THIRTIETH SESSION OF COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT AT HEADQUARTERS, 24 - 28 FEBRUARY
Press Release
POP/635
THIRTIETH SESSION OF COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT AT HEADQUARTERS, 24 - 28 FEBRUARY
19970221 Background Release International migration, with special emphasis on the linkages between migration and development and on gender issues and the family, will be the central theme of the thirtieth session of the Commission on Population and Development, to be held at Headquarters from 24 to 28 February.The Commission, founded in 1946 and originally known as the Population Commission, was given a new impetus by the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994. Following that Conference, the General Assembly adopted resolution 49/128 changing the name of the Commission to the Commission on Population and Development. It also decided that the Commission should meet annually beginning from 1996, and be charged with monitoring, reviewing and assessing the implementation of the Cairo Conference's Programme of Action at the national, regional and international levels.
The membership of the Commission, originally 12, has been increased a number of times. It now includes 47 members (as a result of Assembly resolution 50/124). The expanded Commission met for the first time in New York from 26 February to 1 March 1996.
Its central theme for this session, "international migration, with special emphasis on the linkages between migration and development and on gender issues and the family", includes issues that have been on the international agenda for many years, as well as new and emerging issues. Reports before the Commission shed light on initiatives taken by States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations to address those issues and identify future challenges.
For example, reports under consideration by the Commission indicate that, due to growing demographic and labour-market imbalances, widening disparities in growth and development between countries and regions, and sweeping changes in global political and economic systems, migration pressures intensified in the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s. As a result, new areas of concern emerged.
Those new areas of concern to be considered by the Commission include: the possible negative impact of short-term migration on working conditions in host countries; migration pressures due to climatic change; the protection of migrant women and children from abuse by their sponsors; the right of
receiving countries to regulate access to their territory; the adverse consequences of forced migration; the situation of persons whose asylum claims have been rejected; the trafficking in women and children, prostitution and coercive adoption; and the sudden and massive arrival of refugees in need of international protection.
The Commission will examine those issues first during a general debate on national experience in population matters. Following that, it will look at the follow-up to the Cairo Conference's recommendations concerning international migration, as well as world population monitoring focusing on international migration. In that context, the activities of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) Task Force on Basic Social Services for All, as well as those of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, will be reviewed. Reports on population monitoring world demographic trends, monitoring of population programmes and the ACC Task Force are among those before the Commission.
The Secretary-General's concise report on world population monitoring, 1997: international migration and development (document E/CN.9/1997/2), prepared by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, states that international migration occurs when a person who lives in one country moves to another. However, not every person who crosses an international border is an international migrant. Therefore, it is necessary to set criteria to differentiate international migrants from the generality of international travellers. The report emphasizes three common threads running through all discussions of migration: the lack of migration data; the absence of a coherent theory to explain international migration; and the very weak understanding of the complex interrelationships between migration and development.
Commenting on the role of international migration in the growth of population, the report states that 45 per cent of the overall population growth in the more developed regions from 1990 to 1995 was attributed to net international migration. On the other hand, international migration lowered slightly the overall growth rate of the population in the less developed regions by 3 per cent. The number of international migrants (foreign-born stock) in the world rose from 75 million in 1965 to 120 million in 1990. Despite such accelerating growth, by 1990 international migrants accounted for just 2.3 per cent of the total population of the world. However, their distribution is far from uniform, says the report.
While the proportion of international migrants among the total population of developing countries remains low (1.6 per cent of the total), international migrants constitute 4.1 per cent of the population of developed countries, according to the Secretary-General's report on world demographic trends (document E/CN.9/1997/9). Thus, proportionately, international migration continues to have greater numerical importance for the developed
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world. By 1990, Europe and Northern America were host to 25 million and 24 million international migrants, respectively. In the developing world, Asia has been hosting the largest number of migrants in the world, 43 million in 1990.
Another notable trend in the 1990s has been the feminization of labour migration, particularly Asian labour migration, according to the report. As to the causes of international migration, there is no comprehensive theory which explains it. Wage differentials, excessive population, environmental change, poverty and violation of human rights were some of the possible reasons for migration, the report states.
Since the Population Conference, several countries have formulated international migration policies, passing legislation or modifying laws in response to the Conference's Programme of Action, according to the Secretary- General's report on monitoring of population programmes (document E/CN.9/1997/3). Other States have addressed such issues as: protecting basic human rights and eliminating discrimination against migrants, particularly women; promoting integration; and refugee concerns. Cooperation and dialogue between countries of origin and countries of destination has been reported.
