COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT HEARS SPEAKERS ON RECENT PROGRESS MADE BY UN SYSTEM IN POPULATION FIELD

Press Release
POP/764

COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT HEARS SPEAKERS ON RECENT PROGRESS MADE BY UN SYSTEM IN POPULATION FIELD

The Commission on Population and Development this afternoon assessed recent progress made by the United Nations system in the field of population and considered a draft proposal for the work of the Population Division in the coming years, aimed at expanded capacity of Member States in the analysis and application of population trends and policies.

The objective of the Population Division's medium-term plan, from 2002 to 2005, would be to increase understanding of the nature of demographic phenomena, in particular the interrelationships between population and development, and provide technical cooperation in the field of population. If approved by the Commission, it would be forwarded to the Economic and Social Council for adoption.

Reporting on regional progress in the area of population in 1999 were the following Commissions: the Economic Commission for Africa; the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean; the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific; the Economic Commission for Europe; and the Economic Commission for Western Asia. Representatives of the following Divisions also spoke: the Division for Advancement of Women; the Division for Social Policy and Development; the Division for Sustainable Development; and the Statistics Division.

The Director of the Food Security and Sustainable Development Division of the Economic Commission for Africa said that, in order to promote greater awareness about the importance of combined adverse effects of rapid population growth and continuing degradation of the environment on food security, the African Commission had published a collection of "best practices" or "success stories" on the benefits of lowering fertility rates in African countries. Given the centrality of women to household food security in African countries, the Commission had organized a workshop to examine the links between women's reproductive health and household food security.

The Director of the Population Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean told the Commission that as a result of the Commission’s efforts and those of its member countries, the Inter-American Development Bank had agreed to provide loans to finance the 2000 census round, which would be extremely useful for policy formulation at the regional and local levels.

Following the distribution at the session of a working paper entitled "Replacement Migration: Is it a Solution to Declining and Ageing Populations?", the

Population & Development Commission - 1a - Press Release POP/764 6th Meeting (PM) 29 March 2000

Director of the Population Division, Joseph Chamie, said that, in his memory, no other study by the Division had generated such debate. The paper had been a demographic exercise to study population declines and identify measures to offset their impact; it was not a "social exploration" of population concerns.

Responding to a concern expressed by the representative of Portugal, on behalf of the European Union, that the paper was not on the current agenda and had been presented first to the press, he said that documents of the Division could be presented at any time; scrutiny of their content and transparency in the Division's work was welcome.

The representative of Iran said that, in examining the situations in two regions and eight countries experiencing population declines, the study had failed to address the impact of vast external migration on those countries.

The representatives of the United States, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, and Bangladesh also spoke during the discussion.

Also today, it was decided that, with the successful conclusion of informal consultations, the draft proposals would be submitted this evening for translation and presented tomorrow afternoon in plenary at the conclusion of the Commission's work for the current session.

The Commission on Population and Development is scheduled to meet again at 3 p.m. tomorrow, 30 March, to conclude its thirty-third session.

Population & Development Commission - 2 - Press Release POP/764 6th Meeting (PM) 29 March 2000

Commission Work Programme

The Commission on Population and Development met this afternoon to consider the programme of work of the Secretariat in the field of population. It had before it a report on programme implementation and progress of work in the field of population in 1999 (document E/CN.9/2000/6), and a conference room paper containing a proposal for the medium-term plan of the United Nations Population Division for the period 2002-2005 (document E/CN.9/2000/CRP.2).

The report on programme implementation and progress of work in the field of population in 1999 reviews the progress achieved by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat in implementing its programme of work in the field of population in 1999. It covers the activities of the Division dealing with the analysis of demographic variables at the world level; world population estimates and projections; population policy and socio-economic development, monitoring, coordination and dissemination of population information; and technical cooperation in population. Other activities of the Population Division are also described.

The report states that population activities in the United Nations Secretariat are centred in the Population Division, which has, as its core functions, the following, among others: the provision of accurate and timely data, information and analyses of population trends and policies; identifying new and emerging issues, and initiating relevant studies; promotion of coordination among United Nations entities in the field of population; preparation of official United Nations population estimates and projections; taking the lead in the development and maintenance of population information systems and networks; and the provision of advisory services to assist governments in improving their institutional and technical capabilities for the analysis of population data and related information, the formulation of national policies, and implementation and evaluation of programmes.

