Distinguished
participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Holding
this International Forum on Population and Development in
China is very timely and relevant since it marks the 10th
anniversary of the landmark United Nations conference in
Cairo and its forward-looking 20-year Programme of Action.
It also takes place few weeks before the commemoration of
that occasion by the United Nations General Assembly scheduled
during its 59th session, on 14th October 2004, in New York.
We are also observing the founding of the Partners for Population
and Development.
Taking
place at the mid-point of the 20-year plan, this meeting
is an important opportunity to analyse achievements, constraints
and lessons learned and strengthen our commitment towards
full implementation of the goals of the Cairo Programme
of Action.
I
would like to thank wholeheartedly the Government of China
for hosting this Forum in Wuhan, in this wonderful location
near the Yangtze River and express our warm appreciation
to the Partners for Population and Development (PPD), under
the committed leadership of Timothee Gandaho, for joining
the Government in making the excellent arrangements. Let
me add here that this collaboration and my presence here
have a very special personal significance. In 1983, as the
first Chairman of the UN Population Award Committee, I was
closely involved in the selection of the then Chinese Minister
Qian Xinzhong as the first co-winner of the Award. And,
in 2001, as the Ambassador of Bangladesh, I had proposed
that the PPD be accorded observer status by the UN General
Assembly. So, chairing this first panel today is a very
significant occasion for me.
The
Partners and my Office in the United Nations, which is entrusted
with the responsibility for the most vulnerable countries
of the world, have consolidated their close cooperation
in the very first year of opening of the PPD representation
to the United Nations in New York, headed by Jyoti Singh
who is one of the discussants in this panel. In particular,
with a view to promoting dialogue and interaction among
relevant stakeholders, particularly among the representatives
of the Least Developed Countries and of their development
partners, on pressing human development issues, a series
of four symposia were jointly organized by our two organizations
last autumn on the broad theme of Population and the
Millennium Development Goals.
The
1994 International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD) was a watershed event that provided the international
community with a concrete and detailed plan to move ahead
with regard to a crucial element of any development effort:
population. Cairo gave us a new, comprehensive approach
to sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Conference
put human beings at the heart of concerns for sustainable
development as the most important and valuable resource
of any nation. And, for the first time, the global community
declared that women must be the centre of our efforts to
address reproductive health, population and development
issues.
In
1999, the international community gathered during a special
session of the UN General Assembly (known as ICPD+5) to
review progress towards implementing the ICPD goals and
keep the momentum steady. As Bangladesh's Ambassador to
the United Nations, it was a great honour for me to chair
that five-year review exercise that led to the adoption,
by consensus, of the Key Actions for the Further Implementation
of the ICPD Programme of Action. The Key Actions provided
a new set of benchmarks in four priority areas: education
and literacy, reproductive health care and unmet need for
contraception, maternal mortality reduction and HIV/AIDS.
The Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000
reaffirmed the international community's commitment to eradicate
poverty and ensure sustainable development for all. Through
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) renewed attention
has been given to many of the central ICPD concerns, such
as universal access to education and reproductive health
care that constitute crucial steps for eradication of poverty.
As
a matter of fact, the Programme of Action and the key actions
for its further implementation recognized the inextricable
links between the many dimensions of population issues and
the global fight against poverty and hunger. Population
and reproductive health and rights are critical determinants
of the MDGs. It is very well documented that population
trends have a significant impact on every aspect of social
and economic development. Simply put, poverty cannot and
will not be eradicated without the achievement of the ICPD
goals.
Today,
after 10 years we can safely say that that the Cairo agenda
has not remained a paper promise. It has indeed been turned
into concrete initiatives, policies, laws and programmes
that are implemented around the world and are truly making
a difference in the everyday lives of millions of people.
While many steps forward have been taken towards meeting
many of the ICPD goals, progress has been very uneven.
The
world's population is growing substantially every year,
but the pace of growth varies dramatically from one region
to another. In 2004 the world's population is nearly 800
million larger than it was ten years ago and, what is most
significant, is that 95 per cent of that population increase
occurred in the poorest regions. By 2050, nearly 90 per
cent of world population is expected to be living in developing
nations.
