Integrating Demographic Challenges in Sustainable Development Goals Focus of Panel Discussion in Population Commission
Economic and Social Council President Calls for Inputs for Ministerial Review; Debate Continues on National Experiences
Integrating population issues into sustainable development was inevitable if new goals were to be achieved, experts and delegates said in an exploration of holistic approaches towards that end, as the Commission on Population and Development continued its forty-eighth session.
Throughout the morning, panellists and participants, in presentations and an interactive discussion, considered issues of demographics, climate change, the environment, women’s empowerment, youth, sexual and reproductive health, as well as how data was collected, broadly agreeing that those were inextricably linked in the effort to meet the global challenges needed for a sustainable future.
Moderated by Pamela Falk, Foreign Affairs Analyst of the CBS News TV and Radio and former President of the United Nations Correspondents’ Association, the panel featured interventions by Mark Montgomery, Senior Associate of the Population Council and Professor of the Department of Economics, Stony Brook University; Gita Sen, Professor of Public Health, Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore; Jacob R. S. Malungo, Professor of Demography of the University of Zambia; and Lori Hunter, Professor at the Environment and Society Program, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder.
Mr. Malungo said that there were two ends to the demographic continuum. At one end were a great many young people, and at the other, a preponderance of elderly. Neither was ideal for a sustainable and productive future. Developing countries tended to have younger populations with higher fertility rates putting pressure on educational and health services, which was out of balance with the needs of that population, whereas the industrialized world had an ageing populace, which, among other things, created an economic burden on the shrinking working population.
Furthermore, he said, cultural norms and location must be considered. Certain practices, such as “sexual cleansing” and polygamous marriages, increased the spread of sexual infections and were not socially sustainable, he said as an example of the problem. Noting that indicators for sustainable development would be different for different regions, he said that, in less developed systems, indicators might hover around health, education and entrepreneurship; the demographic dividend could be used to determine which areas to profile. More advanced systems, he explained, might have ageing as a priority indicator.
Ms. Hunter said that individuals, communities and nations were short-changed by single-sector approaches. Rather, multisectoral approaches were more effective. She noted that progress on any of the sustainable development goals, awaiting agreement, related to poverty, health or education, would affect all the others. Climate change would loom large in shaping the next 15 years, shift the context and gain traction in becoming a big determinant in food production and the welfare of cities, among other consequences.
The “disposable era” had to come to an end, she said, stressing the importance of thinking about the socio-ecological system. New ways of living that had a lesser ecological footprint must be created. Then, too, environmental issues could differ from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. In that regard, she also spoke about gathering place-specific qualitative data, rather than the quantitative data collected by most demographers. In-depth interviews and research on the ground should be included in the “tool-box” of data collection, she suggested.
Mr. Montgomery, recognizing the importance of coping with environmental risk, said it was important to lay down a framework that would show who was at risk and where. It was essential to put people in place. Suppose a localized drought struck a particular region of the country, would a statistical office know the total population of the region and its demographic breakdown? Clearly, a system was needed in which space and place were the foundation.
Disaggregation of data could help to determine whether development was inclusive and provide a stress test on achievement of the sustainable development goals, he said. For example, one of the draft goals emphasized that cities and human settlements should be safe and sustainable. But, how was progress towards those ends to be gauged? The urban scene was characterized by the emergence of megacities, which dominated the conversation about urbanization. But, one must be able to get down to the neighbourhoods, for which assessment tools were needed. Smaller settlements were often overlooked in the discussion, although they contained three times the number of people as larger cities. For cities and towns to be vital and sustainable, it was necessary to know what was going on and for Governments at all levels to have access to that data.
Central to the task of integrating population issues into sustainable development, Ms. Falk said, was to ensure that improving the quality of life for today’s generation would reach into the future. Statistics indicated that between 2015 and 2030, 1.9 billion people would turn 15 years of age. “We need to be ready for them,” she said.
Ms. Sen drew attention to two aspects which she said would shape developments over the next 10 to 15 years and beyond. The first was to greatly reduce fertility in order to maintain the population ages 10 to 24 at 1.9 billion. Otherwise, that age group could reach 3.2 billion by 2040. It was important to understand how to stabilize that population. The second aspect concerned the uneven population distribution across regions, with Africa having a much greater percentage. Indeed, the continent might have 41 per cent of the world’s young people by 2100. All systems must be geared to their health and human rights.
She said that half those young people would be girls, who had special needs. Focusing on health rather than just numbers and rates was a paradigm change spurred by the International Conference on Population and Development, known as ICPD. Indeed, she suggested, the best way to stabilize the population and reap the potential demographic dividend was to focus on the health and human rights of women. At the same time, addressing those draft goals required money. Developing countries had been funding three quarters of the world Conference’s targets through out-of-pocket spending by individuals, which was one of the reasons households and individuals fell below the poverty line. Set against military spending, the amount needed was “peanuts”, but would achieve enormous results in improving the health and rights of women and all people.
