REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OF FEMALE MIGRANT WORKERS NEEDS SPECIAL ATTENTION, MALAYSIA TELLS COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT

25 February 1997

Press Release
POP/639

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OF FEMALE MIGRANT WORKERS NEEDS SPECIAL ATTENTION, MALAYSIA TELLS COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT

19970225 Says 'Human Dimension' of Migration Must Be Addressed; Impact on Families, Importance of Reunification, Also Stressed

A call for special attention to the needs of female migrant workers, particularly in the area of reproductive health, was made this afternoon in the Commission on Population and Development.

Speaking as the Commission continued its general debate on national experience in population matters, the representative of Malaysia said her country believed it was crucial to address the human dimension of migration. Any discussion on migration needed to take into account the effect of migration on the families left behind by migrants. She stressed that migration should be regulated to protect the interests of all concerned parties, including migrants, the local people, and the sending and receiving countries.

The impact of migration on families was also highlighted by the observer from the Holy See. He strongly supported family reunification and said such reunification was not only in the best interest of each individual family, but also in the best interest of the society where the family resided. He also drew the attention of the international community to the impact on refugee children of being uprooted.

The representative of Japan said that extraordinary population movements increased the likelihood of political and economic instability in a region. He stressed the need to deter such movements by giving priority to strengthening the economic and social bases of countries or regions through steady development.

The representatives of Poland and Italy expressed concern at declining rates of fertility in their respective countries. The representative of Italy said in his country there was "an excess of low fertility". That, combined with the ageing of the total population, could have implications for the country's economic competitiveness.

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Statements were also made by the representatives of Bangladesh, Egypt, Ukraine, Peru and Jamaica. A representative of Asia-Pacific Migration Research Network also spoke.

Also this afternoon, the Director of the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Joseph Chamie, introduced a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the agreed conclusions on poverty eradication adopted by the Economic and Social Council at the coordination segment of its 1996 substantive session. Statements on that subject were made by the United States and the observer from the Holy See.

The Commission on Population and Development will meet again at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 26 February, to begin its consideration of programme questions: programme performance and implementation in 1996.

Commission Work Programme

The Commission on Population and Development met this afternoon to continue its general debate on national experience in population matters. It was also scheduled to take up the agreed conclusions adopted by the Economic and Social Council, under adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters.

The Committee had before it a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the agreed conclusions 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) which are addressed directly to the Commission on Population and Development or that have a direct impact on the Commission's work. The document highlights relevant activities planned or undertaken by the Commission.

In a letter dated 4 September 1996, the President of the Council noted a number of steps taken by the Council to harmonize the intergovernmental consideration of poverty eradication and to ensure that the different dimensions of poverty were covered in a complementary way by its functional commissions and by the Council itself. He noted that the Council had concluded that its functional commissions should focus on the linkages between their field of competence and poverty eradication. Any action taken by the Commission to implement the agreed conclusions would be included in the Secretary-General's report to the Council at its substantive session of 1997.

In its conclusions, the Council agreed that: the relevant functional commissions should, in 1999-2000, prepare inputs for the Council's review of poverty eradication; the Commission on Population and Development should address issues relating to poverty and population in the context of the outcome of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo; the Commission for Social Development would examine the theme of "social services for all" in 1999, and its examination could also serve as an input into the overall 1999 review of the Cairo Conference; and the Commission for Social Development could draw upon the work of the Commission on Population and Development on access to health care, including reproductive health care.

The Council also recommended that the Commission on Sustainable Development should rely on inputs from the Commission on Population and Development, among others, in order to enhance the implementation of those recommendations of chapter 3 (Combating poverty) of Agenda 21 that correspond to core areas of the World Summit for Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women and the International Conference on Population and Development, respectively.

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The report also states that within the context of the role of the Economic and Social Council in overall guidance and coordination, the Commission on Population and Development had primary responsibility for reviewing the follow-up and implementation of the Programme of Action of the Cairo Conference, reporting through the Council to the General Assembly, in accordance with Assembly resolution 49/128.

Introduction of Report

JOSEPH CHAMIE, Director of the Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, introduced the Secretary- General's report on agreed conclusions adopted by the Economic and Social Council at its 1996 coordination segment on coordination of the United Nations system activities for poverty eradication (document E/CN.9/1997/10). He added that observations of interest to the Economic and Social Council would be presented in 1999 at the five-year review and appraisal of the Cairo Conference.

