The new challenge: translating Cairo success into meaningful activities.

• Position: Programme of Action of International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt - Includes related article on world population statistics

The newly-named Commission on Population and Development, at its 199 5 session (New York, 21 February-2 March), stated it should have the primary responsibility for reviewing the follow-up and implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in September 1994.

"The Progrmnme of Action adopted in Cairo clearly recognized the need to empower women both as an important end in itself and as a key to improving families, communities and countries", Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), told the 26-member body. It also broke new ground with regard to reproductive rights, moving away from a narrow focus on family planning and fertility in favour of a comprehensive approach to reproductive health. "With success comes challenge", she continued. And the current challenge was to translate the Programme of Action into meaningful activities, she went on.

A new name

The Commission--a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council--also decided that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the implementation of the Programme of Action, set up by the Secretary-General, be established on a permanent basis and be accountable through the Commission for systemwide coordination.

To emphasize the Programme's new and comprehensive approach to population and development, the Population Commission was renamed the Commission on Population and Development by the General AssembLy. The Commission, to meet annually beginning in 1996, will review population trends and policies, and follow up recommendations of the Population Conference.

Dramatic changes on the horizon

Underlining the many complex and politically controversial issues to be faced by the Commission in the coming years, Joseph Chamie, Director of the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, said there had been dramatic population changes in recent decades, including unprecedented growth rates, increasing urbanization. rapid changes in fertility levels and the use of contraceptives, and improvements in mortality, as well the rise of HIV/AIDS.

In debate, some countries reviewed their national experiences in population matters, stressing how the Programme of Action would influence their policies. The need for increased resources for national population-related activities was also emphasized.

An uneven picture of population trends emerged from some Commission...