Mainstreaming Gender Concerns
	Population Development Concerns
	Advocacy and Partnerships for HIV Prevention
	Capacity Building

Population Development Concerns

Understanding the social and demographic impact of the pandemic and the analysis of population dynamics associated with HIV/AIDS is another area in which UNFPA has relevant expertise.

This would include critical analyses to identify distinct population dynamics and trends resulting from the pandemic, and how they influence, for example, production patterns, resource allocation and management in a given country.

The demographic consequences of the epidemic include shifts in the dependency ratio, with more young and aged persons having to take care of families; declining resource capabilities (human and material), especially in the health and education sectors; and the changing content of education, particularly in communities with high prevalence levels.

Among the questions to be addressed are: will the population likely stabilize or decline in the most affected countries because of the epidemic? If so, what kind of population policies should be developed and implemented? What are the policy implications for the countries involved? What should be the priorities for these countries to strike a balance between national resources and population growth in the near future?

These projections and analyses, combined with research in sexual behaviour, would support more appropriate programme planning, population-based policy dialogue and the integration of HIV/AIDS issues in population policy development.

UNFPA should continue to support and promote the inclusion of HIV-prevention issues in population policies. The three core areas and cross-cutting gender issues must be duly reflected in those policies.

UNFPA should also support multisectoral policy dialogues on the impact of HIV/AIDS.

One important feature of the ICPD Programme of Action is its focus on human rights and social dimensions at the core of population and development strategies.

Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a significant concern of decision makers has been to understand its social and demographic consequences on national development. However, the lack of reliable data and statistical capacity in programme countries has often hampered programme design and implementation.

Although this is a multisectoral, multi-agency endeavour, UNFPA should, together with other donors and partners, continue to advocate for and selectively support national statistical capacity-building efforts.

The aim is to promote suitable information systems and population-based surveys to enhance gender-specific demographic projections. UNFPA should encourage that a special module to collect information on social and sexual behavioural patterns and trends related to HIV/AIDS should be included in national survey designs. These data should be analyzed and presented in a way that makes the gender and poverty dimensions easy to understand and use for policy decisions and in programming for HIV prevention.

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