COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT TO MEET AT HEADQUARTERS, 23 - 27 FEBRUARY
Press Release
POP/657
COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT TO MEET AT HEADQUARTERS, 23 - 27 FEBRUARY
19980223 Background Release The Commission on Population and Development will address the question of health and mortality, with special emphasis on the link between health and development and on the issues of gender and age, during its thirty-first session, to be held at Headquarters from 23 to 27 February.The Commission will examine follow-up to the recommendations of the International Conference on Population and Development, held at Cairo in 1994, as well as preparations for a review and appraisal process scheduled for 1999. It will hold a general debate on national experience in population matters, focusing on health and mortality, on which there will also be a panel discussion.
It will have before it reports of the Secretary-General on a number of subjects. These include world population monitoring in 1988 focusing on health and mortality; the monitoring of population programmes; the report of an Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) Task Force on Basic Social Services for All; activities of non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations on sexual and reproductive health and rights; flows of financial resources for population activities; and the progress of work in the field of population. In addition, a note by the Secretary-General addresses work programmes for the Population Division in the 1998-1999 biennium.
The report of the Secretary-General on world population monitoring (document E/CN.9/1998/2) covers such topics as levels and trends of mortality, child survival and health, primary health care and the health-care sector, and women's health and safe motherhood, as well as human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). It also addresses health and mortality policies, activities of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with respect to health and mortality; and health and development.
Since the Second World War, remarkable global progress has been achieved in the reduction of mortality, the report states. In most developed countries, there were improved mortality rates for adults, especially in advanced ages. Goals for improved life expectancy were adopted by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, as well as the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. The Conference's Programme of Action states that countries should aim, by the year 2005, to achieve a life expectancy greater than 70 years, and by the year 2015, greater than 75 years. The Summit's Programme adopted a goal of 60 years by the year 2000.
Over the past two decades, the international community has mobilized around a set of low-cost, high-impact actions aimed at reducing preventable deaths of children, the report states. International efforts to improve child survival and development were further strengthened during the 1990s, with national governments, United Nations bodies, NGOs, and bilateral and multilateral organizations working in close partnership. The World Summit for Children in 1990 was a significant milestone in accelerating child survival and development interventions. A 1996 report of the Secretary-General on progress at mid-decade on implementing General Assembly resolution 45/217 on the Summit indicated that there had been significant progress towards achieving the goals set for the year 2000.
Sparked by an assortment of global health threats, issues of health and development are undergoing renewed scrutiny, according to the repot. Since the 1960s, the concept of development has evolved from a narrowly focused economic viewpoint to one stressing the social aspects and environmental sustainability of development, it states.
The Secretary-General's report on the monitoring of population programmes (document E/CN.9/1998/3) aims at providing a broad overview of the range of activities in the population field which have arisen to meet the pressing need to improve the quality of life and health in developing countries. It states that those needs have received clear expression at international conferences, as well as in national policies and programmes.
The report reflects responses to a questionnaire sent to 130 developing countries by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Responses were received from 80 countries, as well as from 11 non-governmental, multilateral and intergovernmental organizations. The effort was intended to provide an overview on activities in the areas of health and mortality, with special emphasis on the linkages between health and development, and on gender and age.
A review of policy and programme activities in 74 countries covering four geographical regions revealed a significant level of activity aimed at improving health and reducing mortality, the report states. The review found that fundamental changes are occurring in the structure, financing and types of services provided by the health sector; that improving access to basic health care is a core element of country policies, with major improvements being seen in efforts to reach the least advantaged populations; and that community participation in the delivery of health services is growing. It found that child-survival programmes have improved infant and child health; that the benefits of breastfeeding for child survival have been universally accepted; and that family planning is seen in all countries as essential in reducing unplanned pregnancies and improving reproductive health.
The report of the ACC Task Force on Basic Social Services for All (document E/CN.9/1998/4) discusses the work of member organizations of the
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Task Force in the areas of primary health care, child survival and health; women's health and safe motherhood; and HIV)/AIDS. It reviews the technology, research and development work undertaken by Task Force members and highlights key lessons learned. The ACC report was based on responses received from 17 member organizations.
The report states that the Task Force was established to galvanize the United Nations system around priority goals emerging from recent global conferences, as well as to strengthen the system's follow-up mechanisms for delivering coordinated assistance at the country and regional levels. It attributes the synergistic collaboration and coordination achieved by the Task Force to a number of factors. Those include the fact that all Task Force member organizations and agencies committed themselves to participating collaboratively on key issues, rather than simply representing their own agency interests.