Statements

MARGARET POLLACK (United States) said she agreed with the approach outlined by Mr. Chamie. Considerable energy had been spent on developing a doable five-year plan for the Commission and that should be followed.

JAMES McHUGH, of the Holy See, said he approved of the plan put forth by Mr. Chamie.

Mr. CHAMIE then thanked the representatives of the United States and the Holy See and reiterated that in 1999 there would be a five-year review and appraisal of the goals of the Cairo Conference.

MUHAMMED ALI (Bangladesh) said that almost immediately after achieving independence, Bangladesh attached the utmost importance to the matter of population. The Government had set the goal of reaching the replacement level of fertility by 2005, and to ensure that goal it had set up a National Committee on Population, headed by the Prime Minister. The Bangladesh Family Planning Programme had identified several major factors in population matters, including: strong and continued political commitment; establishment of a framework of social services; the participation of non-governmental organizations and the private sector; and strong financial and material support. Despite all its efforts, much work need to be done in the field, and the Government was seriously pursuing the recommendations of the Cairo Programme of Action.

International migration was an issue of growing concern, yet there was only limited understanding of the subject and incomplete data, he said. The

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relationship between development and international migration had been recognized by the Cairo Programme of Action. The scarcity of natural resources and a huge population boom had made Bangladesh one of the least developed countries in the world, and overseas employment opportunities had remained one of the few income options available to Bangladesh citizens.

A national policy on migration was of vital significance to his country, he said. His country would play an active role in all international forums in the identification of migration issues, to gain support for a United Nations conference on migration. His Government called for: an interdisciplinary and global approach to migration; adoption of policy regarding the return of migrants and their integration into society, so they could contribute to society; and support for the memorandum of understanding signed by the United Nations and the International Organization on Migration (IOM), as well as the United Nations Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and the Members of Their Families. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) should chart global, long-term strategies on international migration, with the support of other concerned organizations.

JERZY Z. HOLZER (Poland) said in recent years his country had experienced relatively high, but declining rates of unemployment. Also, since the mid-1980s the rate of population growth had considerably slowed. The number of contracted first marriages had been declining. The reason for the low propensity of youth to enter into marriage lay in their difficult economic situation. Moreover, good education had become a value in itself and most youth tended to continue their education at secondary level. In fact, since 1993 more marriages had ended -- due to death, termination, divorce or migration -- than had been contracted.

There had also been a considerable decrease in births, he said. The total fertility rate had been below the replacement rate in urban areas for a long time, but now the same was true in rural areas. There was no data available on the number of abortions performed in the country. The country's President had signed a law on abortion in January. Under that law, a woman in a difficult socio-economic situation was eligible to abort her foetus. However, several doctors had refused to perform abortions in such cases. Therefore, the Government was trying to formulate an agreement under which doctors at Government hospitals would direct patients to competent private clinics, if they themselves refused to perform such abortions.

RAJ KARIM (Malaysia) said international migration had been an issue of much public and governmental debate in Malaysia. The situation had now grown into a complex problem warranting bilateral consultations. In recent years, Malaysia had incurred an influx of migrants, and the Government had been prompted into taking measures to address and control migrant workers, a majority of which were single men in construction labor industries and single

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women in domestic or the hotel industry. The Government had also set up a means of regulating and registering the importation of foreign labor. Beginning this month, all employers were required to register undocumented migrants, under a limited time period, to prevent social and health problems and to protect migrants from abuse.

Her Government agreed that migration could be beneficial to both sending and receiving countries and subscribed to the belief that special attention should be paid to female migrant workers, particularly their reproductive health, she said. However, migration should be regulated to protect the interests of all concerned parties: migrants; local people; and sending and receiving countries. She supported the proposed technical symposium and believed it should address the human dimension of migration, especially the migration of single men and women and the effects on the families left behind. Issues should be discussed objectively and discussions should be based on facts and research findings.

MAHA HEMEDA (Egypt) said there had been an increase in the number of units that provided family planning services in her country. In addition, training programmes had been set up for doctors and nurses. There had been an effort to target and fulfil unmet needs. For example, mobile units had been set up so that services could be provided to all the provinces.

