COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONCLUDES THIRTY-FIRST SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS, 23-27 FEBRUARY

27 February 1998

Press Release
POP/664

COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONCLUDES THIRTY-FIRST SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS, 23-27 FEBRUARY

19980227 Acts on Texts on Health and Mortality, Population Census Activities, 1999 Review and Implementation of Cairo Conference Programme of Action

The Commission on Population and Development called for assistance to strengthen the national health services of developing countries, including building their capacity to produce essential drugs, as it concluded its five- day session this morning, approving a decision on this year's theme of "health and mortality" and two other proposals.

By the terms of that text, which was adopted after intense and last- minute negotiations, the Commission requested the Population Division and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to explore ways and means -- such as the establishment of an internationally accessible electronic database -- to facilitate the exchange of information among all relevant actors concerning best practices and lessons learned in implementing the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

By other terms of the text, governments were called upon to:

-- support, with the assistance of international and non-governmental organizations, efforts to determine the causes of the stagnation, or increase of mortality among the adult population of countries with economies in transition as well as in some developing countries; and

-- renew and reaffirm their commitment to the objective of reducing disparities in health and mortality among countries and within countries.

In addition, relevant bodies of the United Nations system were called upon to coordinate with each other and with other international and non- governmental organizations, and in cooperation with governments, in strengthening national capacities to collect, analyse and utilize health and mortality data at both national and local levels, in the priority areas of the ICPD Programme of Action.

Also this morning, the Commission adopted the report of the thirty-first session and a provisional agenda for its 1999 session, in which it will act as the preparatory body for the General Assembly's special session on implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.

By one of two draft resolutions approved, the Economic and Social Council would:

-- recommend that the length of the thirty-second session of the Commission be extended to seven working days, in March 1999;

-- request the Secretariat to prepare, no later than the end of June, and to make available to States, a comprehensive plan, including a timetable, setting out the purpose, working methods and key outcomes and how they would contribute to the Secretary-General's comprehensive report on the five-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action; and

-- request that, the following be prepared for the Commission's next session in 1999: a Secretary-General's comprehensive report on the five-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action, to be coordinated by the Population Division; a report of the International Forum on the operational review of the Programme of Action, to be coordinated by UNFPA; and a Secretary-General's draft report for the General Assembly's special session on the further implementation of the Programme of Action, also to be coordinated by the Population Fund.

By the terms of the other draft resolution, the Council would call upon relevant organizations of the United Nations system, donor governments, through multilateral and bilateral mechanisms, and non-governmental organizations to provide the necessary support to those countries in need in undertaking population census activities for evaluation of progress in implementing the ICPD Programme of Action, including the building of national capacity in that field.

The draft texts were introduced by Commission Vice-Chairman Robert Cliquet (Belgium). The Chairman/Rapporteur, William Toro Cabrera (Peru), introduced the report of the session. The Director of the Population Division, Joseph Chamie, introduced the draft provisional agenda.

In earlier action, Yurly Bohaievs'ky of Ukraine was elected a Vice- Chairman of the Commission.

Closing statements were made by the representatives of Indonesia (on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China), United Kingdom (on behalf of the European Union), Russian Federation and Niger. Commission Chairman Raj Karim (Malaysia) also made closing remarks.

Population Commission - 3 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

The Directors of the Population Division of the Secretariat, and the Technical and Policy Division of UNFPA also made concluding remarks. A representative of the American Association of Retired Persons also spoke.

Commission Work Programme

The Commission on Population and Development met this morning to take action on three draft proposals on population census activities for evaluation of progress in implementing the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD); the session's theme -- health and mortality; and the review and appraisal of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action. The provisional agenda for the Commission's next session is also scheduled for action.

By the draft resolution on the importance of population census activities for evaluation of progress in implementing the ICPD Programme of Action (document E/CN.9/1998/L.3), submitted by the Commission Vice-Chairman, the Economic and Social Council would invite governments to give priority to the planning and undertaking of the next population and housing census. It would recommend that countries lacking adequate vital statistics systems give due consideration to the collection and analysis of data in the year 2000 round of population censuses for the estimation of levels of mortality. The Council would call upon relevant organizations of the United Nations system, donor governments, through multilateral and bilateral mechanisms, and non- governmental organizations to provide the necessary support to those countries in need of undertaking such censuses, including the building of national capacity.

