. In addition, while countries will experience different rates of growth, globally, 2 billion babies would be born over the next 15 years. If the world was to achieve the new sustainable development goals and leave no one behind, then every one of those new-born children, as well as their mothers, should have access to high-quality health services throughout all phases of life. In addition, all children should be able to attend school, and no child should have to grow up malnourished or live in extreme poverty.
Over the next 15 years, he continued, the world would also need to prepare for the 1.9 billion young people who would turn 15, which was a 7 per cent increase globally over the previous 15-year period. Underscoring that young people could be an important vehicle for economic development and social change, he said there must be greater investment in secondary and tertiary education, youth-friendly health services, and opportunities for young people in the labour market.
He said that population projections also suggested that the number of women of reproductive age would increase globally by 9 per cent, and in Africa, by 45 per cent over the next 15 years. Thus, it was important to advance gender equality, ensure that women had a voice in the political process and were given the knowledge and tools to decide on the number and timing of their children. Also important was the need to prepare for a world that would be significantly older than it was today, as well as to address concerns about the well-being of older persons. With urban expansion, there must be greater attention to strengthening urban governance. Policy makers should prepare for higher levels of international migration over the next 15 years as the global economy became more integrated than ever before and ensure that efforts to improve the quality of life of the present generation were far-reaching, broad and inclusive, but did not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
BENOIT KALASA, Director, Technical Division, UNFPA, introduced a report of the Secretary-General on the Monitoring of population programmes, focusing on integrating population issues into sustainable development, including in the post-2015 development agenda (document E/CN.9/2015/4). The post-2015 development agenda, he said, would unfold amid structural demographic transformations, coinciding with ambitious aspirations for health, security and justice for present and future generations. He highlighted four key population trends: mobility and urbanization; the time-bound opportunity to enable demographic dividends; the continuing centrality of sexual and reproductive health and rights; and the critical need to strengthen the generation and use of population data for development.
Human mobility, both voluntary and involuntary, defined the context for pursuing development, he said. While urbanization offered enormous potential for development, inequalities abounded in urban spaces, particularly for young migrants, including young women, many of whom were vulnerable to violence and exploitation. Safe urban spaces across countries, strengthening literacy, ensuring reproductive health and mentoring efforts were needed. Beyond voluntary migration, millions had been displaced by conflict and natural disasters and an uncounted number were homeless. Far too many lacked security of place. Thus, the social protection of people in humanitarian crises was a growing priority of UNFPA.
Noting the “youth bulge” created as countries naturally transitioned from high to low fertility, as the young would have fewer children, he said that there was a resulting economic benefit: a high proportion of working-aged adults relative to dependents. To harness a demographic dividend, however, countries must invest in the empowerment, education and employment of young people, and assure macroeconomic and labour policies that led to an expansion of safe and secure employment, including good governance. To create the enabling conditions for that dividend, girls and women must be empowered, and universal high-quality education, tailored to new economic opportunities and secure employment, must be ensured. Furthermore, the next generation must have the rights and freedoms, knowledge and services to decide whom to marry, as well as the timing and number of children. Health systems in many countries must be strengthened, he said, also noting that the world’s vulnerability to outbreaks of disease, such as Ebola, was related to weak health systems. Finally, he appealed to Member States to “sow the data revolution in the developing world”. As for tailoring growth to age and population location, young people, industrial potential and demands were best known to the individual countries themselves.
ANN PAWLICZKO, Population and Development Branch, Technical Division, UNFPA, introducing the report of the Secretary-General on the Flow of Financial Resources for Assisting in the Implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population on Development (document E/CN.9/2015/5), said the report had been prepared in response to a request by the Commission to assist the implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action. It also complied with General Assembly resolutions 49/128 and 50/124, which called for the preparation of periodic reports on the financial resources allocated for that implementation.