The report contains an analysis of demographic variables at the world level, including fertility and family planning, mortality and international migration. It also reviews world population estimates and projections, including 2000 revisions and the 1999 revision of urban, rural and city population estimates and projections. It also reviews the report on the Eighth United Nations Inquiry among Governments on Population and Development, which had received replies from 90 countries by October 1999. As part of its ongoing work on the demographic, economic and social aspects of population ageing, the first United Nations wall chart on the subject was issued last year. Following the special session on review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Division prepared a special publication to make the substantive review and resulting recommendations easily available to the international community.

The draft medium-term plan draws attention to revised regulations dealing with the formulation of the plan, that include the following, among others: the plan shall be a translation of legislative mandates into programmes and subprogrammes; its objectives and strategies shall be derived from the policy orientations and goals set by the intergovernmental organs; it shall clearly reflect Member States' priorities as set out in legislation adopted by functional and regional intergovernmental bodies within their spheres of competence and by the General Assembly, on advice from the Committee for Programme and Coordination.

According to the paper, the overall purpose of the economic and social affairs programme, which provides the context for the Commission's work, is to strengthen international economic and social cooperation and to promote development in a comprehensive, inclusive and far-sighted way. The United Nations is in a unique position to address the interests of all countries, including the requirements and development concerns of countries profoundly affected by the powerful tide of forces moving global change, but with little capacity individually to influence the processes under way. The programme will continue to pay particular attention to the overall objective of eradicating poverty, and the special needs of Africa, the least developed countries, small island and developing States and the promotion of South-South cooperation. The programme will be further guided by the need to empower women through gender mainstreaming, advocacy and the design of policies to achieve relevant targets.

The paper finds that the programme has the most extensive capacity within the system for economic, social and demographic statistics, including data-gathering and analysis on demographic issues, and distinct capacities in the key areas of macro-economic analysis, sustainable development, social development, economic and public administration, as well as gender issues and the advancement of women. The programme also makes available its normative and operational capacities for providing effective integrated support for policy formulation by the concerned intergovernmental bodies and processes and for advancing their follow-up at both the global and national levels. Of special importance is the promotion of policy development on macro-economic issues, such as those being pursued in the finance for development process, and the high-level consideration of economic and social issues in the Economic and Social Council.

The objective of the population subprogramme, the paper states, is to increase understanding of the nature of demographic phenomenons, in particular, the interrelationships between population and development, and to provide technical cooperation in the population field. During the plan period, the Division will undertake the second quinquennial review and appraisal of the Cairo Action Programme and will assist governments and other actors in achieving the key actions for the further implementation of the Action Programme. The Division will prepare official United Nations population estimates and projections, including age and sex patterns of mortality and fertility, for all countries and areas of the world, as well as the official estimates and projections of urban and rural areas and major cities and effective dissemination of worldwide population information, via the Internet, including through the Population Information Network.

Also according to the paper, expected accomplishments include: Stronger support for the Cairo Action Programme, as well as the key actions for their further implementation adopted by the General Assembly; expanded capacity of Member States in the analysis and application of population trends and policies, and in monitoring, appraising and reporting on substantive elements of the key actions; and the increased ability of Member States to formulate national population and related policies for the effective implementation of the Cairo outcome and their improved institutional capabilities for the collection and analysis of national population information.

The paper notes that the indicators of achievement include: increased access by governments to information on population trends and their interrelationships with social and economic development as an input to policy formulation and increased understanding of the social, economic and other factors that affect mortality, fertility, migration and population growth, and how population change, in turn, affects the social, economic and environmental conditions and well-being of people; and increased awareness about emerging population issues requiring the attention of and response by the international community, such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, international migration and population ageing, and the role of population in development planning.

Statements

JOSEPH CHAMIE, Director of the Population Division, introduced the report of the Secretary-General on programme implementation and progress of work in the field of population in 1999 (document E/CN.9/2000/6). He briefed the Commission on historical background and highlights of the work of the Secretariat, then informed delegates that during the discussion, he could take questions about specific sections of the report.