This afternoon, the Commission considered the contribution of population and development issues in the context of the Annual Ministerial Review of the Economic and Social Council’s, which would examine the transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the sustainable development goals. Council Vice-President, Vladimir Drobnjak (Croatia), drew attention to enhancing reproductive health and rights, as highlighted in the 1994 Cairo Programme. Reductions in fertility, he said, opened a window of opportunity for a dividend, especially when coupled with education and employment opportunities.
The global trend towards population ageing, he said, also must be given the attention it deserved, along with issues of expanding urbanization and migrants’ rights, among others. He commended the collaboration among the Council’s functional bodies.
In the ensuing discussion, the representative of Mexico focused his remarks on urbanization and changing patterns of consumption. His country had 384 densely populated cities, as well as a significant number of small towns. Basic infrastructure had strengthened, he said, but, at the same time, services must be improved. Environmental education would also motivate change.
A representative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that migration must be seen as a benefit rather than a problem. How migrants and their families fared was a key determinant in furthering development. He thus urged harnessing the positive potential of migration for development.
Also today, the Commission continued its general debate on national experience in population matters, hearing from nearly 50 representatives, many of whom hailed from Africa. They shared progress achieved by their countries amid myriad obstacles. Togo’s representative, for example, said his country had attained the first Millennium Development Goal — it had improved women’s health and its goal on HIV/AIDS was in reach. However, many challenges remained, including catering to the needs of young people.
The representative of Botswana noted the significant decline in his country in infant and maternal mortality and the increase in life expectancy. Botswana, he said in that regard, was promoting sexual and reproductive rights, and provided comprehensive sexuality education in schools. However, it, too, faced a challenge in addressing the needs of its youth population.
Jamaica had also made significant progress towards achieving development targets, its representative said. However, it was challenged by health-related issues, such as high rates of maternal and infant mortality and increasing rates of non-communicable diseases, among others. In the same vein, Sierra Leone’s representative said that, while his Government had introduced policy measures and strengthened health-care programmes that would elevate service quality and accessibility, the outbreak of the Ebola virus had adversely affected the gains.
Niger’s representative highlighted a project on the empowerment of women and the resulting dividend. However, he said, two demographic indicators were of concern: the fertility rate at 7.6 children for women of reproductive age and 3.9 per cent overall, was the highest in the world. In that regard, the Vice-Minister from Nigeria cautioned that policies aimed at reducing fertility rates should be weighed carefully against the development needs of States and their capacity to absorb increased populations. Nigeria was among the highest reproductive, productive and consumptive countries in the world and thus faced an opportunity to create sound policies to address development needs.
A number of speakers from Latin America, including Peru’s representative, highlighted their commitment to the Montevideo Consensus, noting its overarching framework in the region on population and development. Owing to sustained economic growth, he said the Peruvian Government had been able to focus on programmes to reduce poverty and provide health services. However, reducing illiteracy, which was predominant among women and in rural areas, remained a challenge.
Paraguay’s representative said his country had also experienced economic growth and was focused on a national plan aimed at sustainable development. Noting the significant indigenous presence in the population, with 15 different ethnic groups in the country, he said that the young and indigenous people were the nation’s most vulnerable groups and thus were the focus of the national development plan. A representative of Argentina said his country also focused on reducing gaps in social inequality and guaranteeing the rights of those of African descent and of indigenous people.
Many speakers underscored the importance of a rights-based health approach, which would ensure that women could decide when and how many children they wished to have. Australia’s representative, for one, said that at the core of empowering women and girls was enabling them to have control over their own bodies, through reproductive health rights. Similarly, the representative of the United Kingdom expressed concern that, despite progress, there was still too much “stubborn” resistance to the simple notion that women and girls had the right to decide what happened to their bodies. Access to sexual and reproductive health and evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education must be available and accessible to all.
Similarly, Norway’s representative said her country gave the highest priority to ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health services and respect for human rights. However, while culture and religion were important in supporting central values of human dignity and in protecting the rights of all, she said it was unfortunate that those very factors were also being used to suppress people and deny them access to the protection and services they needed.
A number of speakers also highlighted their countries’ attention to achieving a demographic dividend, including Thailand’s representative who said it had been successful in that, owing to a large working population and fewer dependents. Yet, population trends required new policy initiatives, he said. Challenges for Thailand included an increase in the adolescent birth rate, decline in overall fertility and ageing of the labour force.
The Philippines’ representative said his country too was focused on facilitating the necessary conditions to reap a demographic dividend, as well as to prevent and reduce teenage pregnancy, and foster mobility and urbanization. However, given the prevailing poverty and inequality in the country, putting people at the centre of sustainable development was indeed challenging. He hoped the country, despite its economic limitations, would continue to pursue policy and programme reforms that integrated population issues into sustainable development.
Also participating in the interactive panel discussion were the representatives of Senegal, Japan, Uganda, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Jamaica, United States and the United Kingdom.
Additional speakers in the general debate were the representatives of Uganda, Pakistan, Armenia, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Ireland, Serbia, Nepal, Botswana, Moldova, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Portugal, Zambia, Turkmenistan, Sudan, Senegal, Tonga, Romania, Iran, Gabon, Kenya, Turkey, Maldives, Lebanon, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
The Commission will meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 16 April, to continue its work.