From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:POPULATION: AFRICANS PRESS AHEAD TO STEM UNCHECKED GROWTH
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 03:07:02 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: POPULATION: AFRICANS PRESS AHEAD TO STEM UNCHECKED GROWTH


an inter press service feature

by peter da costa

banjul, dec 8 (ips) -- the third african population conference
being held in dakar, senegal dec 7-12 is expected to give
technocrats from some 45 african countries the opportunity to
review progress in the implementation of the kilimanjaro
programme of action adopted at arusha, tanzania jan. 1984.

if the second african population conference in arusha put
population concerns firmly on the development agenda for africa,
dakar now provides a forum for taking stock of kilimanjaro and
sets the stage for the cairo world conference of 1994.

figures released by the u.n. fund for population activities
(unfpa), say the world's population -- presently at 5.5 billion
-- will grow by an average of 97 million a year for the next
decade, the highest rate in history.

according to this year's 'state of the world's children'
report, nearly all growth will be in the developing world, with
over half taking place in africa and south asia.

beset with economic and political problems and ravaged by
drought and wars, africa's response to the population challlenge
is viewed as central to turning around its bleak development
prospects.

nowhere in the world is the negative impact of rapid
population growth on poverty, food security, education, health,
living space, employment and natural resource degradation more
dramatic.

experts say only urgent action to reduce family size over the
next decade will make it possible to avoid the gloomy scenario
forecast by the figures. failure could mean an extra four
billion mouths to feed in 2050 -- the whole world population in
1975.

when in 1971 africans met in accra, ghana, population issues
were at best low on the development priority list of leaders,
who failed to recognise the crucial link between population and
socio-economic well-being.

since then, particularly after arusha, a number of important
factors have impacted on population, among them the advent of
environmental awareness and the discovery of aids.

if it fails to meet expectation dakar will at least serve to
enlighten participants as to how the rio earth summit and the
killer disease -- not to mention the end of the cold war -- have
affected national population strategies. (more/ips)


population: africans (2)

many countries have begun implementing national population
policies while some -- like the gambia, one of africa's smallest
countries -- are still at the theoretical stage.

despite having a population of less than a million the gambia
is a microcosm of all the constraints -- among them lack of
natural and human resources and desertification -- that make
effective control of population growth a must.

the gambia's newly-legislated 'national population policy for
socio-economic development', part-funded by unfpa with help from
the international labour organisation (ilo), is typical of
action plans being touted in dakar.

it aims to reduce growth rates ''in order to attain a balance
between population growth and the pace of socio-economic
progress, thereby ensuring sustained development''.

it also plans to ensure even distribution of the populace, to
regulate migration, promote health and welfare, empower women to
make decisions about family size, strengthen the country's
statistical data base and demystify popular misconceptions about
family planning.

ever-sensitive about its near-bottom position on the undp
human development ladder, the gambia plans to: extend primary
health care from 60 to 100 of the rural population by the
century's end, immunize 90 percent of under-twos and reduce
fertility rates.

aisha camara, assistant unfpa programme officer here, says
gambia's approach to population control is ''softly-softly'',
based on persuasion and attitudinal change rather than coercion.

''we won't be punitive against those who have large families,
like in china,'' explains camara. ''we'll just be trying to show
women the benefits of birth spacing, which may not achieve
drastic short-term cuts in the birth rate but will dramatically
improve mother and child health''.

she says the dakar conference is a unique opportunity for the
gambia to learn from other african countries well into the
implementation of their programmes. it will also put government
officials in touch with potential and actual donors.

the conference is jointly organised by the u.n. economic
commission for africa, the organisation of african unity (oau)
and unfpa - in collaboration with the union for african
population studies and the african development bank.
(end/ips/pdac/tvh/92)