Essay on the Action Plan to Control the Population by UN

The General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1974 as the World Population Year (WPY), and this was considered as a major event in the field of population.

The purpose of the WPY was to generally focus the attention of the world on population issues, by encouraging member States to organise several activities in celebration of the WPY.

The WPY culminated in the World Population Conference at Bucharest, Romania, which was attended by delegations of 136 member nations.

This Conference differed from the earlier population conferences convened by the United Nations, the first at Rome in 1954 and the second in Belgrade in 1965, in that while the earlier conferences were purely professional in nature.

The Bucharest Conference was meant for Government delegations and was mainly concerned with national and international population policies and action programmes needed to promote human welfare and development.

An important objective of the Bucharest Conference was the acceptance of a World Population Plan of Action by member States.

The draft of the Plan of Action underwent several changes before it was finally approved by the representatives of 136 nations. As pointed out by Parker W. Mauldin et al., “the Draft Plan had a demographic approach and focused attention on ‘population’ as a variable.”

Three major lines of revision were finally approved. The first concerned the ethical, religious or “spiritual” values involved. It emphasised the importance of the value of life and the protection of the family as a basic unit of society.

It also rejected all forms of coercion, but accepted the propriety of not allowing certain methods of contraception which the Roman Catholic Church did not approve.

The following countries supported this line of revision of the Draft Plan: Argentina, India, Egypt, Ethiopia, Italy, Lesotho, Liberia and Yugoslavia.

The second line of revision of the Draft Plan emphasised that the root cause of the problem was in the exploitation of the developing countries by the developed countries.

The group that supported revisions on these lines, which consisted mainly of the newly independent African countries, obviously suspected that any measure at slowing down the rate of population growth mentioned in the Draft Plan was meant to be a substitute for socio-economic development, rather than a way to achieve development.

The third line of revision, initiated by the People’s Republic of China disapproved of the emphasis of the Draft Plan on demographic variables and underscored the need for a new international economic order.

The Chinese delegation viewed the rapid population growth of the Third World as a contribution to the strength of these countries in their efforts to oppose the domination of the super-powers.

The World Population Plan of Action, finally adopted at the Bucharest Conference, reflects the agreement of 136 nations, but it also contains the amendments which were put forward on political rather than on demographic grounds.

The relationship between development and population and the role of family planning programmes in speeding up the development process by controlling population were important points discussed at the Bucharest Conference.

Some of the important features of the World Population Plan of Action may be summarised as follows:

(1) The need for economic and social development as well as a more equitable distribution of wealth was emphasized.

(2) Though all nations recognised that the population growth is high, most nations did not regard this as a cause for alarm.

(3) While the critical nature of population growth was questioned, the inter-relationship of population growth to socio­economic development was emphasized.

(4) The sovereignty of each nation to determine its own population policy without external interference was accepted.

(5) Countries which considered their birth rates detrimental to their national progress were invited to consider the advisability of setting up quantitative goals and implementing policies which might lead to the attainment of these goals by 1985.

(6) There was resentment that population was considered to be a problem of the poor nations and the need to view it from the global point of view was emphasized

(7) Surprisingly, family planning was not considered as an agent of change to speed up the development process. The provision of family planning services was supported more on grounds of basic human rights than on demographic grounds

(8) It was recognised that the resources of the world were getting depleted and the issue of differential resource utilisation was raised

(9) The need to consider the role and status of women in the context of development was highlighted. The question of the relationship between fertility and the status of women was considered secondary to its importance in the scheme of human rights

(10) Because of the magnitude of thepopulation problem, the need for international assistance to carry out population activities was highlighted.

As pointed out by C. Parker Mauldin, et. al, “The Major theme that emerges from the Bucharest meeting is that population policies and programmes must be pursued in the context of development, and that population growth and development are integrated.

It is clear that population and development cannot and actually have never been treated as and either/or proposition. There is no reason to believe that countries have concentrated on their population problems because they wanted to deflect attention from development problems.”

At the Bucharest Conference, however, several representatives from the developing countries maintained that population control was not an alternative for development and for social problems, nor was family planning a panacea for population problems, implying that those who supported population control held this view.

This angle of viewing the population problem was, no doubt, distorted. “Population control is not considered the determinant of economic and social change, and the easing of population pressures will not automatically solve all economic and environmental problems.”