She said UNFPA had been tasked with monitoring resource flows for assisting in the implementation of the Cairo plan. Each year, it collected data and reported on levels of international population assistance and domestic financial resource flows for population activities, in collaboration with country and regional institutions. The present report analysed international and domestic financial resource flows that were part of the “costed population package”, which included funding of family planning services, basic reproductive health services, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS activities, as well as basic research, data, and population and development policy analysis. The report showed that while donor assistance countries continued to increase their contributions, the rate was much lower than in the past. As the current financial situation began to slowly improve, higher rates of increase were expected.
Nevertheless, she said, current funding levels remained below the amounts necessary to fully implement the Cairo Programme of Action. That was true for all four components of the costed population package. More donor assistance was needed particularly for least developed countries as current funding levels were simply not enough to meet their growing needs, such as in reducing infant, child and maternal mortality, as well as morbidity and mortality from HIV/AIDS. As countries prepared for the 2020 round of censuses, sufficient financial resources must be made available to properly collect, analyse and disseminate the data to identify vulnerable populations and provide the evidence base needed for policy formulation and programme planning, as well as for monitoring of sustainable development goals. The Cairo plan was central to sustainable development, and therefore, financing for development must include financing for those issues.
Statements on Implementation of Cairo Programme of Action
JIN XIAOTAO, Vice-Minister for National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, said population issues related to holistic human development, and thus, it was imperative to construct systems and mechanisms that were based on the human life cycle and which prioritized investment in human beings and their holistic human development. For infants, the prevention of birth defects must be emphasized. For children and teenagers, more investments must be made in basic education, especially in rural education, to eliminate the gender gap and to enable access to knowledge at the start of their lives. For the working age population, efforts must be strengthened to promote the concept of life-long training and intensify vocational and skills training. For the elderly, social security systems, health support systems and service systems should be set up to enable greater access to better physiological and psychological support.
Keynote Address
TIM DYSON, Professor at the London School of Economics, speaking on the theme “Population Dynamics and Sustainable Development”, said that demographic transition was a very important phenomenon, stretching over many decades with profound implications for many aspects of human life. It consisted of five main processes: mortality decline, natural increase, fertility decline, urbanization, including urban growth, and population ageing. The five were causally related, with everything being “kicked off” by the reduction of the death rate. The demographic transition was essentially a period of destabilization.
He proceeded to divide that transition in half — before the decline in the birth rate, when the population was relatively young and mortality decline made it younger still, and the second half, when fertility decline raised the median age of a population. Today, all countries were either in the second half of the transition or had recently passed through it. Research suggested that demographic destabilization, represented by young, rapidly growing populations could contribute to social destabilization, while political stability and democratization could benefit from a country’s progress in the demographic transition. Thus, the aim was to get populations through the transition while minimizing the destabilizing effects. A key policy prescription towards that end was to make safe, effective and affordable contraception available to all who wanted to use them.
He said that rapid urban growth, a major challenge for many countries, which might see a doubling of the urban population every 10 years, could be addressed through family planning, which helped to lower both urban natural increase and the volume of rural to urban migration. Urbanization, however, also underpinned a great deal of development and benefitted economic growth, as it represented a concentration of demand for goods and services, and provided a pool of specialized labour and transmission of ideas. Thus, it should be welcomed, while efforts were made to slow the pace at which the urbanization occurred. He noted the impact of population growth on the environment, through the expansion of area under cultivation, deforestation, reductions in biodiversity and stress on water resources, and suggested that agricultural yields could reduce the impact.
However, he went on, the human impact on carbon and nitrogen emissions was more difficult to confront. While population growth was not the first factor behind the growth of human use of fossil fuels, it was significant. Population growth underlays growth in the release of other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide and methane, he said, noting that nitrogen fertilizers provided almost half of all nutrients in the world’s harvests. While nitrogen fertilizers could be used “more or less efficiently”, that pretty much “locks us in” to the release of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. That, he explained, had created a profound chemical dependence for humanity in the span of a single lifetime.
