UNSIA Newsletter Issue 2, November 1998
UNFPA report says... National population policy a top priority
Population issues, among major concerns of African governments, impact on the achievement of sustainable socio-economic development in the region. This concern has been discussed at various intergovernmental meetings, and at the African Regional Population Conference which adopted the Dakar/Ngor Declaration. The OAU Summit also endorsed a resolution on population and development, and recently, the TICAD II preparatory meeting identified population as one of the priority areas of social development.
The support by African countries of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action in 1994 was also a reflection of this concern. In light of the recommendations and commitments made at these regional and global events, the SIA retreat held on 9 February 1998 in New York made population a new priority area of the Initiative.
UNFPA, being the lead UN agency for the follow-up and implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, is fully committed to working in partnership with African governments, all parts of the United Nations system, development banks, bilateral aid agencies, non-governmental organizations and civil society to improve the quality of life of the population in sub-Saharan Africa. Bearing in mind the discussions held at the Regional Consultative meeting of the SIA in Addis Ababa in March 1997, the retreat in New York in February 1998 and the emphasis on value added in the implementation of the Initiative, the population component will focus on those areas where SIA partners can make a difference.
The critical population and development areas identified for inter-agency collaboration and coordination under the Initiative are the following: Reproductive health: The thrust of this area will be for UNFPA and other proposed collaborating UN agencies to work with African governments to develop effective and comprehensive strategies for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality, increasing contraceptive prevalence and preventing and controlling sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.
Health infrastructure will be extended to enable delivery of integrated reproductive health information and services at the grassroots level. UNFPA will take the lead in ensuring that the provisions of the Programme of Action of the ICPD are fully integrated into national health policies. It was proposed that SIA be used as an avenue to coordinate the efforts of governments, UN agencies (WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNIFEM), the World Bank and other donors, to achieve the goal of reducing maternal mortality by 50% of its current level by the year 2000 and by another 50% by the year 2015.
The rapid spread of HIV infection and the impact on socio-economic development in sub-Saharan Africa call for special efforts within the context of UNAIDS and reproductive health (RH) programmes to review and strengthen with African governments the strategies developed to prevent, manage and control the spread of STDs, particularly HIV/AIDS. UNFPA and the proposed partners UNAIDS, WHO, UNDP, UNICEF, World Bank and other external partners, are committed to a major advocacy campaign to enlist the support and commitment of African governments at the highest level to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Formulation or revision of national population policy: UNFPA will continue to play the lead role in facilitating and supporting the formulation and implementation of comprehensive national population policies to ensure that their objectives are reflected in sectoral development policies and programmes. These population policies will take into account pertinent issues such as empowerment of women and gender equality, health including RH and the special needs of adolescents and youth, education, employment, water and sanitation, environment and natural resources.
Gender disaggregated data: UNFPA will assist countries to have gender disaggregated basic social services and demographic data for planning, monitoring, and evaluating programmes under the Initiative as well as under other development frameworks. Information on monitoring basic social services will be collected during the common country assessments, demographic and health surveys and censuses. The year 2000 round of censuses provide a unique opportunity for the UN partners to identify the performance indicators for which more data will be required before use for monitoring and evaluation purposes by SIA and other development initiatives.
National capacity-building: UNFPA will assist African governments to build national capacity through training, South-South cooperation and technical assistance to manage and implement the population policy action plans; health including reproductive health and family life education programmes. UNFPA proposes that WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP, UNIFEM, the World Bank and other partners should work with African governments to formulate national human resources development plans for the creation of critical masses of human resources. Implementation of the action plan calls for joint development of training curricula and support to the training of health care providers and other appropriate personnel.
Resource mobilization: UNFPA will continue to advocate sustained political commitment and financial support for population and development in the context of resource mobilization under SIA. Advocacy will focus on both domestic and external resource mobilization as well as creation of a conducive environment for population programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. Special efforts will be made to increase external resources for population programmes in the region. Education: Population family life education (POP/FLE) helps to improve the quality of basic education. It also emphasizes participatory education which facilitates learning. POP/FLE influences gender attitudes, responsible behaviour and the development of self-esteem. Under SIA, Population Family Life Education for both the in- and out-of-school population would have the objective of creating awareness and positive attitudes towards health, including reproductive health, and reproductive rights as human rights and gender issues. Collaborating partners in this area include UNESCO, WHO, UNICEF, UNIFEM and UNFPA.
At the seventh meeting of ACC Steering Committee on the SIA in Geneva, 26 March 1998, the population issues to be addressed were presented by the Executive Director of UNFPA, Dr. Nafis Sadik. Subsequently, a technical cluster meeting on the population component was held in Addis Ababa on 2 May 1998. It was concluded, inter alia, that:
POPULATION BOX: Population policy goals
Some goals of major regional and international conferences such as the International Conference on Population and Development, Dakar Regional Population Conference and the Fourth World Conference on Women include: -- Increased access to the primary health care system of fully integrated and high-quality reproductive health and information services to individuals of appropriate ages;