'Heaven lies beneath my mother's feet'. (Development Watch).

Just a year ago, approximately 900 representatives from 450 towns in 21 Arab countries met with scholars and donors in Kuwait at the First Scientific Symposium on Population Explosion in Arab Towns and Challenges of the Twenty-first Century, to discuss determinants and the consequences of high urban population growth and the delicate population-resource equation. The Symposium was organized and sponsored by the Saudi-based Arab Urban Development Institute and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with technical assistance from the UNFPA Country Technical Services Team (CTST), based in Amman, Jordan.

The Symposium led to consensus in what was called the "Kuwait Declaration", and bridged the policy gap between the recommendations and the Platform of Action of the Cairo Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the region-specific population realities. At the Symposium, Dr. Nafis Sadik, then Executive Director of UNFPA, alluded to the way ahead: "... to meet the challenges ahead requires concerted and committed action on the part of Governments, of civil society and of the international community We need to strengthen our commitment to the universal values expressed in the ICPD Programme of Action-universal values that are in harmony with the essence of Islam and the teaching of the Prophet. ... We can work together ... to formulate development population strategies that would allow all Arab countries to manage urban centres and migratory patterns."

Although the Symposium is a landmark event for ICPD and ICPD +5 issues, it denotes a high point in the Fund's continued assistance to the Arab region, especially the Gulf, where urban problems are unprecedented. In 1995, UNFPA sponsored the Gulf Family Health Survey in six countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The Survey, which collected baseline data on social and population indicators, constitutes support to the formulation of population policies in these countries. Since then, there has been a differing degree of response from them in moving towards this objective.

In Oman, the Government, with the assistance of CTST, has committed itself for achieving a national population policy based on ICPD principles. Another key CTST activity in Oman is the strengthening of national capacity for data collection and analysis through technical training.

In other countries, UNFPA is assisting Qatar in creating a more enabling environment for the equal participation of women in public life and development. In the United Arab Emirates, UNFPA is attempting to find and implement solutions for complex socio-cultural problems inhibiting the normal development of the family structure, as well as women's participation in social and economic development.

In Bahrain, local gender experts are being used as resource people for regional expertise. The Ministry of Social Affairs used UNFPA to identify an expert from the Arab Network for NGOs to recruit and train NGO leaders on planning and evaluation components of programming, in an effort to strengthen civil society and encourage its involvement in development and gender advocacy. UNFPA is also assisting in developing an adolescent reproductive health strategy that focuses on the needs of adolescent males and females for reproductive health information and services.

As Arabs face the new millennium, they are understanding the needs of their States to find solutions to emerging social and population problems that are deeply rooted in culture and tradition. The Kuwait Declaration was a milestone in recognizing the equal needs of all to health and education, but constituted a good first step for the inculcation of ICPD values and norms into the growing and modernizing Arab societies.

RELATED ARTICLE: What the Symposium Discussed

Prompted by recognition of the drastic changes in lifestyle over the last 60 years, the backdrop of the Symposium steemed from the transition of the Arabs from Bedouin wanderers to affluent city dwellers, in a region where water, shelter, social equity and peace are the most desirable and pressing needs. Discussed at the Symposium were the following main themes central to the Arab world:

* Trends and ranifications of urban growht;

* Social and health consequences of urban growth;

* Urbanization and the surrounding environment of town population;

* Population mobility and urban growth;

* Arab towns and the quality of life; and

* Urban policies and planning in Arab towns.

These themes reflect the growing concern of Arabs with the impulsive and haphazard development of towns and cities during the 1970s and 1980s, and the high volume of national and international migration in the region. The rapid urbanization of the 1980s and 1990s, coupled with the lack of strategic development planning, resulted in a myriad of complex urban challenges. Compounded by decreasing oil revenues, all Arab countries recognized the need to harness exploding urban populations and challenges.

What the Symposium Recommended

The Kuwait Declaration endorsed a series of recommendations and actions directly supporting the ICPD Programme of Action, including:

* Slowing down urban population growth and reducing rural-urban migration;

* Increasing access for all to equal opportunities for high quality health and education services, employment and housing facilities, and basic human rights for equal participation in development efforts and benefits;

* Enhancing States' ability to combat poverty, and protect and repair the fragile ecosystems in Arab towns;

* Strengthening national and regional capacities for integrating the concerns of women, children, youth and the elderly in urban and town planning;

* Broadening the information database and improving the quantitative and qualitative indicators for formulating and monitoring integrated population and urban development policies and programmes; and

* Increasing the participation of Governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), other active civil society members and the private sector, at the national and regional levels, in combating detrimental effects on urban development and on efforts to eradicate poverty, reduce social inequities and improve the living conditions in shantytowns.