Population
dynamics and demographic structures play a critical role
in human progress. While aging populations would cause future
population to decline, young and rapidly growing populations,
more urbanized, in most countries will add to the social,
economic and political challenges.
Global
migration will increase both in volume and impact. This
latter issue is the focus of growing attention as a global
challenge and will be the theme for the thirty-ninth session
of the Commission on Population and Development in 2006.
Next year's session of the Commission will be dedicated
to "Population, development and HIV/AIDS, with particular
emphasis on poverty".
HIV/AIDS
possibly represents the deadliest epidemic in human history.
According to UNAIDS, more than 20 million people have already
died of AIDS and most of the 38 million infected people
are likely to die prematurely. About 95 per cent of those
living with HIV/AIDS are in developing countries. Indicators
of human development are slipping as the disease ruins families,
communities, economies and health systems in heavily affected
countries. Sub-Saharan Africa is the hardest hit region,
but serious HIV/epidemics are also emerging elsewhere. The
Caribbean has the second-highest adult prevalent in the
world. At the same time, many countries in Asia are experiencing
rising HIV prevalence. Anywhere AIDS is present in large
numbers, the economy and social fabric of the community
is deteriorating, due to loss of women and men in their
most productive years and dramatic rise in the number of
orphans. The International Labour Organization has estimated
that the AIDS epidemic lowered the world's gross domestic
product by 25 billion US$ a year between 1992 and 2002.
This
general picture presents even more staggering features when
we take into consideration the enormous development efforts
that are being undertaken by the most vulnerable countries
of the world, the fifty Least Developed Countries, and how
the unprecedented population explosion and prevailing lack
of progress in the related areas of reproduction health
and rights, education, empowerment of women, continue to
have serious impact on the attempts by these struggling
nations to achieve the MDGs.
The
Least Developed Countries face serious population challenges.
In the last ten years, while globally the average annual
rate of population growth has decreased, the LDCs' growth
rate has remained high at 2.4 per cent. Africa, the continent
that hosts 34 out of the 50 LDCs, is the fastest growing
region, notwithstanding the ravages of HIV/AIDS and other
diseases, and will add approximately a billion people to
its population by 2050.
As
recommended by the Cairo Programme of Action, a much slower
rate of growth is to be achieved, especially in the neediest
areas of the globe, in order to allow more time to attack
and eradicate poverty and hunger, while protecting the environment
and building the base for sustainable economic and human
development.
Fully
recognizing the "dragging" effect of rapid population
growth upon social and economic development efforts, the
Brussels Programme of Action adopted in May 2001
for the development of the LDCs during the present decade
devoted a whole section to the "population" issues
under its commitment entitled: "Building human and
institutional capacities". The Brussels plan reconfirms
the ICPD goals and fine-tunes them to the special circumstances
and demographic trends in the LDCs, making sure that such
fundamental issues are fully integrated in these countries'
development policies and poverty eradication strategies.
National
action needs to receive adequate, reliable and continuing
support by international cooperation. A world that spends
almost a trillion dollars a year on the military can definitely
afford to mobilize the financial resources that are needed
to close the funding gaps for building successful programmes,
building capacity to implement those programmes and sustaining
crucial partnerships among all different actors, including
civil society, advocacy groups, professional organizations,
media, parliamentarians and, of course, the United Nations
system.
The
various issues that I have briefly outlined in my remarks
as chair of the opening thematic session have been suitably
identified for more in-depth analysis in our Forum as envisaged
during the eight thematic discussions. Without diminishing
the importance of all other areas, I would like to draw
your attention to two issues of special concern: (1) the
continuing challenge of addressing the pandemic of HIV/AIDS,
and (2) the challenge of implementing effective programmes
for girls' education. I believe very strongly that substantive
progress in these two areas will empower us most effectively
to implement the goals and objectives of the ICPD.
-------------
I
would now like to introduce the keynote speaker of our session
on poverty eradication, Dr. Angang Hu.
The
keynote address will then be followed by a discussion on
country experiences in the implementation of the Cairo Programme,
led by Mr Jyoti Singh and Dr. Josephine B. Moyo.
*********
