| Population and
Development In the five years since the ICPD, countries have
adopted new policies or adapted old ones, intensified policy discussion, and opened
dialogue in new areas.
- Nearly half of all countries have re-viewed their policies in light of the new
understandings of the role of population in development;
- More than one third have updated their population policies to be consistent with ICPD
objectives or have integrated factors relating to health-care quality, gender equality and
equity, and improvement of information systems into long-term development plans;
- Two thirds of all countries have introduced policy or legislative measures to promote
gender equity and equality and the empowerment of women, including in the areas of
inheritance, property rights and employment, and in protection from gender-based violence.
Additionally, programme strategies and operating procedures have changed. New
monitoring mechanisms and better means of collecting and using data have been put in
place. Organizations of lawmakers; women; youth; traditional leaders; cultural, health and
other advocates; and policy makers are involved in population and development.
Growing democracy, expanded participation in voluntary associations and improvements in
communications have encouraged the participatory approach at the centre of the ICPD
Programme of Action. The devolution of public responsibilities, decentralization of public
administrations and other institutional changes have also greatly accelerated and changed
the context of population and development activities.
Chronic high rates of population growth narrow countries’ development options,
because available resources must go towards essential services. Slower population growth
offers developing countries an opportunity to strengthen social, economic and political
structures. Fewer births and more working-age people increase the potential for improving
health and education, investing in human skills, accelerated wealth creation and increased
social participation.
This has been the pattern in East and South-east Asia and in many developing countries
elsewhere. The combined effect of lower fertility and mortality is a rapid increase in the
proportion of the population in working ages. This shift helps increase household and
national savings and investment, and particularly social expenditures.5
But development is not a smooth process. The financial crisis that began in South-east
Asia in 1997 has thrown millions into poverty and deep distress, which in some countries
has been compounded by the absence of social cohesion and dependable political
institutions. A UNFPA study 6 indicates
that the crisis and resulting cuts in social programmes have had a severe social impact,
particularly on women’s rights and reproductive health (see page 17).
The changes in social policy which developing countries have made in response to the
fresh consensus on population and development call for comparable changes in international
economic structures, to reinforce rather than weaken the consensus.
So far, however, the changes in perceptions of population and development have not been
matched by economic changes. Global and private consumption reached $24 trillion in 1998,
more than twice what it was in UNFPA’s early years, and the wealthiest groups and
individuals control a larger share of it than ever. The wealthiest fifth of the
world’s people consume more than 66 times the materials and resources of the poorest
fifth. Economic development raises prices as well as incomes. The last to benefit are the
poorest, who spend more of their incomes on essentials such as food and housing and depend
most on public services, especially health, education and transport.
The ICPD agreed that population is integrally related to development. The five-year
review recommended that governments should:
- Look for better understanding of the relationships among population, poverty, gender
inequity and inequality, health, education, the environment, financial and human
resources, and development;
- Re-examine recent research concerning the relationships among reductions in fertility
and economic growth and its equitable distribution;
- Draw attention to and promote linkages among macroeconomic, environmental and social
policies.
Social investment, demographic change and development
Important choices must be made regarding investments in education, particularly of girls
and women, and in health, including reproductive health and mortality reduction. Decisions
to invest in these areas can initiate dramatic changes in reproductive behaviour, and will
shape the demographic future.
Declines in fertility and mortality are mutually reinforcing. Fertility decline is
often associated with postponing the first birth, waiting longer intervals between births
and having fewer children late in reproductive life.
People who have fewer children
invest more in their health and education.
People who have fewer children invest more in their children’s health and
education.7
This raises the perceived costs of children but also raises the perceived benefits to the
parents from fewer but better prepared offspring.
Women who have been to school understand that proper care for children includes support
for their education. The more education women have, the more education their children are
likely to have. Educated mothers are more likely to invest in the health of their children
and use information and services to protect their children’s health.
Mortality increases in some countries
In a number of countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, adult mortality
has increased as the result of growing poverty, poor nutrition, increased stress and
overcrowding, infectious diseases and deteriorating health care across the board.
The deadliest factor affecting demographic change in the short term, however, is
HIV/AIDS. In several sub-Saharan African countries, the epidemic has slashed population
growth rates, at an enormous and tragic cost to families and communities.
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For more information:
United Nations Population Fund
Information and External Relations Division
220 E. 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
Tel. 212-297-5020; fax: 212-557-6416
E-mail: ryanw@unfpa.org. Web site: www.unfpa.org |