New concepts of reproductive health had been adopted in the country, she said. An additional 300 clinics had been established and information services had been intensified. The registration of non-governmental organizations involved in population matters was also being facilitated. Believing that the population problem in Egypt was caused by overpopulation and a lopsided distribution of population, the need for coordination in addressing those issues was being stressed. So far as migration was concerned, Egypt was one of the sending States to Gulf States, America and Europe, among others. It recognized that in dealing with the issue of migration, the civil society had an important role to play. The problem of internal migration in Egypt had burdened its health facilities and school services.

ANTONIO GOLINI (Italy) said Italy was the first and only country in the world in which the elderly population, over 60 years of age, exceeded the younger population, less than 20 years of age. The number of young people was declining by 2 to 3 per cent per year, while the aged population was increasing at the same rate. Revolutions in economic structures were needed to meet the revolution in the demographic structure, as the speed of the ageing process was related to trends in fertility and the size of new generations.

He said that in Italy there was an excess of low fertility, and the Government must address how long that kind of low fertility could be

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sustained, as population momentum would soon become a concern. Parallel to the ageing of the total population was the ageing of the labour force, which could have implications for Italy's competitiveness in the international arena. In the approaching era, population ageing would be very intense for developed regions and very rapid for less developed regions, and the international community must be prepared.

Regarding international migration, his Government recently approved a legal project that would be discussed in Parliament, he said. That project attempted to regularize undocumented immigrants, and approximately 230,000 people had asked to be regularized. The principle guidelines of the migration project included: a strong legal stand against clandestine immigration and trafficking; new entry of immigrants according to quotas, which balanced the needs of the labour market and family unification; bilateral agreements with Italy's main sending countries to manage migration flows; and intense and effective programmes for the integration of immigrants to ensure them of new rights, including the right to vote. His Government was confident that the project would be discussed and approved in a short time.

MASAKI KONISHI (Japan) said migration both affected and was affected by socio-economic developments. The interactive relationship between international migration and development was extremely complex and multifaceted. In addressing the issue of international migration in the context of development, the root causes of migration could not be overlooked, such as poverty. Moreover, extraordinary population movements increased the likelihood of political and economic instability in a region. In order to deter such movements, priority should given to strengthening the economic and social bases or regions through steady development.

In combating poverty at the global level, Japan attached the utmost importance to the New Development Strategy, which had been adopted by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in May 1996. That strategy had stressed the need to address development in a new, global manner; in a spirit of partnership, rather than confrontation, as the North and South had done before the end of the cold war. As the New Development Strategy was implemented, developing countries should take the initiative in formulating objective and realistic mid-to-long term development plans. By doing so, they would demonstrate their responsibility for their own development. Japan would support such initiatives and would strive to implement the strategy, in close cooperation with other donors and international organizations.

VALENTINA TARNAVSKA (Ukraine) said the population of Ukraine was 50.9 million as of January, which represented a decrease of approximately 400,000 from the previous year. The population had decreased in all regions of the country, but the drop was most dramatic in the industrialized eastern

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sections. Strengthening the family had been central to the demographic strategies of her Government, including enhancing the social benefits and allowances to families that had children.

However, the efforts under way could not halt some of the negative processes at work in Ukraine, as forecasts showed that the current trends would continue in the near future. Radioactive pollution, caused by the effects of the Chernobyl disaster, and industrial pollution continued to affect the environment. The Government was keeping close watch on the populations affected by the Chernobyl incident, and there was serious concern that in the next decade there would be further manifestations of the effects of radiation sickness, especially among children. By the year 2000 it was expected that child mortality in most affected regions would increase by 20 per cent or more.

The ageing of Ukraine's population would also increase, according to indicators, by at least 23 per cent, she said. The solution to those problems could only be found in an integrated national programme to regenerate the population. For the development of such a programme it was essential to have objective information, which would be achieved through the first Ukraine-wide census scheduled for January 1999. That large-scale statistical survey would be vital in assessing and forecasting the future of Ukraine. However, there were still some serious problems connected with establishing a logistical base, including the harsh financial constraints on the Government and a lack of the necessary equipment. Ukraine was compelled to ask donor countries and international organizations for assistance and support in the procurement of the necessary material to complete the census.

