COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT TO MEET FROM 31 MARCH TO 4 APRIL

Background Release

COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT TO MEET FROM 31 MARCH TO 4 APRIL

Theme:  Population, Education and Development

“Population, education and development” will be the theme of the
thirty-sixth session of the Commission on Population and Development, to be held at Headquarters from 31 March to 4 April.

Under that theme, the Commission will hold a general debate, which will include an exchange of views and national experiences.  It will also address follow-up actions to recommendations of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), again focusing on the session’s main theme.

Highlighting this year’s Commission meeting will be keynote addresses by Professor Amartya Sen, 1998 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics and Master, Trinity College, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Dr. Paul Demeny, Distinguished Scholar at the Population Council, New York.  Dr. Demeny will speak on Tuesday, 1 April at 11:30 a.m., and Professor Sen will speak on Wednesday, 2 April at 11:30 a.m.  Both addresses will be in Conference Room 3.  Delegations, media representatives and Secretariat staff are invited to attend.

According to documents before the Commission, enormous growth in the numbers of school-age children presents a formidable challenge, particularly to less developed countries, in reaching ICPD goals.  An estimated 862 million adults worldwide were still illiterate in 2000, they note, and an estimated 115 million children of primary-school age were not in school as of 1999/2000.

[The ICPD’s Programme of Action called for universal access to primary education before 2015 and elimination of the gender gap in primary and secondary education by 2005.  In 1999, key actions to further implement the Programme included reaching a net primary school enrolment ratio for children of both sexes of at least 90 per cent by 2010, and noted a special need to improve the retention rate of girls in primary and secondary schools.]

In addition, two thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women, and gender gaps remain large in many countries, especially Africa and Asia.  Based on current estimates, the number of illiterate women will reach 507 million by 2015, compared to 292 million illiterate men.

The documents note that external and domestic spending on population activities declined substantially in 2001, after steadily increasing since the Conference.  The need to mobilize adequate resources has become more acute than

ever, they stress, both to implement the Programme of Action and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

In an effort to address those and other population concerns, the Commission will also focus on programme implementation and the Secretariat’s future work programme in population, as well as its agenda for the thirty-seventh session.  The Commission’s officers will be elected at the beginning of the session.

Reports Before Commission

World Population Monitoring

Submitted in connection with the current session's theme, the
Secretary-General's concise report on world population monitoring, 2003:  population, education and development (document E/CN.9/2003/2) focuses on trends in population and development; education and entry into reproductive life; interrelationships between education and fertility; education, health and mortality; and education and international migration.

The report stresses that primary education is vital in improving economic and social conditions among the poorest segments of society, including girls, rural dwellers and minorities.  Expanding educational opportunities is one of the most powerful tools governments have for promoting both income growth and equality.

However, it continues, enormous growth in the numbers of school-age children, now about 2 billion people, presents a formidable challenge to countries in less developed regions.  In Africa alone, the school-age population numbers
330 million persons, almost quadruple that in 1950.

Moreover, the number of school-age children worldwide should rise by nearly 300 million between 2000 and 2050, according to the report.  Over 90 per cent of this increase is projected to occur in Africa, where the school-age population should double by 2050.  In contrast, the school-age population of more developed regions is expected to decline by over one fifth -- about 60 million -- between 2000 and 2050.

An estimated 862 million adults worldwide world were illiterate in 2000, the report states.  The Dakar goal, adopted at the World Education Forum in 2000, requires a 50 per cent improvement in national literacy rates by 2015.  But if present trends continue, only about 25 developing countries are likely to reach this objective.

Two thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women, the report says, and gender gaps remain large in many countries, especially Africa and Asia.  Based on current estimates, the number of illiterate women will reach 507 million by 2015, compared to 292 million illiterate men.

An estimated 115 million children of primary-school age were not in school, and nearly all (94 per cent) lived in developing regions as of 1999/2000.
At current rates of progress, 57 countries are unlikely to reach the goal of universal primary education by 2015, specified in the Programme of Action of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development.

