The role of the United Nations in fostering population activities throughout the world and especially in developing countries is also to be noted. When this organisation was formed, a Population Commission was set up and became a part of the legislative wing of the organisation.

A Population Division in the Department of Social Affairs was made a permanent part of the administrative organisation. Several World Population Conferences were sponsored by the United Nations, the first, conference being held in Rome in 1954, followed by one at Belgrade in 1965 and another at Bucharest in 1974.

The importance which the United Nations assigns to population problems became evident when 1974 was observed as the UN World Population Year, during which several population activities were undertaken and assistance was extended to many countries and bodies to undertake similar activities.

The reports of all the conferences sponsored by the United Nations on population issues have been published, containing not only the deliberations of the conferences but also the papers read at them.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

In 1956, the Demographic Training and Research Centre (now known as the International Institute for Population Sciences) were established.

Such a centre was thought to be necessary for the study of population problems of importance in the ECAFE region (now known as the ESCAP region) and for the training of the personnel in this field on a regional basis.

Since the establishment of this centre, five other regional centres have been set up by the United Nations, one each at Santiago in Chile, Cairo in Egypt, Accra in Ghana, Yaounde in the Cameroon and Bucharest in Romania.

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), previously known as the Economic Commission for Asia and the*Far East (ECAFE), is a branch of the United Nations situated in Bangkok, Thailand, and is very active in promoting regional population studies.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The contribution of the United Nations towards improvements in the methodology and techniques of population analysis must also be acknowledged. The various manuals it has published are extensively used by students of population studies.

The United Nations Demographic Year Book, in which population data of the various countries of the world are compiled, provides a useful source of material to all those who are interested in population studies.

The other U.N. bodies, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) also continue to maintain their interest in the problems of population.

Other international organisations also take interest in the population problems of developing and developed countries. The International Statistical Institute, Netherlands, has recently set up an organisation for World Fertility Survey and several such surveys in different countries are being conducted.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The professional international organisation of demographers, known as the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), holds meetings of all members at intervals of two to three years, and publishes the proceedings and contributed papers.