The draft decision on health and mortality (document E/CN.9/1998/L.4), also submitted by the Commission's Vice-Chairman, would have the Commission call on relevant bodies of the United Nations system to work in close coordination with each other and with other international organizations and non-governmental organizations, and in cooperation with governments, in strengthening national capacities to collect, analyse, and utilize health and mortality data at both national and local levels, in the priority areas of the ICPD Programme of Action. Those priority areas should include infant, child, adolescent and maternal health and mortality; sexual and reproductive health, with special attention to family planning, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS; violence against women and children, and female genital mutilation and other harmful practices. The areas of infectious diseases, substance abuse and measurement of adult mortality and morbidity should also be included.

In the third operative paragraph, which remains bracketed, the Commission would also call for assistance to developing countries including, among others, transfer of technology to build capacity to produce generic

Population Commission - 4 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

drugs, thereby strengthening their national health services. Assisted on request by the international community, governments would be urged to strengthen their efforts to achieve the health and mortality goals set by the ICPD Programme of Action, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, the private sector and local communities.

The Commission would request the Population Division and UNFPA to explore ways and means -- such as the establishment of an internationally accessible electronic database -- to facilitate the exchange of information among all relevant actors on various levels concerning best practices and lessons learned in implementing the ICPD Programme of Action.

By the draft text on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action (document E/CN.9/1998/L.5), the Economic and Social Council would recommend that the Commission's session in 1999 be extended to seven working days. It would request the Secretariat to prepare, no later than the end of June, and to make available to States, a comprehensive plan, including a timetable, setting out the purpose, working methods and key outcomes, and how they would contribute to the review and appraisal report.

The plan and timetable would advise on the preparatory process of inter- agency consultations, and technical and round-table meetings, including at the regional level. The Population Division and UNFPA should work closely together to prepare the plan, as they did in the preparations for the ICPD, and in consultation, as appropriate, with other relevant bodies. Regular briefings should be held for States.

By other terms of the text, the Economic and Social Council would request that the following be prepared for the Commission's next session in 1999: the Secretary-General's comprehensive report on the five-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action, coordinated by the Population Division; the report of the International Forum on the operational review of the Programme of Action, coordinated by UNFPA; and the Secretary-General's draft report for the General Assembly's special session on the further implementation of the Programme of Action, also coordinated by the Population Fund.

Those reports should focus on, among other issues: analysis of key successes and constraints, as well as lessons learned in developing effective strategies and actions in the implementation of the Programme of Action, and changes in policy, programmes and resource allocations at the national and international levels towards a more comprehensive achievement of the goals of the Conference. The reports should also focus on strengthening coordination throughout the United Nations system and between the United Nations system,

Population Commission - 5 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

governments and other actors, such as the multilateral development banks and civil society.

Issues related to following should also be included: domestic, bilateral and multilateral resources made available as of 31 December 1998; estimates of resources expected to be made available as of December 1999; examples of effective and efficient use made of available resources, and circumstances for improving the environment, with a view to increased financial support from the international community for population and development activities. Methodology and mechanisms for monitoring progress in implementing the Programme of Action should also be considered in the reports.

Also before the Commission is the provisional agenda for its thirty- second session in 1999 (document E/CN.9/1998/L.6), whose theme would be population growth, structure and distribution. The first part of the agenda includes an examination of the world population situation; consideration of the follow-up to actions on the ICPD recommendations; the work of the Commission in the next quinquennium; programme implementation; and the future work programme of the Secretariat in the field of population. According to the second part of the agenda, the Commission would act as the preparatory body for the General Assembly's special session on implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.

Statement

A representative of the American Association of Retired Persons urged the Commission to ensure that older persons were a major focus at "ICDP + 5" in 1999 -- a request in which it was joined by members of the Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on Ageing. They noted that the growth of the older population, men and women who were living longer, productive lives was one of the most challenging demographic trends of the next century, affecting the economic and social structure of all societies. For all countries, the foremost challenge lay in identifying and supporting opportunities for older persons and the benefits to society arising from viewing them as a resource rather than a burden.