As for education and childbearing, the report observes that early ages at first marriage are more common -– among both women and men -- in uneducated persons than among their educated peers.  In developing countries, the proportion of adolescents that have started childbearing is 3 to 5 times as high among adolescents with no education as among those with a secondary or higher education.

Globally, countries with higher female literacy rates and educational levels have lower total fertility rates than countries with lower education levels.
The largest fertility differentials by education are found in sub-Saharan Africa, Western Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, where women with a secondary or higher education ultimately have, on average, about three children fewer than women with no education.

Regarding education and health, studies have shown that women with low educational levels have higher maternal mortality, children with higher under-five mortality, less knowledge of key health interventions, lower levels of immunization coverage, and lower nutritional status.  Access to proper care during pregnancy and delivery is also sharply differentiated by educational level.

On migration, the report observes that education is increasingly being considered a key characteristic by countries that apply admission and residence criteria for immigration.  This has long been the case among the traditional countries of immigration (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States).  However, European and other receiving countries have also been emphasizing migrants' skills since the second half of the 1990s.

Increasingly, student migration has paved the way for a migrant workforce or for permanent settlement.  As recruitment of highly skilled professionals has become competitive, foreign students, especially those in science and technology, are being seen as part of a qualified migrant workforce.

Monitoring of Population Programmes

The Secretary-General's report on monitoring of population programmes focusing on population, education and development, 2003 (document E/CN.9/2003/4) highlights progress towards implementing the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, especially as it relates to education, population and development.

The report underlines the education of young people, especially girls, and its impact on families, community and society.  Educated girls, it states, are likely to marry later; have smaller, healthier families; recognize the importance of health care; and seek it for themselves and their children.

A special challenge exists, the report says, in dealing with the educational needs of married adolescent girls, whose welfare is adversely affected by lack of access to health and education opportunities.  Adolescent girls are physically, mentally and emotionally unprepared for childbirth, yet the practice continues.

Adolescent fertility rates correlate strongly with high levels of school dropouts, high unemployment rates and low levels of access to basic social services, including reproductive health services, which can contribute to high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.  Evidence worldwide shows that informed, young people with access to counseling and services are more likely to engage in healthy practices, reducing their risk of HIV infection.

Major challenges outlined in the report include addressing illiteracy, eliminating gender disparities, and reducing gaps in financing, information, and capacity to deliver quality education for all.  These issues imply policy reforms, sustained advocacy and strengthened multi-sectoral partnerships, especially in poverty reduction strategies.

Flow of Financial Resources

Another report of the Secretary-General focuses on the flow of financial resources for assisting in the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (document E/CN.9/2003/4).  The report examines trends in international and domestic assistance to population activities in developing countries for 2000, as well as provisional figures for 2001, and gives estimates of domestic spending by developing countries for 2001.

[Population activities are part of the costed population package set out in the Conference's Programme of Action, and include family planning services; basic reproductive health services; activities to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS; and basic research, data and population and development policy analysis.]

The report observes that external and domestic spending on population activities declined in 2001, although it had been steadily increasing since the Conference.  International assistance for such activities was estimated at
$2.3 billion in 2001, compared to $2.6 billion in 2000, making up only 40 per cent of the 2000 target of $5.7 billion agreed upon in Cairo.  Domestic governmental and non-governmental spending in developing countries came to an estimated
$7.1 billion in 2001, compared to $8.6 billion in 2000.

Together, the report says, external assistance and domestic expenditures for population activities yielded a global estimate of $9.4 billion in 2001, as compared with a target figure for 2000 of $17 billion estimated in the Programme of Action.

According to the report, developing countries reached almost 63 per cent of the Cairo target of $11.3 billion, but most of the resource flows come from only a few large countries, and many developing countries are unable to generate the necessary funds for population programmes.  The need to mobilize adequate resources has become more acute than ever, both to implement the Programme of Action and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

World Demographic Trends

According to the Secretary-General’s report on world demographic trends (documents C/CN.9/2003/5 and Corr.1), the last century witnessed record rates of population growth, impressive declines in mortality and fertility, population ageing, rapid urbanization and city growth, and increased international migration.  The report highlights the consequences of those population trends, as well as the opportunities and challenges associated with them.