Turning to the economic implications of population growth, he noted that since the 1990’s, there had been recognition of a negative relationship between the rate of population growth and the rate of per capita income and that there was a “demographic dividend” from fertility decline.
All countries faced challenges as a result of population dynamics, he said. Demographic forces often operated in underlying ways, influencing such areas as urban and economic growth, gender relations and political participation. Knowledge of the demographic transition was crucial to understanding development. Indeed, negotiating the transition constituted a large part of development. Rapid population decline could be as difficult for a society to handle as rapid population growth. Addressing climate change, which had a population dimension, was crucial and would require significant adjustments for the world’s sustainability. Finally, he said, in the least demographically developed countries, people must have access to safe, effective affordable and modern means of birth control as a basic human right.
In the ensuing interactive discussion, the representative of Liberia asked the extent of Mr. Dyson’s involvement with developing countries, particularly Africa, while Cuba’s representative spoke of the need to consider the risks posed by the entirety of demographic changes when it came to the post-2015 agenda. By way of example, he said that rapid urban growth other issues, such as the provision of water and sanitation, must also be dealt with sustainably. The Commission would have to work hard to see that those and other such issues were specifically included in the post-2015 agenda. The representative of Japan asked about the future consequences of dependence on nitrogen fertilizers, while the representative of Uganda, noting Mr. Dyson’s emphasis on the importance of family planning, asked him to elaborate further on underlying impacts of demographics.
Responding, Mr. DYSON said that his experience in Africa was very limited and that he was conveying the results of extensive research by economists from around the world. His own work focused on India. As an academic, he said, his influence came primarily from teaching. He agreed with the representative of Cuba that, while population factors were important, they were not the only ones. In response to Japan’s representative, he suggested she look at the work of Vaclav Smil at the University of Manitoba, also noting that the degree of dependence was related to population density. The greater the population, the greater the use of nitrogen fertilizers, he said. Those fertilizers were used on the great industrial farms of North America and also on the rice paddies of Asia. All released nitrous oxide into the atmosphere, he said, adding that people must be made aware of that. He then noted that urbanization was a good example of the ways that demographics worked sub-structurally. While many countries attempted to rein in urban growth by holding people in rural areas or creating new towns, those efforts did not work; family planning policies could affect urban growth rates.
Additional Statements on Cairo Programme of Action
INIGO LAMBERTINI (Italy), citing the need to ensure that the most critical parts of the Programme of Action were achieved, stressed those concerning the rights to freedom, dignity, education and universal access to resources, including to sexual and reproductive health. Italy had consistently worked to eliminate all practices that harmed women and girls, and would continue to fund the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)/United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint programme on Female Genital Mutilation. The positive role of migrants in reducing poverty through remittances should also be recognized, he said, noting Italy’s efforts to reduce the cost of remittances to no more than 5 per cent, and create an ad hoc working group on the matter. On the issue of aging, he said traditional support systems for older persons were weakening and pensions, where they existed, were under stress. Those challenges also needed to be addressed.
RY TUY (Cambodia) said his country had made considerable progress in adopting and implementing national development policies and strategies to achieve better development results in order to improve gender equality, equity and women’s empowerment, address the issues of adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights, and promote integration of population dynamics and trends into development planning and policymaking, among others. Recognizing the impact on poverty of population dynamics, reproductive health and gender issues, his Government would strive further to improve the standard of living of its people and integrate the population and development agenda in a broad-based process of inclusive sustainable development.
HEIKO THOMS (Germany) said that, while the agenda of the Cairo Conference was broad, it placed specific importance on sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. Through the Programme of Action and the companion document for its further implementation, the international community had committed itself to strengthening promotion and protection of those rights. As improvements in maternal mortality and access to contraceptives had been only modest, it was important to fully implement the Programme, as well as the recommendations of the review process last year. Germany considered sexual and reproductive health and rights a prerequisite for sustainable development and poverty reduction, and strongly advocated for comprehensive sexuality education. Efforts to meet people’s needs, improve their lives and to safeguard future generations required effective data collection and analysis.
