ESCAP POPULATION INFORMATION PROJECT ON ROAD TO GREATER SELF-RELIANCE

Press Release
REC/9

ESCAP POPULATION INFORMATION PROJECT ON ROAD TO GREATER SELF-RELIANCE

BANGKOK, 8 September (UN Information Service) -- A meeting starting today in Beijing will mark a major step in transferring more responsibility from the secretariat of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to a member of a multi-country population information network.

The Consultative Meeting of East and South-East Asia POPIN, 7-8 September, is being held for the first time under the aegis of China Population Information and Research Centre (CPIRC), following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with ESCAP that went into effect on 1 July.

Founded with technical assistance from ESCAP and funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the CPIRC will act as secretariat for the East and South-East Asia POPIN, a subregional network forming part of the larger Asia-Pacific Population Information Network (Asia-Pacific POPIN), during the period 1997-2000.

In that capacity, it will perform a number of functions for the subregional network, including overall management of the subregional secretariat, assignment of managerial, technical and clerical staff and the provision of necessary facilities, equipment and materials.

Members of the subregional network include China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. Countries that have expressed interest in joining the network are Cambodia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 26 June by Xiao Zili, CPIRC Director, and Nibhon Debavalya, Director of the ESCAP Population Division.

Li Yanqiu, Deputy Director of the CPIRC, who has been given the title of Secretary-General of the secretariat by the CPIRC, will be the head of the new arrangement.

The transfer of authority, responsibility and resources from the ESCAP secretariat to a national POPIN member is in fulfilment of ESCAP's objectives to strengthen the capabilities of network members so that they would

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eventually become self-reliant in coming to grips with their population policies and programmes. POPIN activities are aimed at increasing awareness of population issues in developing countries and helping countries to use reliable population data and information in the formulation of policies and implementation of programmes for national development.

Among the other activities to be undertaken by the newly named secretariat for the subregional network will be the organization of training courses and management meetings; the preparation, editing, printing and distribution of the thrice-yearly Asia-Pacific POPIN Bulletin; and the annual update and merging of a specialized directory.

The secretariat will also be responsible for providing technical support to members of the subregional network in the development of software and databases. Among other related tasks, it will conduct surveys in 1997 and 1999 to obtain data and information on members' population and family planning and information needs.

The hand-over of responsibilities to the secretariat for East and South-East Asia POPIN marks a major milestone in the development of Asia-Pacific POPIN. It is the first major step in producing a self-reliant network comprising national, subregional and regional POPIN capable of managing population data and information services.

The next task is for ESCAP to make a similar arrangement for the secretariat to be established for the South Asia POPIN subregion. The University of the South Pacific at Suva, Fiji, already acts as the secretariat for the Pacific POPIN subregional network.

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