The selection of lead agencies to head the working groups was based not only on their mandates, but also on their ability to contribute to and complete the tasks, the report goes on to say. It cites the clarity of Task Force objectives, and the fact that a specific time-frame was set in which to achieve them. In addition, the Secretariat organized meetings, prepared and distributed reports, tracked the meeting of deadlines, and facilitated coordination and follow-up among Task Force members.
The lessons learned from the exercise included the fact that the mode of operation of the Task Force proved to be synergistic, quicker and more effective in producing results, the report states. Clear and well-defined objectives and end-products allowed the Task force to maintain a strategic focus and a specific timetable. Task Force working groups and member organizations demonstrated that they could work collaboratively in producing the agreed end-products in a timely manner, and had no vested interests in establishing themselves as permanent structures. The experience proved that sometimes the "task manager" approach can be used effectively for specific assignments.
The report states that during 1997 the Task Force produced guidelines for the United Nations resident coordinator system on key areas of the programme of action, as well as a wall chart with key indicators to assist countries in monitoring progress in meeting Conference goals in the provision of social services. It also produced a compendium of international commitments relevant to poverty and social integration, as well as a report encompassing three country case studies on donor collaboration in assistance to the social sector, including lessons learned.
The report of the Secretary-General on the activities of NGOs and intergovernmental organizations (document E/CN.9/1998/5) states that the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development was instrumental in
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articulating a response to a worldwide demand for the integration of family planning into the broader context of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Non-governmental organizations, both as participants and as part of national delegations, played a critical role in formulating the Programme of Action which, in turn, identified a critical role for NGOs in its implementation.
The findings in the report are based on responses to a questionnaire completed by 482 national and international NGOs and intergovernmental organizations. It finds that advocacy by NGOs at the international and national levels is successfully placing sexual and reproductive health within the context of human rights and gender equality. Service NGOs are demonstrating clear progress in implementation of the 1994 Programme of Action. National NGOs are collaborating with governments, and it is now unthinkable for governments and international agencies to propose a reproductive health activity that does not include NGOs. The NGOs continue to be proactive and enthusiastic about the recommendations of the Conference and their commitment to their implementation.
The Secretary-General's report on flows of financial resources for population activities (document E/CN.9/1998/6) was prepared in response to a request by the Commission for an annual report on the flow of financial resources for assisting in implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. It states that preliminary estimates for resource flows in 1996 indicate that more than $1.8 billion of international assistance was expended on population activities for the implementation of the Programme of Action, a slight decrease from 1995. Domestic resource flows in 1996 are estimated at about $8 billion giving a preliminary global total for population-related expenditures and allocations in 1996 of almost $10 billion.
The report states that donor support in 1996 for the Population Conference implementation of the Programme of Action presents a mixed picture. Donor countries have shown increased commitment, while international assistance from other donors has either stagnated or declined. Many donor countries have given increased priority to the Programme goals in terms of the share of total official development assistance (ODA) devoted to population. Early implications for 1997 were that unfavourable exchange rate movements might further depress international assistance measured in dollar terms in 1997.
During the period from 1985 to 1995, international financial resource flows followed a general upward trend, while a 25 per cent increase was recorded between 1993 and 1994, the report states. It attributes this to the results of the Conference process and to the intentions of many governments and organizations to increase their commitments to financial assistance for population activities.
The report draws attentions to the 1996 global resource mobilization effort, estimated at about $10 billion. It cautions that comparisons of that
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amount with estimates for precious years could be misleading, both because classification definitions have evolved to better take into account the Conference framework, and because the quantity and quality of 1996 resource- flow data are superior to what was available in previous years.
The report of the Secretary-General on work in the field of population (document E/CN.9/1998/7) reviews the progress made by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat in implementing its programme of work in 1997. It covers the activities of the Population Division dealing with the analysis of demographic variables at the world level; world population projections, population policy and socio-economic development; monitoring, review and appraisal, coordination and dissemination of population information; and technical cooperation in population.
The report states that the work programme for the biennium 1996-1997 was formulated and implemented within the basic framework set forth in the medium- term plan for the period 1992-1997, taking into account the recommendations of the 1994 Population and Development Conference and other relevant international conferences. Delays in the implementation of programmed outputs continued during 1997 as a result of the measures taken by the Secretary-General relating to the financial situation of the Organization.
The Secretary-General's note on the Population Division's work programme for the 1998-1999 biennium (document E/CN.9/1998/8) states that the work programme was designed to undertake follow-up activities relating to the International Conference. It was also to carry out research of the highest priority at the global level; disseminate research findings in the most effective manner possible; and provide substantive support for technical cooperation projects in the field of population.
Background on Commission
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. 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.
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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.
In addition to three members to be elected from among the Latin American and the Caribbean States, 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, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, South Africa, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States.
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