VINICIUS CARVALHO PINHEIRO, International Labour Organization (ILO), speaking also for the World Bank, UN-Women and the Global Migration Group, said that, while the main objectives of the Programme of Action had been integrated into the Millennium Goals, migration had not been included. This year offered an opportunity to address that omission. He welcomed the inclusion of migration in the draft sustainable development goals proposed by the Open Working Group. Going forward, development indicators should be used for global monitoring and for addressing safe migration. Disaggregated data should be collected and used for displaced persons, refugees and Stateless persons, while a dedicated capacity-building initiative was needed to strengthen the collection, analysis and use of migration data. Indeed, migrants filled crucial labour-market gaps and contributed to the cultural and social life of their host countries. As such, the transfer of remittances should be made cheaper by creating competitive markets.
Statements on National Implementation
JEREMIAH NYAMANE KINGSLEY MAMABOLO (South Africa), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said that, while significant progress had been achieved in the Cairo Programme of Action, major gaps remained. The provision on women’s access to health care remained a cause for concern. As both non-communicable and communicable diseases remained a challenge, health systems needed to be strengthened. Efforts must be redoubled in the fight against spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola and other infectious diseases. As social exclusion remained a challenge by virtue of growing inequalities, Governments must strengthen policies to promote and protect the needs of those in vulnerable situations. Also, access to education for young girls must be improved. Noting that poverty eradication continued to be the biggest global fight, he said macroeconomic and social policies should focus on job creation, while developed countries should fulfil their official development assistance (ODA) commitments.
BOUBACAR BOUREIMA (Niger), speaking for the African Group, said that 65 per cent of the continent’s population was under 35 years old, an upsurge that should create demographic dividends. For that to happen, States required capacity building to help young people better access financing and participate in the development process. Too many women and children died each year of preventable disease, in part because access to health-care professionals during pregnancy and childbirth was limited. Globally, there were more than 358,000 maternal deaths each year, 53 per cent of which in Africa, he said, highlighting the need to strengthen efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and improve access to sexual and reproductive health services.
In addition, he said, gender equality and women’s empowerment was needed to ensure inclusive economic growth, and those issues which should be integrated into all policies and programmes, both nationally and throughout the United Nations. Women’s empowerment was a precondition for progress in areas such as poverty, hunger and disease prevention. African leaders had shown a commitment to foster progress nationally and regionally, he said, citing a strategic programme between the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Union. As well, the African Union had launched in 2010 the International Decade for the African Woman, and established a fund to carry out related activities. While maternal and child mortality due to malaria and tuberculosis had declined, he was concerned that abortion and other obstetric procedures were a main cause of maternal death in Africa, expressing “zero tolerance” for harmful practices against women and girls and citing the Union’s measures to eliminate female genital mutilation.
JĀNIS MAŽEIKS (Latvia), speaking on behalf of the European Union Delegation, said the empowerment and human rights of women and girls, as well as efforts to end discrimination and violence against them, must be at the core of the post-2015 agenda. Progress must be accelerated to finish the Millennium Development Goals, especially on maternal health and universal access to reproductive health. He voiced concern about the slow progress on maternal mortality and morbidity, and access to modern contraceptives, hindering couples’ right to decide freely on the number and timing of children. “Women must have access to resources on equal terms with men,” he said.
Strong legislation and law enforcement to secure their rights was not only a State obligation, but a precondition for eliminating abuse, such as female genital mutilation, he continued. More broadly, the emergence of age groups with critical needs must be recognized, among them, the young and elderly, and people with disabilities. Migration was a key dimension of global population dynamics with clear impacts on gender equality and access to basic services, including education. Stressing the importance of the collection and analysis of local and national population data, he said robust monitoring and accountability mechanisms would improve the credibility, ownership and effectiveness of the 2014 agenda of the International Conference on Population and Development Programme International Conference on Population and Development Programme and the post-2015 agenda.