This Conference, which was actually meant to generate interest in population and in population control, ended in an atmosphere of de-emphasis on both population and population control, while highlighting the need for rapid social and economic development.

The main accomplishment of the Bucharest Conference lies in the fact that it was for the first time that Government representatives came together to discuss population issues.

The World Population Plan of Action, though in many ways not very specific, represents the agreement of the 136 nations that were represented at the Bucharest Conference. “The specific guidelines in it for those in the field are few, but the general tenor is positive and the proposals are flexible.”

Ten years after the Bucharest Conference, the United Nations International Conference on Population was held in Mexico from August 6 to 14, 1984, to review the implementation of the World Population Plan of Action adopted in 1974.

The conference reaffirmed the validity of the principles and objectives of the World Plan of Action and adopted a set of 88 recommendations for the further implementation of the Plan in the years ahead. These recommendations indicate both continuing and changed emphases in several areas.

It can be observed that since the Bucharest Conference, the understanding that population issues are a fundamental element in development planning gained increasing recognition.

Several governments started considering population as a key factor in development strategy, with increasing awareness that direct action had to be taken to influence population.

While reaffirming the linkages between population and development, the Mexico Conference recognised that to be realistic, development planning should also consider the linkages between population and resources and urged that “national and international development policies, plans and programmes be formulated on the basis of an integrated approach that takes into account the interrelationships between population, resources environment and development.

An important advance on the Bucharest Conference was the inclusion of a recommendation on family planning without any resistance from the countries represented.

The recommendation states: “Governments should, as a matter of urgency, make universally available information, education and the means to assist couples and individuals to achieve their desired number of children.”

The statement went on to specify that family planning information, education and means “should include all medically approved and appropriate methods of family planning” in order to ensure “a voluntary and free choice in accordance with changing individual and cultural values.”

The need to give particular attention to the most vulnerable and difficult to reach segments of the population was highlighted. It is important to note that the Mexico Conference emphasised that population programmes should respect national sovereignty, human rights and the freedom to decide freely the number and spacing of children.

It was also pointed out that population and family planning programmes should ensure the full participation of communities and grass-roots organisations so that the needs of the people can be met within the context of their social, cultural and religious values.

The conference recognised the relationship between health and family planning and urged governments to support family planning as a health measure in maternal and child health programmes as a way to reduce births either too early or too late in the mother’s life, to increase the interval between births and to diminish higher order births.

In a recommendation, governments were urged to make family planning services “available through appropriate and practicable channels, including integrated health­care programmes, community-based, distribution, subsidised commercial retail sales, and, in particular, local distribution through retail outlets where health infrastructure and health referral services exist.”

Specific measures were also recommended for reducing foetal, infant and early childhood mortality and related maternal morbidity and mortality. In line with the global strategy of Health for All by 2000 A.D., guidelines for implementation of the Plan were spelt out in several recommendations.

Targets for countries with higher mortality levels were updated. It was recommended that appropriate steps should be taken to help women to avoid abortion, which in no case should be promoted as a method of family planning.

Recognizing the critical role of women in the achievement of population and development objectives, a separate section on “the status of women” was included in the Plan.

Improvement in the status of women was recognised as an important goal in itself and the Plan strongly recommended the full integration of women into all stages of the development process, including planning, policy­making and decision-making.

In addition to recommendations dealing with the health of women and family planning, several recommendations related to their education, training and employment were also adopted.

Another departure from the Bucharest Plan involved the attention the Mexico Plan gave to the needs of adolescents. It was recommended that adolescents of both sexes should receive adequate education, including family life education and sex education.

It was pointed out that building responsible attitudes to parenthood among adolescents through educational programmes was as important as improving their health, literacy and chances of employment.

Governments were also urged to pay special attention to the needs of the aged, particularly to the situation and the needs of older women. It was recommended that “governments should view the ageing sector of the population not merely as a dependent group, but in terms of the active contribution that older persons have already made and can still make to the economic, social and cultural life of their families and community.”

The Mexico Conference also considered the phenomenon of migration and the dynamics of population distribution, both nationally and internationally as being of continuing relevance and concern to many governments.

