- Dr. Vipan Prachuabmoh Ruffolo

Dr. Vipan Prachuabmoh Ruffolo, Director of the College of Population Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, spoke on Globalization and Population Issues. She pointed out that approximately 125 million people or about two percent of the world population lived outside their native countries in the mid-1990s. There are four major types of migration flows: labour migration, family reunification, refugees and illegal migration. Globalization is usually identified as a key factor facilitating the recent trends in international migration. Globalization in aspects of technology advancement, i.e. modern transportation and communications, can reduce obstacles of space and time. People can travel farther and faster at reasonable prices.

Increasing globalization and regionalization in the aspect of deregulation and liberalization of trade, investment, services, capital and labour not only relates to economic development but also increases the discrepancy in the wealth both within and among countries. Such a discrepancy is a crucial factor underlying transnational migration. The receiving countries tend to be relatively better off in terms of economic, social, or political opportunities than the countries of origin.

Globalization, e.g., medical technology and knowledge, seems to help in reducing mortality, especially in developing countries, as we can see from the evidence that the infant and child mortality in most of developing countries has decreased after the massive infusion of western medical technology after World War II. At the same time, globalization in terms of liberalization of the economy seems to lead to a change in consumer tastes and increasing material aspirations. People tend to seek better health care, and socio-economic development increases the affordability of access to preventive and curative health care. In addition, the changes in economic globalization seem to have an indirect impact on the fertility decline. In contemporary society, the investment in human capital, especially in terms of education, has become an important tool for achieving material aspirations. Those who have higher education are likely to have a good career, more social recognition, etc. Modern education also has led to changes in the values of children. Mass education runs counter to the use of child labour. It also makes couples concern the quality of their children rather than quantity. At the same time, it can change the fertility preference of people, especially women. The greater opportunity chance to receive education gives women other choices in their lives, such as labour force participation in the formal economic sector. Therefore, women tend to prefer to have fewer children.

In referring to Globalization, Population and Environment, Dr. Ruffolo said that recently, the global environment and sustainable development have received a great deal of concern. However, there is still controversy about the underlying cause of increasing environmental degradation. Is the rapid increase in the number of global population the main cause for environmental problems, or is it due to consumption patterns together with wrong policies and mismanagement. The relationship among population, globalization, and the environment is quite complex. For developed nations, even though the population growth has been reduced to a very low level, and some developed countries even start to have a decline in the number of people, the demand for consumption of these countries is still very high. The more developed countries, which have about 17 percent of the world’s population, consume more than half of the world’s energy.

"Globalization has an impact on population policies." There has been a tendency toward global or international policies rather than only individual national policies. The evidence of such trends can be seen from the World Population Conferences. From 1974 to 1994. The World Population Conference brought together policy makers, governmental delegate, and other representatives from related organizations, and the goal has been to expand and develop to something close to a global population policy.

"Reproductive health" is becoming one of the global issues that has strong influence on national population policies. International organizations have invested a large amount of funding to support the programmes and research on this topic. There are still other demographic dimensions that should not be neglected, including trends in demographic processes and consequences of low fertility, international migration, human resource development in other aspects beside health, the interaction among the population and environment, etc.

Dr. Ruffolo concluded that in this millennium, globalization has more and more interrelation with population and sustainable development issues. Globalization seems to have both positive and negative impacts on population issues. The global population policies tend to dominate in the globalized world. The population problems of one country impact those of another. To cope with these problems we need more holistic approaches and more cooperation among countries. Sincere assistance and cooperation is important. "However, the global policies should not try to make a single recipe for all countries. Each country can share some global population targets, but they should be able to set their own priorities and have their own ways to reach such targets with the help and support of other countries and international organizations."

Prof. Dr. Marimuthu, MP (Malaysia) chaired the session.

Panel Discussion

Exchanges of Information among Parliamentarians Needed

The panel discussion on Population and Development in the 20th Century: parliamentarians’ Initiatives in 21st Century. Mr. Colin Hollis, MP from Australia, who was the Rapporteur General, chaired the Session. Other parliamentarians at the panel were Mr. Jamgyrbek Bokoshov from Kyrgyzstan, Mr. Luvsanvandan Bold from Mongolia and Mr. Chay Wai Chuen from Singapore.

Mr. Luvsanvandan Bold, MP (Mongolia), said that the present conditions of democratization, liberalization and globalization of a new turn in the world history reinforced significantly the role of parliaments in the international politics, especially through exercising and encouraging parliamentary diplomacy, which is a reality of this new century. It is clear that any policy of a state is not sufficiently real if it is deprived from the contribution of the Nation’s elected representatives. Mr. Jamgyrbek Bokoshov, MP (Kyrgyzstan), said that, nowadays the CIS Countries have a very high level of unemployment and among them a lot of women. Today, 65% of the people is living below the poverty line. It is the fact that in the Asian Region in the post-Soviet stage, the situation has a very specific character with its transition into a new social-political system. The population problems in these newly independent states have a lot in common with other countries. The experience of other countries, including Asian countries, in addressing these problems will depend much on the exchange of information and experience.