JAMAL FARES ALROWAIEI (Bahrain), speaking for the Arab Group and associating with the Group of 77 and China, said that, in addressing population and development, it was important to promote human rights, international law, including the right to decent living conditions, the right to food and water, rule of law, good governance, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. Also important was empowering youth as they presented potential and could contribute to the implementation of the development agenda. While population issues must be integrated into the 2015 development agenda, there must also be requisite funding for implementation. He called for a more concerted effort and cooperation with regional and international organizations to build capacities in that regard.
ANDRÉS FIALLO (Ecuador), speaking for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), strongly supported the Cairo mandate beyond 2014, as well as the inclusion of population issues in the post-2015 agenda. The Open Working Group report on the sustainable development goals should not be renegotiated. While progress had been made in the areas of gender equality, gender pay inequality had not been resolved, and health and reproductive rights were not yet being enjoyed by many women in vulnerable situations. It was important to continue work to prevent early pregnancy, a persistent challenge in his region. It was also important to enhance women’s access to education, regardless of their migratory status, as well as to health care, including sexual and reproductive health and rights.
In his region, he said, one quarter of the population was young, which was a unique opportunity to increase social investment in them. The post-2015 agenda should offer solutions to structural problems faced by developing countries, allowing them to attain the fullest well-being possible for their people. In that context, he supported the concept of structural change to attain equity and equality. He reiterated the Community’s commitment to the 2013 Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, urging attention to the determinants and consequences of demographic trends, maternal and child mortality, and sexual and reproductive health, among other issues.
MARLENE MOSES (Nauru), also speaking for the Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa and the Solomon Islands, said the post-2015 development agenda, including the sustainable development goals, was central in those countries’ efforts to achieve the Cairo objectives. For small island developing States, it was also important to fully implement the SAMOA Pathway, which was a country-driven document that was adopted by the international community last year. While it was often said that population-reduction policies were the solution to achieving sustainable development, such a narrow focus missed the reality that human beings were the solution, rather than the impediment to sustainable development. Country-driven approaches were more likely to be successful and facilitate progress on a broader range of priorities, as opposed to pushing one above all others. Underscoring the importance of implementation and partnerships, she called on developing countries to acknowledge the responsibility they bore in the international pursuit of sustainable development and encouraged their partners to continue to improve their efforts in that regard.
ROHANI ABDUL KARIM, Minister for Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia, said that, while her country had achieved most of the Cairo goals and objectives, ageing had had profound effects on its size and composition. Malaysia was expected to be in the category of ageing nations by 2030, with older persons constituting more than 15 per cent of the population. In 1995, Malaysia had outlined a national policy for the elderly, and a year later, an action plan. Ageing posed challenges in the areas of health and savings among older people, and increased demand for public facilities. As such, Malaysia had extended the retirement age to 60 years for public- and private-sector employees, and created a private retirement scheme to offer an alternative savings channel. Citing an increased demand for day care and institutional care for elderly persons, she said the Government was providing residential homes and long-term care facilities for low-income people.
PRINCE HLANGUSEMPHI, Minister for Economic Planning and Development of Swaziland, associating with the Group of 77 and China, said population issues had been integrated in his country’s key national policy and strategy documents, including the national development strategy, national youth policy and national health policy. However, the classification of his country as middle-income, as well as its recent reclassification as per the UNFPA’s current strategic plan, precluded the country from receiving support for service delivery, and the resultant drastic funding cut would militate against the achievement of the Cairo goals. Nevertheless, Swaziland remained fully committed to the Cairo agenda and would continue to ensure that its integration in the post-2015 development agenda.