Recognizing that 1999 was the International Year of Older Persons, the association stressed that older persons should be the focus of the process of review, she said. It recommended the integration of issues of ageing into national development plans; ensuring that national data collections included information which were gender and age specific; strengthening or establishing a national coordinating mechanism on ageing; and promoting the establishment and effective functioning of organizations of older persons. It also recommended, among others, disseminating and applying the United Nations

Population Commission - 6 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

Principles for Older Persons, and that opportunities be developed which would enable older persons to give service to the community.

Action by Commission

ROBERT CLIQUET (Belgium), a Commission Vice-Chairman, introducing the four draft resolutions, said consensus had been reached on the following three draft texts: the importance of population census activities for evaluation of progress in implementing the ICPD Programme of Action (document E/CN.9/1998/L.3); the review and appraisal of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action (document E/CN.9/1998/L.5); and the provisional agenda for the Commission's thirty-second session in 1999. There was a lack of consensus on the draft resolution on health and mortality.

The Commission then took up the draft resolution on the importance of population census activities for evaluation of progress in implementing the ICPD Programme of Action (document E/CN.9/1998/L.3).

Mr. CLIQUET (Belgium) said the words "in this field" should be added at the end of the last operative paragraph. The paragraph would then read as follows:

"Calls upon relevant organizations of the United Nations system, donor governments, through multilateral and bilateral mechanisms, and non- governmental organizations to provide the necessary support to those countries in need in undertaking such censuses, including the building of national capacity in this field."

The draft text was then approved, as orally revised.

The Commission then took up the draft decision on health and mortality (document E/CN.9/1998/L.4).

Mr. CLIQUET (Belgium) said bracketed text in the last preambular paragraph -- [including the ability and accessibility of generic drugs] -- was replaced by the following text: "including access to essential drugs".

That paragraph would then read as follows:

"Recognizing that progress in implementing the health-related recommendations and achieving significant health gains depends on preventing disease, promoting healthy lifestyles, improving health systems, including access to essential drugs, and enhancing local, national and international capacities to monitor health and mortality trends."

Population Commission - 7 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

The bracketed operative paragraph 3 was deleted and four new paragraphs were added as follows:

"3. Welcomes the encouraging evidence of actions being undertaken by governments, international organizations, and the non-governmental sector in response to the challenges of the Programme of Action related to health and mortality, and stresses the need for strengthening such actions, in particular in the least developed countries;

"4. Calls for assistance to developing countries to strengthen their national health services, including, inter alia, building their capacity to produce essential drugs;

"5. Calls upon Governments to support, with the assistance of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, efforts to determine the causes of the stagnation or increase of mortality among the adult population of countries with economies in transition and to act upon that knowledge to shape public health interventions and other appropriate measures to combat such detrimental trends;

"6. Urges Governments to consider undertaking information, education and communication campaigns that raise awareness about widespread health risks and emphasize behavioural changes that have proven to be effective in reducing those risks, especially in relation to the spread of HIV infection, the prevention of the detrimental health effects of smoking, promotion of a healthy diet and the abatement of deaths and injuries due to accidents;

"7. Calls upon governments and the international community to renew and reaffirm their commitment to the objective of reducing disparities in health and mortality among countries and within countries, particularly those disparities related to socio-economic differentials."

The representative of Indonesia, speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said he would accept the text as orally revised but would like to propose changes to the preambular paragraphs. He asked for time to consult with the Group.

The representatives of Sudan and the Philippines made different proposals on suspending the meeting.

The representative of Bangladesh proposed an amendment to paragraph 8, as orally revised, as follows:

The words "and the international community" should be added after governments. At the end of the paragraph the words "and to give emphasis to

Population Commission - 8 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

the needs of the disadvantaged and underprivileged segments of the population" should be added.

After a short suspension, the meeting resumed and took up the draft resolution on health and mortality.

The representative of Indonesia, on behalf of the Group of 77, proposed the following amendments:

That the last preambular paragraph should end after the word "systems" and the remainder of the paragraph should be deleted. The paragraph would then read as follows:

"Recognizing that progress in implementing the health-related recommendations and achieving significant health gains depends on preventing disease, promoting healthy lifestyles, improving health systems."

