SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES 1997 LAUREATES AT UN POPULATION AWARD CEREMONY

10 June 1997

Press Release
SG/SM/6253
POP/648

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES 1997 LAUREATES AT UN POPULATION AWARD CEREMONY

19970610 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Elizabeth Aguirre de Calderon Sol from El Salvador, Toshio Kuroda from Japan, Mechai Viravaidya from Thailand Winners of 1997 Award

Following is the statement of Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the 1997 United Nations Population Award Ceremony, at Headquarters today:

I have great pleasure in welcoming all of you to the United Nations Population Award Ceremony.

This is the fifteenth anniversary of the United Nations Population Award. It was created in 1981 to honour outstanding contributions to the world of population. In particular, it was intended to recognize new ideas and to highlight good practice. I believe it has succeeded in its objectives, as this year's honorees amply attest.

The intergovernmental Population Award Committee has, as usual, shown great innovation. Within the mandate entrusted to it by the General Assembly, it has acknowledged the exceptional excellence of the credentials of this year's individual nominees by choosing three laureates instead of the habitual two, and all in the individual category.

The three distinguished winners this year have each blazed a trail in the area of their work. And, most important, they have had a multiplier effect. Each has inspired thousands of committed workers in the field of population.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome and honour Elizabeth Aguirre de Calderón Sol from El Salvador, Professor Toshio Kuroda from Japan, and Senator Mechai Viravaidya from Thailand.

Señora Aguirre de Calderón Sol from El Salvador was President of the "Brigade for Social Development" in her country in 1989. She is also Director of the National Family Secretariat of El Salvador. She provided inspiring leadership at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women. In sum, Señora Aguirre has demonstrated real and lasting commitment to women's empowerment and human- centred development.

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I have pleasure equally in welcoming and congratulating Professor Toshio Kuroda, Director Emeritus, Nihon University Population Institute of Tokyo. He has been selected for his contribution of more than half a century of scientific studies, writing, teaching, technical assistance and general leadership in population issues, not only in Japan, but throughout Asia and the world. Often referred to as the Dean of Asian demographers, Professor Kuroda began his career in 1947 at the Institute of Population Problems in the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Professor Kuroda's career has spanned a broad range of activities: he has represented Japan at the United Nations Population Commission and the Stockholm United Nations Conference on the Human Environment; he has served as an advocate, adviser and resource person for NGOs and parliamentarians; and he is a key researcher for the well-known Mainichi Shimbun, the Japanese newspaper and research organization. Professor Kuroda's research has covered the gamut of population issues, including, and especially, fertility, family organization, migration and urban affairs.

The third of today's awardees is the redoubtable Senator Mechai Viravaidya, Director of the Population and Development Association of Thailand. Senator Mechai has had a distinguished record in promoting high- energy and innovative programmes of humane population policy in Thailand and throughout Asia. "Khun Mechai", as he is known in his country, is known for his effective promotion of family planning information and services. He is one of the best-known names in Asian family planning programmes -- which have seen some of the world's most effective leaders in this movement.

In 1974, Senator Mechai created a private association, the Population and Community Development Association. It pioneered activities like village- based family planning programmes, at a time when the strategy was still new and suspect. His creative strategies for linking population and development have been studied by many population practitioners. His work has been central in bringing Thai fertility to below replacement level through a thoroughly voluntary programme.

Senator Mechai was among the first leaders to acknowledge Thailand's growing problem with HIV/AIDS. He has worked to frame an effective national policy for AIDS prevention. His enlightened leadership and innovative efforts have received wide recognition.

On behalf of all my colleagues in the United Nations, I congratulate the laureates of the 1997 United Nations Population Award and extend a very warm welcome to them.

The importance of population issues cannot be overemphasized. The people-centred message of the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 acquires fresh impetus at the hands of practitioners at the grass-roots level. The United Nations looks forward to the pleasure of recognizing many more laureates in the years to come.

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