From 1900 to 2000, world population grew from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion persons, the report states, with urban population reaching 2.9 billion.  World population is continuing to increase and is expected to add several billion persons by mid-century.  Almost all growth will occur in developing countries, while population should decline in developed countries, due to below replacement fertility levels.

Declines in fertility reinforced by longevity will continue to produce older populations on unprecedented scales, the report observes, producing historic reversals in the proportions of young and older persons.  The HIV/AIDS has already produced marked increases in mortality in Africa, and rapid responses may be required to avert increased devastation there. 

Low fertility and population ageing are major concerns in more developed regions, according to the report, while less developed regions focus on high fertility, population growth and mortality.  However, in both developed and developing countries, concern over HIV/AIDS is at the top of the population policy agenda.

A report of the Secretary-General on programme implementation and progress of work in the field of population in 2002:  Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (document E/CN.9/2003/6) covers such topics as fertility analysis; mortality and migration; world population estimates and projections; population and development; monitoring, coordination and dissemination of population information and technical cooperation in ageing.

A Division report on levels and trends of contraceptive use in 2002, the report states, has revealed that world contraceptive prevalence reached
61 per cent in 1997, up from 58 per cent in 1993.  While modern methods account for most current contraceptive use in the less developed world –- 92 per cent
-– they account for only 81 per cent in the developed world, mainly due to higher reliance on traditional methods (primarily withdrawal) in some parts of Europe.

According to another Division study, some of the most remarkable demographic and social changes have been in marriage.  A steady increase in the marriage age to at least 26 years for men and 22 for women has occurred during the past four decades in all major areas of the world.  Marital dissolution and disruptions have increased at all ages and regions, except Asia, where they have steadily decreased over the past four decades.

The report also includes guidelines for projection of fertility change for the 2002 Revision, particularly for intermediate-fertility countries (countries with total fertility between 2.1 and 5 children per woman in 1995 to 2000).
The proposed guidelines stipulate that fertility in intermediate-fertility countries will drop to 1.85 children per women by 2050, rather than the previously estimated 2.1 children.  The report describes this as a  “momentous change”, due to the large population of intermediate fertility countries, and the many implications of sustained below-replacement fertility.

In other research on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Division notes the detrimental impact the disease is having on households, as children are taken out of school to care for ill parents or for financial reasons.  The HIV/AIDS is having a sizeable impact on the labour force, costs and productivity of business

firms in areas of high prevalence.  The impact on the agricultural sector will be far-reaching, threatening the future food security of areas or entire countries.

Other Documents

Also before the Commission will be notes by the Secretariat on the provisional agenda for the thirty-seventh session of the Commission, and on the draft programme of work of the Population Division for the biennium 2004-2005.

Background of Commission

The Population Commission was set up in 1946 by the Economic and Social Council to study and advise the Council on population changes, including through migration, and their effect on economic and social conditions.  Following the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, the name of the 47-member body was changed to the Commission on Population and Development, and it was decided that it would meet annually beginning in 1996 to assess implementation of the Programme of Action adopted at the Cairo Conference.

The Commission normally comprises 47 members, who are elected on the basis of equitable geographic distribution and serve a term of four years.  In 2003, the members are:  Algeria; Austria; Bangladesh; Belarus; Belgium; Bolivia; Botswana; Brazil; Cameroon; China; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Egypt; El Salvador; France; Gambia; Germany; Ghana; Guyana; Hungary; India; Indonesia; Iran; Ireland; Jamaica; Japan; Kenya; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malaysia; Mauritania; Mexico; Netherlands; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Norway; Pakistan; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Russian Federation; Turkey; Uganda; United States; and Zambia.  Three members remain to be elected.

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