SAID AÏDI, Minister for Health of Tunisia, underscored his country’s commitment to international conventions and the inclusion of population issues in development policies and strategies. His Government had adopted a policy on the integrated development of the population in which sexual and reproductive health was featured and which included access to safe services without exclusion. The 2014 Constitution supported that progressive approach and would build on what had been achieved in the social, health and environmental spheres. Tunisia also had developed a national family planning programme. Such efforts had led to “major changes” in the Tunisian woman, both physically and morally. For example, seven of the 77 years of her life expectancy was dedicated to maternity. The percentage of a woman’s lifetime spent being pregnant and in the perinatal period had been reduced. He reiterated the appeal to all development stakeholders to help meet the needs of vulnerable populations, especially Palestinians.
HALA MOHAMED ALY YOUSSEF ELSAYED, Minister for Population of Egypt, said one of the thorniest issues requiring the region’s utmost attention was the “youth bulge” and the phenomenon of the “brain drain”. Her country, with 88 million inhabitants, was the most populated Arab nation and one of the most densely populated African nation. It, thus, considered population to be the cornerstone of its national sustainable development strategies. Those relied on young people, who constituted about two thirds of the Egyptian population. Her country worked on efficiently implementing those strategies by directing youth as the primary vehicle of demographic dividends and the key engine for fostering development at all levels. Its ultimate target was to have young people shape their future and create “brain gain” for future generations.
CLOTILDE NIRAGIRA, Minister of National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender of Burundi, associating with the Group of 77 and China, and the African Group, said her country had participated in the General Assembly special session on 22 September 2014 and supported resolution 65/234 on the follow-up to the Cairo programme. She stressed the importance of completing the Millennium Development Goals agenda, especially vis-à-vis maternal health and mortality. Burundi would work to improve health systems and universal access to those services, ensuring people’s life-long right to health. It was also committed to promoting investment in young people, including in the areas of sexual education and respect for culture and customs. Yet, demographic challenges would likely mortgage Burundi’s ability to achieve some goals: the fertility index was 6.4 children per woman and people under the age of 25 comprised 65 per cent of the population. Despite that, Burundi would adopt laws, policies and programmes to protect human rights and achieve inclusive and sustainable development.
ANA AMINTA MADRID, Minister for the Women’s National Institute of Honduras, said her country’s population was changing given changes in mortality and fertility rates. Between 2015 and 2025, the working population between the ages of 15 to 25 would outstrip the aging population. In that regard, her country had started to create 150,000 new jobs and implemented a multisectoral plan to prevent adolescent pregnancy. Also, it was important to prioritize the needs of women and young children and those in vulnerable situations, including the indigenous, so that all could enjoy a better life. Her country also wished to guarantee human rights, non-discrimination and equality of opportunity in all spheres of development. Work in that regard was not easy and required the commitment and cooperation of all States.
ALEXANDER DE CROO, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Development Cooperation of Belgium, said that, since population issues were central to the post-2015 agenda, Governments had the responsibility to integrate contrasting dynamics in policy planning. More than half of the global population was women, and yet, everywhere in the world, they were fighting for rights that were key to human development. Young people needed access to information to make informed choices and to enjoy their sexuality, while the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people should be upheld more vigorously. Quality education was key to transforming demographic growth into a true demographic dividend. Also true was to need empower women and girls through knowledge. On gender-based violence, Governments must ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice. Every child born had the right to be registered — and thus to exist. Governments must establish a base of demographic data that would allow them to provide adequate health care and education, balance resources and draft long-term policies.
COMFORT DOYOE CUDJOE-GHANSAH, Minister in Charge of Social and Allied Agencies, Office of the President of Ghana, associating with the Group of 77 and China, cited examples of her country’s commitment to the Programme of Action, including the 1994 revision of the 1969 national population policy and establishment of the National Population Council. Ghana’s policy aimed to systematically integrate population variables into all aspects of development planning. With that in mind, Ghana had developed “population integration modules” and related computer software applications to help metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies prepare their development plans. However, “considerable” logistical, funding and capacity challenges had hindered those efforts. Ghana supported the integration of population issues into the sustainable development goals, including reproductive health and family planning.