CARLOS ARAMBURU (Peru) said in recent years his Government's policy towards population programmes had become an integrated attack on serious poverty, with the political goal of reducing the number of poor families by half by the year 2000. National family planning programs had increased access to contraceptives, and the proportion of single women using effective methods had increased from one third in 1991 to two thirds in 1996. Contraceptive distribution was a national, free service with emphasis in the rural areas, where the poorest citizens and indigenous people lived. Budget problems, however, had not allowed all services to reach all the people in the rural and remote areas.

Support of Repopulation, another recent government programme, attempted to ensure that peasants displaced by terrorist activities in the past decade could return to their home communities. There were 360,000 poor peasants who had moved into the cities, and the programme's goal was that those people should return to communities with improved roads, structures and health services. The programme also addressed the environmental impact on fragile areas in the Andes and the Amazon.

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Another recent programme, he added, launched in July 1996, concerned sexual education. As the young population in Peru began to grow, the number of youth pregnancies continued to increase. The programme addressed the problems of adolescent pregnancies, from the moment they left the hospital, with guidelines for schools and families, distributed nationally. The Government was still confronting huge difficulties with the implementation of the programme, as many teachers were not psychologically prepared to instruct in sex education. The Government also needed to emphasize that sexually active youngsters should have access to contraceptives.

JAMES McHUGH, observer of the Holy See, said the human dignity and human rights of migrants should be recognized and trafficking in migrants and refugees should be prohibited and eliminated. He stressed that refugees and migrants had a right to life and the right to seek a better life. They had the right to set up home and family. The Holy See had been assisting refugees and migrants through its various charities without consideration of race, religion or sex.

The Holy See strongly supported family reunification, he said. Such reunification was not only in the best interest of each individual family, but also in the best interest of the society where the family resided. The child's interests were intricately tied up with the interests of the family. Moreover, the impact on refugee children of being uprooted from their homes must not be overlooked. Therefore, special attention had to be paid to their needs. While the problems related to migration had been recognized, a more intensive study of migration was required.

STEPHEN CASTLES, Director, Asia-Pacific Migration Research Network, said his organization was part of the activity of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the area of migration. It was comprised of a network of researchers in universities, governments and non-governmental organizations, who studied the long-term effects of migration in receiving and sending countries. There were member institutions in Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, China, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Australia. The Network also aimed to bring in additional neighbouring countries, such as Viet Nam and Papua New Guinea, among others.

The central issues were the massive transformations of economies and societies in the region and how it had led to large migrations of people, he continued. Also, the long-term effects of migration on the structures, communities and ways of life in both receiving and sending countries must be determined, as well as the possible effects on the governments of the countries concerned. The Network also worked to safeguard the human rights of participants in the migration movements, while attaining the social and cultural goals set by the governments.

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The Network faced several problems, among them the lack of sound basic research knowledge, the poor data in the region and the difficulty in forecasting long-term trends, he said. To address those problems, the Network had a four-stage strategy. The first step was to establish an international research network and encouraging researchers in the countries concerned to establish national networks. The second step was to build up technical research resources, build research teams and encourage training and communication. The third step involved carrying out national comparative research projects on migration-related issues. The fourth stage of action was to carry out comparative national analyses and disseminate the findings. At the end of its first five years, the Network would hold in a major international conference, most likely in the year 2001.

EASTON WILLIAMS (Jamaica) said that 785,000 people had emigrated legally from his country to the United Kingdom and the United States in the last few years. Most of the migrants had been between the ages of 15 and 40. In addition, a significant majority had been female and disproportionately skilled. Such migration from Jamaica had reduced population growth and manpower, although it had led to an increased flow of remittances.

In the 1990s, Jamaica had begun to experience the return of migrants, he said. Most of those had been 45 years and older, which had given rise to certain issues. Those issues and concerns of returning residents were being dealt with by a body established by the Government. In addition, the returnees had formed their own organization. Recently, it had been determined that remittances were second only to tourism in providing the country with its flow of foreign exchange. Within the country, an effort was being made to absorb the returnees in the national polity and economy, as per their skills.

He went on to say that Jamaica, an observer country at the IOM, had experienced a significant reduction in the numbers of temporary migrants sent to the United States and Canada. That reduction had resulted from the mechanization of the sugar industry.

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