He then proposed that the following be included in the new operative 5 - - after the word government: "in particular donor governments". Also in operative paragraph 5, the words "and some developing countries" were included before the words "countries with economies in transition".

That paragraph would then read as follows:

"Calls upon governments, in particular donor governments, to support, with the assistance of international and non-governmental organizations, efforts to determine the causes of the stagnation or increase of mortality among the adult population of countries with economies in transition as well as in some developing countries, and to act upon that knowledge to shape public health interventions and other appropriate measures to combat such detrimental trends".

To the new operative paragraph 6, the words "maternal mortality, infant mortality" were added after "the spread of HIV infection". The following was added at the end of the paragraph: "as well as positive effects of reproductive health interventions". That paragraph would read as follows:

"6. Urges Governments to consider undertaking information, education and communication campaigns that raise awareness about widespread health risks, and emphasize behavioural changes that have proven to be effective in reducing those risks, especially in relation to the spread of HIV infection, maternal mortality, infant mortality, the prevention of the detrimental health effects of smoking, promotion of a healthy diet and the abatement of deaths and injuries due to accidents, as well as positive effects of reproductive health interventions."

Population Commission - 9 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

In the new operative paragraph 7, the words "and the international community" were deleted; and the words "in health and mortality" were included, following the words "reducing disparities" in the second line of that paragraph. At the end of the paragraph, the words "and to give special emphasis to the needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of society" were added.

The paragraph would read as follows:

"7. Calls upon Governments to renew and reaffirm their commitment to the objective of reducing disparities in health and mortality among countries and within countries, particularly those disparities related to socio-economic differentials and to give special emphasis to the needs of the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of society."

The representative of the United States, speaking as the initial sponsor of the draft text, welcomed the compromise in the final text as amended by the Group of 77. She agreed with the amendments.

The representative of the Russian Federation, referring to the amendments to operative paragraph 5, said he agreed in principle. He supported the inclusion of the reference to "some developing countries" -- which were also now experiencing the similar problems as countries with economies in transition. He would, however, propose that they use the same language in the fifth preambular paragraph, which referred to both the economies in transition as well as in some developing countries.

The representative of Mexico said she agreed with the Russian Federation's proposal.

The representative of Bangladesh welcomed the acceptance of the text he had suggested earlier.

The Commission adopted the draft decision, as orally revised.

The representative of Mexico said it was not opposed to the adoption of the draft decision on health and mortality. However, it wished to state for the record that the commitments to international cooperation concerning health and mortality reflected in the Cairo Programme of Action were still fully in force. In addition, he supported the comments made by the American Association of Retired Persons concerning the needs of the elderly.

The representative of Malta said that his country was committed to the efforts being made on the subject of reproductive health, except abortion. It considered abortion illegal and wanted that reflected in the record of the meeting.

Population Commission - 10 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

The representative of the Philippines thanked Mr. Cliquet for the way he had conducted the informal consultations, and expressed happiness that the Commission had come up with something substantive on the theme of the thirty- first session. Noting that the day's procedures had been a little confusing, he requested the Secretariat to produce a clean sheet of the report today for their experts to be able to take home.

The representative of Iran seconded the reservations expressed by the representative of Malta.

The representative of the Philippines said that considering the importance of the negotiations on the resolution on health and mortality, he was requesting that at least the English version be prepared today.

JOSEPH CHAMIE, Director of the Population Division, said his Division would try to prepare an English version of the revised draft decision on health and mortality before the departure of delegates.

The representative of Sudan supported the remarks by Malta and Iran on the subject of reproductive health.

The observer for the Holy See associated himself with the definition and explanation put forward by Malta.

Commission Chairman, RAJ KARIM (Malaysia), said the Secretariat had taken note of all the reservations expressed.

The Commission then took up the draft resolution on the review and appraisal of the implementation of ICPD Programme of Action (document E/CN.9/1998/L.5). The text was introduced by Mr. CLIQUET (Belgium), who said the text had no amendments.

The Commission then approved the draft.