ULRIKA MODÉER, State Secretary of Sweden, said her country’s journey from a poor country with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the West, to one with high life expectancy had been positive. Sweden’s firm support for universal access to education and health, including sexual and reproductive health education and services, was part of its success, as were efforts to bolster gender equality and women’s rights. Those rights included that to decide freely on the number and spacing of children and to participate in the labour market. A primary cause of dropouts among girls was early or forced marriage or pregnancy, making it crucial to offer girls comprehensive sex education, youth-friendly services and contraceptives. Sweden stood by its commitment to contribute 1 per cent of its gross national income to development cooperation, and would launch a strategy for sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa.
JIN XIAOTAO, Vice-Minister of the National Health and Planning Commission of China, said the world found itself in ever more complex demographic dynamics entailing growth in population, as well as in ageing, migration and urbanization. As the world’s most populous country, China honoured its commitments to the Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals. It had made proactive efforts towards addressing population issues in a comprehensive manner with Chinese characteristics and stood ready to share its practices. The country was refining its population policy to foster sustainable development, rational migration and healthy ageing. It sought to promote information and communication technologies to improve demographic data and boost international cooperation. As it continued to face severe challenges, China would work on understanding and handling the relationship between population and sustainable development, enhance urban planning and development, and increase investment in the health sector. It would also enhance the social security and old-age support systems, and “face up to” diversifying family forms.
ATARMAA DASHDORJ, Deputy Minister for Health and Sport of Mongolia, said that, in the past two decades, maternal and child mortality rates in her country had been reduced by more than four times. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS had been placed under control, while sexual and reproductive health services had become more available and accessible, particularly through the nationwide tele-medicine network. Also, comprehensive sexuality education had been included in the secondary school curriculum. More importantly, the legal and institutional environmental had significantly improved, with the enactment of several amendments to laws including on family and social protection issues. Nevertheless, challenges remained. Inequalities had been widening in terms of access to quality social services and equal opportunities between men and women. Also, several factors, such as the growth of the youth and elderly populations and urbanization, were putting considerable pressure on resolving social issues and providing social services in urban areas.
PATRICIA CHEMOR RUIZ, General Secretary of the National Population Council of Mexico, said her country was committed to the sustainable development goals. Population was a key dimension of such efforts. Mexico was working to provide opportunities and leveraging demographic changes in ways that favoured economic and social development. Amid demographic challenges, it had established a new legal framework for population. The participation of civil society was fundamental to following up on public policies. Eradicating poverty and hunger was a priority, notably through a programme for improved access to education and food for 6.1 million families. The Government also was working to prevent obesity and diabetes, and had vaccinated 85 per cent of the population. It had a national strategy to prevent adolescent pregnancy in which the three branches of Government were involved. In the area of urban planning, she highlighted a focus on “productive settlements”. At the global level, Mexico encouraged cooperation and would exchange its experiences in addressing demographic challenges.
SUDIBYO ALIMOESO, Deputy Minister for Family Welfare and Family Empowerment, National Population and Family Planning Agency of Indonesia, associating with the Group of 77 and China, said that, more than 20 years since its adoption, the Cairo Programme of Action was still relevant to his country. Its current national policies, the “Nawa Cita” principles, were in line with the Programme, integrating population issues into sustainable development. In the medium-term national development plan 2015-2019, population management and family planning had been identified as one of four key strategies to improve the Indonesians’ quality of life and was it linked with other key strategies and programmes, such as those dedicated to gender equality, women’s empowerment and child protection, and enhanced health access and services. With regard to the deliberation of a new global development agenda, he said it was important to take into account sustainable growth with equity, increased mobility and migration, means of implementation and the creation of an enabling environment.
