Commission gives high priority to monitoring global trends.

The effect of population growth on the environment, the role and status of women, and the demographic implications of development Policies were among major topics discussed by the Population Commission at its twenty-seventh session (28-31 March, New York).

"The most important lesson we have learned is that population growth and other demographic trends can only be affected by investing in people and by promoting equality between women and men", Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and Secretary-General of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, told the 26-member body.

In the single text approved during the session, for adoption by the Economic and Social Council, the Commission asked that high priority be given to monitoring world population trends and policies, and to strengthening multilateral technical cooperation to address population concerns.

Further study was asked on: the role of women and population; mortality; levels and changes in population distribution through migration, including refugees, and urbanization; and family formation, reproductive behaviour and family planning.

Among reports reviewed at the session were those on implementation of recommendations made in the 1974 and 1984 UN population conferences, in preparation for the 1994 Conference to be held in Cairo in September.

Population trends

The Commission considered a 58-page report (E/CN.9/1994/2) on population trends and policies, social and economic implications of the increasing number of refugees, and the impact of population on the environment.

The world population more than doubled between 1950 and 1992, reaching an estimated 5.5 billion, it was reported. By the end of the twentieth century, that number should rise to 6.2 billion.

In 1992, 10 of the world's largest countries were home to 60 per cent of the people worldwide. They are: China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, the Russian Federation, Japan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Bangladesh. Urban areas claimed 43 per cent of world population or 2.28 billion people by mid-1990.

Global life expectancy had risen since 19 50 by an impressive 18 years, the report stated, from 46.4 years to 64.7 years by 1990. Infant mortality declined in all regions. Total fertility rates declined between 1980-1985 and 1985-1990 from an average of 3.6 to 3.4 children per woman.

The environment

Advocates most often cited socio-economic reasons for reducing population growth rates. They that lower growth rates will help safeguard the environment. In developing countries, "claims on the basic renewable natural resources of arable land, forests and water, fuelled by the rapid population growth of recent decades, have often outstripped the regenerative capacities of those resources", the report said.

Refugees

Between 1985 and 1993, the refugee population worldwide has more than doubled--from 8.5 million to about 19 million (not including the 2.5 million registered in 1991 with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East). Most refugees found asylum in developing countries, particularly in Asia. A major development during the second half of the 1980s was the rapid increase in the number of persons lodging asylum applications in developed countries.

Increased internal conflicts, civil unrest and persisting drought and famine have led to greater numbers of refugees in Africa, the report stated. Between 1985 and 1991, their numbers rose sharply from 2.9 million to 5.4 million--an 85 per cent jump.

Draft programme for Population Conference discussed

An 82-page draft programme of action (A/CONF.171/PC/5) of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development is to be discussed by the Preparatory Committee at its third session (4-22 April, New York).

The text sets forth ten areas of concern for the global meeting, scheduled for 5 to 13 September in Cairo. These are: interrelationships between population, sustained economic growth and sustainable development; gender equality and empowerment of women; the family, its roles, composition and structure; population growth and structure; reproductive rights, reproductive health and family planning; health and mortality: population distribution; urbanization and internal migration; international migration; population information, education and communication; and technology, research and development.