The representative of the United Kingdom, on behalf of the European Union, pointed out that the reference to "national" in paragraph 2 (a) referred to all activities going on within a country.

The Commission then took up the provisional agenda for the thirty-second session of the Commission (document E/CN.9/1998/L.6). Mr. CHAMIE, Director of the Population Division, introduced the draft text.

The Commission approved the provisional agenda.

Population Commission - 11 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

The Commission then took up the report of the thirty-first session (E/CN.9/1998/L.2)

WILLIAM TORO CABRERA (Peru), Vice-Chairman/Rapporteur, introduced the draft report. He said it would be updated by including the dates and names of the relevant sections, and the name of the Vice-Chairman from Ukraine.

The Commission approved the report amendments, and authorized the Rapporteur to finalize it by including the report of today's meeting.

The representative of France drew the attention of the Commission to translation errors in the French version of the report.

Closing Statements

MOHAMMED NIZAMUDDIN, Director of the Technical and Policy Division of UNFPA, said that the Fund welcomed the work that had been accomplished by the Commission and its guidance. As outlined in the resolution, UNFPA would come up with a plan in the next two months and distribute it to Member States. He drew attention to informals being planned by UNFPA to update Member States, including one at its next Executive Board session in June. A list of events had been distributed, he noted, but there would be a longer one containing all the details that members had requested, which would be sent to Member States.

MOCHAMAD SLAMET HIDAYAT (Indonesia), on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, thanked the Chairman and other members or the bureau for their work, as well as Mr. Cliquet for his efforts in guiding the consultations. He said the Group looked forward to next year's ICPD review. There were still opportunities to improve the work of the Commission, and his Group would be speaking about that later.

PHIL MASON (United Kingdom), spoke on behalf of the European Union and Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Iceland, as well as the associated country Cyprus. He said that the current session had made clear progress on the Programme of Action, a key issue which would now dominate thinking between now and the next session. He believed that there was now a clear idea of the shape and outline of the process and content of the "ICPD + 5" review. Emphasizing the importance of ensuring a fully integrated preparatory process for the review, he noted that if members continued to maintain the spirit of cooperation and shared ideals with which they had worked at the session, ICPD + 5 would succeed. The Commission owed to those who left Cairo holding high expectations the duty to ensure that the review provided a full, fair and frank assessment of what had been achieved. Members neither served themselves nor the hundreds of millions for whom Cairo was a beacon of hope if they did not ensure the

Population Commission - 12 - Press Release POP/664 7th Meeting (AM) 27 February 1998

highest levels of technical rigour and intellectual honesty in the review. The biggest challenge was to further refine the knowledge about the dynamics of health, poverty and development.

Many speakers had noted the need to refine analyses of trends and their causes, he went on, stressing that data must be accurate, timely and appropriate. The work of the Population Division was critical in that regard. He welcomed the improvement of the methods of work of the Commission this year, in particular the innovation of the panel discussion, hoping that it was an instrument that would continue to be used in the future. He endorsed the selection of the theme of "population, gender and development" for the next session.

DMITRY MAKCIMICHEV (Russian Federation) associated himself with the expressions of gratitude already made by other delegations.

Mr. CHAMIE, Director of the Population Division, informed the members of the Commission of the availability of the revised draft of the resolution on health and mortality.

OUSMANE MAHAMANE TANDINA (Niger), on behalf of the African Group, thanked the Chairman and the bureau and all the delegations for their cooperation. He congratulated UNFPA and the Population Division whose work made the Commission's achievements possible.

Ms. KARIM, Commission Chairman, expressed satisfaction with the resolutions approved. She thanked her colleagues, especially the Vice- Chairmen, the Rapporteur and the bureau, as well as Mr. Chamie and his colleagues in the Population Division. The UNFPA work and collaboration had enabled the Commission to complete its work.

Officers, Membership

The Chairman of the Commission was Raj Karim (Malaysia). The following were its Vice-Chairmen: Robert Louis Cliquet (Belgium), Ousmane Mahamane Tandina (Niger), Yurly Bohaievs'ky (Ukraine), and William Toro Cabrera (Peru), who also served as the Commission's Rapporteur.

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, United States.

* *** *