THEIN THEIN HTAY, Deputy Minister for Health of Myanmar, said her country would make all its best efforts to mainstream the recommendations highlighted in the reports into its national post-2015 development agenda. Detailing her country’s achievements and challenges in population and development issues, she highlighted progress in sexual and reproductive health and rights aligned to the International Conference on Population and Development goals. Myanmar looked forward to the contribution of sustainable development goals to improved maternal, neonatal and infant health, which created linkages between sexual and reproductive health and HIV at the policy, systems and services delivery levels. The country would appreciate guidance and support from the Commission as work continued to ensure the integration of population and health issues into the post-2015 development agenda.
JANNE TAALAS (Finland), associating with the European Union, stressed the need to create platforms for young people to be fully involved in decision-making on issues related to their lives. They should have the right to affordable and accessible sexual and reproductive health services, without fear of discrimination, coercion, violence or stigma. Investing in sexual and reproductive rights had a wider benefit across nations. Far too many people were being left behind, which seriously impacted their future. Reducing adolescent pregnancies and addressing the contributory factors were critical in that regard. Today’s generation of youth was the largest in history and their potential should not be wasted.
ANTONIO DE AGUIAR PATRIOTA (Brazil) said more work remained to be done this week, as not all elements in the working text had been held up to the same standard. In particular, all vulnerable groups should be named, including through a specific reference to sexual orientation and gender identity. It was essential to refer to indigenous peoples and persons of African descent. Also, it would be reasonable to expect that, in the twenty-first century, there would be advancement on the subject of families in their various forms. The moment had come to recognize sexual rights as a universal aspiration. He hoped that consensus would be found on themes that were closely related to population and development, such as inequality and comprehensive sexuality education, among others.
ANTONIO GUMENDE (Mozambique), associating with the Group of 77 and China and the African Group, said his country had seized the opportunity and the potential of youth, which represented 46 per cent of the country’s population, to accelerate economic growth. To address a number of challenges, including youth unemployment, promotion of economic growth, enhancement of sexual and reproductive health services, respect for human rights and expansion of access to family planning services, Mozambique had adopted and put in place a set of instruments, such as the national population policy and youth policies and national development strategy, among others, to provide guidance on key population challenges and address specific problems affecting youth, including unemployment.
LOTTE DIJKSTRA, Youth Ambassador for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of the Netherlands, stressed the importance of reflecting the rights of young people in the post-2015 development agenda, including in the accountability frameworks, indicators and means of implementation. The unprecedented 1.8 billion young people on the planet could contribute to sustainable development only if circumstances were created that allowed them to flourish. Young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights were crucial in that regard, which comprehensive sex education could help promote. As a peer educator, she had often seen young people’s relief when their questions regarding sexuality were answered. “I believe that my peers and I can live to see the day that HIV, unwanted pregnancy and violence against women and girls have become history, if we take action now,” she said.
ERIK LARSEN (Demark), associating with the European Union, said human rights and gender equality were the cornerstone of sustainable development. The principles and actions that came out of the Cairo Conference still guided international efforts. The human rights of all women, men, adolescents and youths to make decisions on issues involving them must be ensured and the post-2015 framework must include a stand-alone goal on gender. Harmful practices committed against women and girls must be ended, he said, stressing his country’s commitment to ensuring women’s full participation in all aspects of life. Sound public policy decisions aimed at harnessing the demographic dividend would have to be founded on respect for human rights.
GONZALO KONCKE PIZZORNO (Uruguay), associating with the Group of 77 and China, as well as CELAC, said poverty was a multidimensional phenomenon that could not be measured by per capita income alone. Therefore, the post-2015 agenda should develop an anti-poverty campaign that was inclusive and creative in addressing those various dimensions. Uruguay had achieved successes in the fight against poverty through prudent taxation and redistributive policies, and a focus on the most vulnerable populations. The country had taken a cross-cutting approach to gender equality and ensured universal access to sexual and reproductive health services. The new global development agenda must not only focus on the needs of minorities and vulnerable groups but also ensure that their rights were fully upheld.