He also introduced the conference room paper medium-term plan of the United Nations Population Division for the period 2002-2005 (document E/CN.9/2000/CRP.2).

Delegations then made comments and asked questions concerning a working paper before the Commission entitled “Replacement Migration: Is it a Solution to Declining and Ageing Populations?”

According to the paper, the United Nations Population Division monitors fertility, mortality and migration trends for all countries of the world as a basis for producing the official United Nations population estimates and projections. Among the demographic trends revealed are population decline and population ageing. Focusing on those two trends, the report addresses the question of whether replacement migration is a solution to declining and ageing populations.

The study computes the size of replacement migration and investigated the possible effects of replacement migration on the size and age structure for a range of countries that had in common a fertility pattern below replacement level. Eight countries are examined: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States. Two regions are also included: Europe and the European Union.

FINS-DO-LAGO (Portugal), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the Union would have preferred that the study on “replacement migration”, which was not on the current agenda, had not been presented to the Commission before being presented to the press and the public. It was recognized that the study had been undertaken at the initiative of the Population Division. He stressed that the Union attached great importance to the issues of ageing and migration. The impact of ageing and migration was being studied in the Union’s national administrations as well as a number of international organization.

He said that a long-term perspective was useful in order to have a better understanding of current trends. However, the report presented a one-dimensional approach to the highly complex issue of population ageing. That complexity showed that the matter required a more thorough methodological analysis.

On the medium-term plan for the Division, he asked if the Secretariat was presently in a position to inform the Commission when those proposals would be presented to delegations.

PETER O. WAY (United States) highlighted several of the Population Division’s achievements in 1999. He first acknowledged the completed report on the eighth Inquiry on Population and Development. That effort was an integral part of the process of documenting national responses to the Programme of Action. Next, he said that the work of the Population Division on the manual on the estimation of adult mortality came at a particularly welcome time. He highlighted some of the global resources that had been produced by the division over the past year. He said that his delegation supported a programme that further strengthened the implementation of the Plan of Action.

The representative of Poland also expressed concerns about the study on replacement migration. He wondered if there could be a better explanation of the report’s methodology.

HEGLE BRUNBORG (Norway) said that the work of the Commission played a key role in providing information for the international development community. He also said that the Population Division’s Global Populations Information Network Web sites were most important and hoped further funding for them would be allocated.

He encouraged the Division to try to find ways to present its reports in an innovative and clear manner. It might also be useful to have the experts who compiled the reports present their findings to delegations in panel discussions.

Ms. ZBARSKAYA (Russian Federation) said that future programmes should place a priority on the international migration demographics of ageing populations. All regions should be included in such a study. She felt that the study on replacement migration was important and of practical value for the adoption of population polices. But since it had only been recently distributed, her delegations comments would only be preliminary.

She said that the title of the report did not relate to the problem it purported to address. It should have included trends in economic development and the labour market. It might have been enhanced if there had been a more thorough description of the methodology. She said that her delegations also noticed some discrepancies in the data and suggested that experts should be more actively involved in demographic and migration policy. The migration study should also have been translated into all the official languages.

Mr. NATH (Bangladesh) said that it was regrettable that the Population Division’s information network programme would be reduced. That Web site had been very helpful to his country. He also hoped that future strategies of the Commission would place more importance on male contraception.

Responding to questions from the floor about the report on replacement migration, Mr. Chamie said that, in his memory, no other study conducted by the Population Division had generated such debate. He said that the report had been a strictly demographic exercise to study declines in population and identify measures to offset the impact of those declines; the study was not a social exploration of population concerns.

Continuing, he said that documents prepared by the Division might be presented or discsussed at any time. Only through transparency and openness could there be growth in the Division’s work. He said that the Division encouraged scrutiny. It was indeed unfortunate that the Populations Division information project would be cut back. He had hoped that the project could be expanded well beyond 2001.