However, little activity has been reported on policies regarding admission of family members for reunification purposes, although some countries reported policies in place before the Conference. Similarly, few countries have reported implementing special programmes to promote social and economic integration of documented migrants or passing anti-discrimination laws to protect them.
Following the Population Conference, there have been several regional and subregional meetings to address the issue, including: the Regional Conference on International Migration in Northern and Central America, held in Puebla, Mexico, in March 1996; the Mediterranean Conference on Population, Migration and Development, held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in October 1996; and the Ministerial Session of the Southern African Ministers Conference on Population and Development, held in Pretoria, South Africa, in October 1996. Moreover, international migration has been on the agenda of every major international conference since the Population Conference.
The challenges in implementing international migration policies, especially at the national level, are many, according to the report. Governments must resolve such basic issues as how to: formulate policies that will balance the interests of the migrant, the State and the international community; strengthen migration controls while remaining open and democratic; and place migration in the larger context of foreign and domestic policy goals. In addition, they must study the options available to curb the flow of undocumented migrants and, at the same time, ensure that persons who need international protection receive it. Moreover, they must resolve the problem
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of addressing labour shortages by importing foreign labour or turning to solutions such as exporting jobs.
Further, as pointed out in the report, financial constraints remain an obstacle to the implementation of programmes in international migration for many developing countries. Historically, the majority of funding for population programmes has been earmarked for reproductive health/family planning programmes. As a result, scant financial resources remained for international migration activities. Therefore, donor agencies and governments must be encouraged to allocate a certain percentage of their funding for population assistance to migration activities. In addition, more information, education and communication were necessary concerning international migration.
The Commission on Population and Development should urge governments to concern themselves with questions of migration and development, and to identify the causes of migration so that they can formulate more responsive policies, the Secretary-General's report states. Governments should be urged to ensure that population movements, both temporary and permanent, are orderly, and that migrants are treated not as commodities, but as human beings with basic human rights. Of particular concern is the situation of women and children migrants, who must be protected from discrimination, abuse and exploitation. There is also an urgent need to address gender issues and the special concerns of the family. Towards that end, governments should be urged to collect migration data by gender, and particular attention should be paid to the special needs of refugee women and children. Non-governmental organizations working in international migration should be sensitive to the dynamics of cultural relations and to gender issues, including the special needs of women migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, according to the report of the ACC Task Force on Basic Social Services for All (document E/CN.9/1997/4), which presents an overview of the activities of the Task Force, in particular those of the Task Force's working group on international migration. The report states that gender-sensitivity and culture-sensitivity training should be a requirement for all intervening organizations and bodies, and special efforts must be undertaken to provide gender-sensitive human rights education and training to all public officials who deal with migration and refugee issues.
Asked to identify the most important objectives of the Population Conference's Programme of Action, non-governmental organizations decisively accorded the highest priority to addressing the root causes of migration, especially those related to poverty, according to the Secretary-General's report on activities of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in the area of international migration (document E/CN.9/1997/5). Protection was the next greatest concern, with several organizations identifying the need to ensure protection against racism, ethnocentrism and xenophobia and to eliminate discriminatory practices against documented migrants, especially women, children and the elderly.
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Documentation
The following documents, used to prepare this background press release, will each be summarized in greater detail when they are taken up by the Commission: report of the Secretary-General on world population monitoring, focusing on international migration and development (document E/CN.9/1997/2); report of the Secretary-General on monitoring of population programmes (document E/CN.9/1997/3); report of the ACC Task Force on Basic Social Services for All (document E/CN.9/1997/4); report of the Secretary-General on activities of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in the area of migration (document E/CN.9/1997/5); report of the Secretary-General on progress of work in the field of population in 1996 (document E/CN.9/1997/7); note by the Secretary-General on the proposed programme of work in population for the biennium 1998-1999 (document E/CN.9/1997/8); report of the Secretary- General on world demographic trends (document E/CN.9/1997/9); and a note by the Secretary-General on the agreed conclusions 1996/1 adopted by the Economic and Social Council at its 1996 coordination segment on coordination of the United Nations system of activities for poverty eradication (document E/CN.9/1997/10).
Membership
Members of the Commission are elected for a term of four years by the Economic and Social Council, on the following basis: 12 from African States; 11 from Asian States; five from Eastern European States; nine from Latin American and Caribbean States; and 10 from West European and Other States. There are two vacancies in the Latin American group and one in the Asian group. Thus, the current 44 members of the Commission are: Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Sudan, Syria, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, and Zambia.
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