Governments were urged to consider a balanced approach by making integrated urban and rural development strategies an essential part of their population policies.

As for international movements, the earlier recommendations were reaffirmed and governments were asked to safeguard the basic human rights of all migrants, without discrimination on the basis of race, culture, religion and sex.

The Mexico Plan emphasised the role of non-governmental organizations in reaching population goals and recommended, “Governments are urged, as appropriate, within the framework of national objectives, to encourage the innovative activities of non- governmental organisations and to draw upon their expertise, experience and resources in implementing national programmes.”

For the first time, the importance of the role of parliamentarians was recognised in the Mexico Plan, by encouraging “policy-makers, parliamentarians and others in public life to promote and support actions to achieve an effective and integrated approach to the solution of population and development problems by arousing public awareness and working towards the implementation of national population policies and programmes.”

Some striking features of the Mexico Conference have been recorded by Srinivasan, a member of the Indian delegation.

While the Bucharest Conference was initiated at the expressed concern of the developed countries regarding the population problem, “probably, threatened, as they were by the unprecedented rates of population growth of developing countries in the sixties, the Mexico Conference was convened at the initiation of the developing countries.”

Another departure from the Bucharest Conference was that while at Bucharest, the developing countries were keen on promoting global family planning programmes to reduce the population growth rate of less developed countries, with the developed countries resisting any such move and emphasising the role of development.

The Mexico Conference found the developed countries underplaying the importance of population as an issue and even indicated that the developing countries were placing too much emphasis on official family planning programmes as a demographic overreaction rather than placing adequate emphasis on the problem of development.

In conclusion it can be said that though the Mexico Conference witnessed several controversies, it succeeded in attaining its objective of reviewing and strengthening the World Population Plan of Action conceptually and laying down guidelines for effective action towards global population stabilisation.

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held at Cairo in 1994 was unique in many ways.

Prior to ICPD, five International conferences were organized by the United Nations on population issues. The conferences held in Rome in 1954 and in Belgrade in 1965 were essentially technical meetings aimed at exchanging scientific information on population.

The World Population Conference held in Bucharest in 1974 was the first global intergovernmental conference on population. At this conference, the World Population Plan of Action was adopted.

At the international conference on Population held at Mexico City in 1984, a set of recommendations was adopted for the further implementation of the Plan of Action.

At the Mexico City Conference, a general debate on population and related issues and their implications for social and economic development was held.

This was followed by the adoption by consensus of a new programme of Action that was to guide national and international action in the area of population and development during the next twenty years.

At the ICPD 1994, a wide range of issues concerning population and development were addressed in the Programme of Action adopted at this conference. These issues included the following:

(1) Interrelationship between Population, Sustained Economic Growth and Sustainable Development; (2) Gender Equality, Equity and Empowerment of Women; (3) The Family, its Roles, Rights, Composition and Structure; (4) Population Growth and Structure; (5) Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health; (6) Health, Morbidity and Mortality; (7) International Migration; (8) Population Development and Education; and (9) Technology, Research and Development.

The Programme of Action also includes recommendations for (1) National Action; (2) International Co-operation; and (3) Partnership with the Non-Governmental Sector.

This broad review of the various facets of the programme of Action adopted at the ICPD highlights the new strategy adopted for dealing with Population and development issues.

It emphasises the integral linkages between population and development and focuses on meeting the need of individual men and women, rather than on achieving demographic targets.

A distinctive feature of this Programme of Action is the empowering of women and providing: them with more choices through expanded access to education and health services, skill development and participation in policy and decision-making processes at all levels.

The Programme of Action recognises the need to empower women, both as highly important end in it and as a key to improving the quality of life everybody!

As stated by Nafis Sadik, the Executive Director of United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA). “The adoption of the Programme of Action clearly marks a new era of commitment and willingness on the part of the Governments, the International Community.

The non-Governmental sector and concerned organizations and individuals to truly integrate population concerns into all aspects of economic and social activity, in order to achieve a better quality of life for all individuals as well as for future generations.”

It may be noted that at the ICPD, the debate between the advocates of development as a precondition to sustained fertility decline and those who believed that family planning services had to be implemented to meet the “unmet need” for fertility control was put to rest.

The population problem was once for all placed in the development context, focusing on individual needs rather than on demographic goals.