Presentations by Economic and Social Council's Other Commissions

PAULINA MADINWA-ADEBUSOYE, Director, Food Security and Sustainable Development Division, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said that the Commission had continued, as part of its advocacy function, to promote greater awareness among its members of the importance of combined adverse effects of rapid population growth and continuing degradation of the environment on food security. Another important aspect of its advocacy work had focused directly on implementation of population programmes, in order to promote lower fertility levels in African countries. Towards that goal, the Commission published a collection of "best practices" or "success stories" and a bi-annual information bulletin, with the financial assistance of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

She said that given the centrality of women to household food security in African countries, the Commission had organized an Expert Group Workshop in 1999, which examined the interrelationships between women's reproductive health and household food security. It noted that scant information had been paid to that interrelationship. Accordingly, a research agenda and methodologies aimed at facilitating future work on the influence of women's health on household food security had been adopted. A major study assessing the state of the demographic transition in Africa would appraise fertility levels and population growth rates in the region. Hopefully, a more dynamic, comprehensive and well-coordinated population programme would result.

YAKIN ERTURK, Director, Division for the Advancement of Women, said that the major portion of the three-week session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which had met from 3 to 17 March, had been the review and appraisal of 135 national reports. Additional responses had brought the total responses to the Commission's questionnaire in implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, to 145. Such a high number of replies and the richness of the information contained therein indicated the strong "ownership" that had developed around the Beijing commitments.

She said that the current challenges associated with poverty, changing demographic trends -- increased female migration and ageing populations, armed conflict, environmental degradation, natural disasters and epidemics -- often overshadowed the progress made with regard to the strategic objectives of the 12 critical areas of concern of the Platform.

She said perceptions regarding male and female identities and roles had posed persistent obstacles to the achievement of gender equality in all regions of the world. Yet, much progress had been achieved: women had entered the labour force in unprecedented numbers and were increasing their ability to participate in economic decision-making. Such improvements, although uneven, had been made in fertility rates, rates of infant and maternal mortality, life expectancy, immunization rates, women's literacy and school enrolment.

Gender analysis should be used to identify how women's subordination was reproduced and how it manifested itself in terms of women's differing access to critical resources and opportunities to expand their capabilities and life choices, she said Clearly, much collaboration was needed among the respective Commissions to address the current challenges in the area of population, gender and development.

JOHN LANGMORE, Director, Division for Social Policy and Development, said that in preparation for the forthcoming special session on social development, countries had been invited to report on their activities. The impressive thing about the reports was that they had shown that every country had tried, in various ways, to implement their Copenhagen commitments. In fact, each reporting country had attempted to implement the full range of commitments. That was a complex job that had been extremely difficult for some countries, such as those with economies in transition, or severe constraints on development, such as in Africa, or those that had experienced financial crises, such as the Asian countries.

The task of the Commission for Social Development in February had been to review and assess progress, for which it had prepared a report, he said. That long document had included a number of unanimous conclusions, which would become part of the Geneva outcome. The special session in June would seek agreement on additional concrete initiatives which could increase the effectiveness of implementation. The first preparatory committee had commissioned 25 papers from various parts of the United Nations system; from those, recommendations had emerged that had subsequently been included in a draft outcome document to be negotiated at a preparatory committee meeting that begins next week.

He recalled a forward to the Chinese Government's national report, which had expressed the hope that the special session would become a turning point for the further promotion of the world's social development, that the exchange of experiences for a settlement of the social experiences would be intensified, that Copenhagen would be given further impetus and that further proposals, which were practicable and workable, would be put forward.

JOANNE DISANO, Director, Division for Sustainable Development, reviewed the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development, which had been established in 1992 to follow up the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). While the Commission did not examine population issues in detail, there was a recognition that population trends and policies were critical factors in sustainable development. It made use of the work of the Commission on Population and Development in examining the themes of its own Commission. The Population Division's projections of long-term population trends were crucial elements in its analysis of long-term trends and critical issues in sustainable development.

She said that, in general, the work of the Commission in dealing with population, gender, social development and sustainable development were complementary and well-coordinated, and without overlap. There was a risk, however, of separating population, gender, social and sustainable development into separate processes, which would result in insufficient attention to the crucial linkages between those disciplines. The decision of the Commission on Population and Development to focus on population and gender issues at the current session was, therefore, welcome. The theme for the 2001 session of population, environment and development had reflected linkages and consumption patterns that were critical issues for sustainable development.

