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Date:         Sun, 10 Jan 1993 21:00:57 PST
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Subject:      POPULATION: WOMEN THE KEY TO SUSTAI

/* Written 12:14 am  Dec 14, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary
*/
/* ---------- "POPULATION: WOMEN THE KEY TO SUSTAI" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Women; Third World Dvpmnt
Title: POPULATION: WOMEN THE KEY TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT


dakar, dec 11 (ips/peter da costa) -- initiatives to slow
africa's alarming population growth rate as a prerequisite for
sustainable development are doomed to fail unless women are
placed at the centre of the process, a leading expert has said.

addressing the opening of a two-day ministerial meeting of
the 3rd african population conference here friday, united
nations fund for population activities (unfpa) chief dr. nafis
sadick called for a radical re-examination of the role of women
in the development process.

since the key aspects of national population policies --
family planning, birth spacing and fertility control -- were
dependent on women, said sadick, it will be necessary to bring
them into the mainstream of development.

the unfpa executive director identified effective and
universally available mother-and-child health and family
planning services education, particularly of women and girls and
strengthening the community as key goals for african countries.

she highlighted fertility control as the first step to true
autonomy for africa's women. the challenge now is to provide
them with the means of achieving that autonomy.

dr abdallahramim dirar, director of the organisation of
african unity's (oau) economic development and cooperation
department, told delegates the population field offered an
excellent opportunity to highlight the key role of women.

dirar insisted the involvement of women be treated with all
the seriousness and committment it deserves, and proposed an
equal number of women as men at all levels of planning and
implementation of national population policies.

delegates from nearly 50 african countries are meeting here
to formulate an african position for the 1994 international
conference on population and development to take place in cairo,
egypt.

the conference, preceded by a four-day meeting of experts,
plans to review implementation of the kilimanjaro programme of
action formulated in 1984 at the second african population
conference in arusha, tanzania.

dirar, who led the oau delegation on behalf of
secretary-general salim ahmed salim, stressed the need for
grassroots participation in the formulation and implementation
of national policy.

''for too long we have adopted an attitude of assuming that
the intelligentsia and civil service know best what we need,''
dirar said. (more/ips)


population: women (2)

effective national programmes must necessarily be based on
informed choice, said dirar. any solution to africa's population
problem must achieve a balance between growth in numbers and
economic growth.

stressing the need for rhetoric about self-reliance to be
translated into concrete policies, dirar however warned: no
serious... policy can be put into place or nurtured in the
absence of measures to address africa's crushing debt burden..
or to ensure equitable prices for africa's exports.

layashi laker, executive secretary of the u.n. economic
commission for africa (eca), said a weakness of the kilimanjaro
programme of action was that it failed to outline methods of
implementation and follow-up of population measures and as such
remained merely indicative.

it was urgent, said laker, for africans to analyse the
international environment and present their claims for
assistance in a different manner. this must be matched by
determination to implement national programmes.

unless there was real development, concluded laker, it would
be pointless to try to reverse trends towards the demographic
explosion in africa.

officials say the dakar declaration on population, due to be
released saturday, will call on donors to double the current
share of assistance earmarked for population programmes in
africa.

it will also urge african countries to formulate national
programmes and decide on an inter-sessional follow-up mechanism
in the run-up to the cairo conference.

the conference is organised by the eca, oau, and unfpa in
collaboration with the african development bank and union for
african population studies. (end/ips/pdac/tvh/92)
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