The declining population growth rates throughout the world were facilitating efforts to reduce environmental pressures, while improving standards of living, she said. Reducing environmental pressure also required changing consumption patterns in developed countries, where consumption was increasing despite stable or declining populations. There also remained an urgent need to address the problems of fragile environments, increasing population pressures and severe poverty, particularly in the least developed countries.

HERMANN HABERMAN, Director, Statistics Division, Division for Sustainable Development, said that the statistical commission was one of the oldest commissions at the United Nations and was very technical. It was comprised of 24 members, who were mostly national statistical officers. Those were concerned with a broad range of issues: economic, environmental, demographic and social. Recently, the Commission had evolved an approved set of recommendations and principles on population and housing census, which had been published in all of the United Nations languages. Recommendations on statistics of international migration had also been approved and published, with the joint efforts of the United Nations Population Division. The Commission had also produced a handbook of national statistical reports on women and men.

DANIEL BLANCHARD, Director, Population Division, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said that during the last year his Division had worked very closely with the national statistical offices and other relevant institutions to monitor fertility, mortality and migration trends in the region and produce new estimates and projections at the national level, for submission to the United Nations Population Division. As the 2000 round of censuses began in Latin America and the Caribbean, a number of countries had requested technical support from his organization. Once again, financing was the key to the success of the census, and as a result of efforts by ECLAC and the member governments, the Inter-American Development Bank had agreed to provide loans to finance the 2000 round of censuses. Census data would be greatly emphasized for policy formation, particularly at the regional and local level.

He said that ECLAC also focused on activities concerning the ageing of the population, international migration, population and development, training and information on population, and regional cooperation. Based on recommendations of member governments and on anticipated resources, the Commission would concentrate on the following major challenges, among others: convening an international symposium on international migration in the Americas; monitoring population trends; promoting the use of the latest technological advances to disseminate population data; reappraisal of regional training needs in the field of population; and assisting member countries in successfully carrying out the 2000 census round.

NIBHOM DEBAVALYA, Director, Population and Rural and Urban Development Division, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said ESCAP had accomplished a variety of population and development activities in 1999. Its work had been focused on the following topics: strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems for measuring progress in reproductive health and family planning programmes; strengthening policy analysis and research on female migration, employment, family formation and poverty; and implications of ageing for Asian families and the elderly.

He said that ESCAP had also assisted the developing countries in the region by organizing training courses, seminars and workshops, including on information technology for population information professionals in the Population Division information network, and a policy seminar on the impact of globalization on population change and poverty in rural areas. The ESCAP also continued to support population information centres in many countries of the region as part of the Asia- Pacific Population Information Network. The goal was to enable those developing

countries to become self-reliant in their information-gathering, processing and disseminating capabilities.

MARGARET McCAFFERY, read a statement on behalf of Miroslav Macura, Chief, Population Activities Unit, Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), said that ECE had recently launched a new programme concerning European countries with transition economies. The focus of the research and data component of the programme was on the behaviour and social and economic status of both men and women, of different generations, namely children and adolescents, reproductive- or working-age adults, and older persons. The contextual setting would be the individual's household or family and, as far as possible, society.

During the 1990s, she said, the ECE had assisted follow-up to the Cairo outcome in the countries with transition economies in a number of ways. In the coming years, it expected to work closely with population experts from those countries, with a view to helping their governments implement the Programme of Action and key future actions. The objectives would be to develop and disseminate a database with comparable indicators needed for monitoring the implementation process and to prepare and disseminate national reports on the implementation of those documents and salient population developments.

Ms. McCAFFERY also spoke on behalf of Sulafa Al-Bassam, Chief of the Regional Commission’s New York Office, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). During the past year, ESCWA had concentrated its efforts in three areas: maintaining the policy dialogue with member countries on relevant population policies and follow-up requirements; documenting and addressing priority population issues of interest to the Arab region; and building regional individual and institutional capacity in matters of programme management and information systems.

Overall, the Commission had sought to promote regional cooperation and harmonization of population and social policies in the Arab region, and ensure an active follow-up to the implementation of the Cairo outcome. It had also attempted to mainstream gender issues in all population activities and had continued to play an active role in research publication and dissemination throughout the region.

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