Mr. Chay Wai Chuen, MP (Singapore), said that this morning we saw the presentation on globalization and I can say we in Singapore saw the whole gamut of change from very high birth rates in the late fifties to the present TFR of 1.5. In Singapore, we are now addressing the issues about aging, migrant workers, the general state of health care, etc. I can assume that many of you are facing similar problems, so I will now share with you some of our experiences.

"All human actions can be reduced in two words: ‘abstain and sustain’. You abstain from the bad policies and you keep trying and sustain going for the good ones."

- Mr. Chay Wai Chuen - MP

Dr. Ghazi Farooq (UNFPA/CST), Dr. Sheila Macrae (UNFPA) and Dr. Nibhon Debavalya (UN-ESCAP) with other UN and NGO officials at the opening

Closing Session

- Datuk Dr. Raj Karim

Prof. Dr. Prasop Ratanakorn, Secretary General of AFPPD, addressing at the Closing Ceremony, said that in the last two and a half days, we deliberated the population and development and related issues such as environment, food security globalization, and HIV/AIDS. He urged parliamentarians to reflect and visualize whether the population of their countries or constituencies were half of the current population. The answer may indicate that population overgrowth is the root core of many problems. Unfortunately, when IMF, World Bank and other financial institutions talk about poverty alleviation, they do not mention population or even health issues. How you can solve the poverty of the South and the South East Asian countries without talking about population and development. Another thing, may I give you a warning to watch out for "water". This is the first commodity, which is going to be scarce, and this is because of every growing population either using it or polluting it.

Mr. Shin Sakurai, MP from Japan and Chairman of AFPPD, in his address, said that the APDA conference has great significance for AFPPD. Once a year for the past 16 years under the sponsorship of APDA we have been to hold this conference to discuss the Asian issues on Population and Development with the members as the core participants. It has played a very important role in the promotion and continuation of our activities. Looking back on what we have done in the past century, human kind with so much technology and science must take care to make sure that this is not used to destroy our civilization. We should use it to protect our future, not focussing on this endless desire of human kind or on free competition. We should take harmony as the starting point of human peace. We feel that this is where our responsibility lies. We must act upon our aspirations, we must actively look at the future, at our vision and we must spread that awareness. As the chairman of AFPPD I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the activities of APDA and we would like to work together under close cooperation to resolve the issues of population and development.

Datuk Dr. Raj Karim, the Regional Director, East and South-East Asian and Oceania Region, of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), in her closing address, said that as we leave this room and return to our countries and place of work, let us carry clear messages and renew our commitment to action each one of us will take. Let us get over the hurdle of talking about language and terminology and let us now talk about action. We need to be strong advocates of what we do, we need to harness support, we need to mobilize resources and to find the necessary finances for our programmes and activities. As parliamentarians you are in privileged positions to influence and advocate for a favourable and enabling environment for the necessary legislative policy and funding adjustments within a framework of good governance, social justice and accountability. Political will and commitment is a major ingredient to success, especially so when we are dealing with very sensitive, delicate, personal and confidential issues.

The 21st Century has brought new and old challenges and, as parliamentarians, you are in a position to deal with these challenges. You can create an environment for necessary legislation, policy and implementation of just governance, social justice, equality and accountability. Reproductive health, sex, education, and other family planning services are major areas where more and systematice work needs to be done.

We look upon you to help mobilize more national resources as we brought in the scope of our work for adolescents and youth, for prevention of STDs, HIV/AIDS, for safe motherhood and others. IPPF will continue to work closely with APDA, AFPPD and UNFPA in carrying out the parliamentarians’ 21st century initiative.

As in Dr. Prasop’s words: "Let us all join hands, so that together we can keep the light glowing." IPPF also joins you in according its appreciation and gratitude to our two distinguished leaders

Mr. Colin Hollis, MP from Australia and Vice-Chairperson of AFPPD, said that it is a great honour for being selected as the Secretary General of the AFPPD and following the work that Prof. Dr. Prasop Ratanakorn has led for us all. He went further to talk about his association with the Asian Forum since the beginning and the challenges ahead.

Other News

Cambodia Organizes Parliamentarians’ Meeting on HIV/AIDS

Phnom Penh – As a follow-up on commitments by parliamentarians at the Inter-Country Meeting on HIV/AIDS and STDs in East and South-East Asian held in November 1999 in Bangkok, the Commission on Public Health, Social Work, Labour and Women’s Affairs of the National Assembly of Cambodia in cooperation with the National AIDS Authority and sponsored by local UNAIDS, Cambodia, organized the Seminar on HIV/AIDS and STDs for Parliamentarians in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) in February 2000. The seminar was attended by 132 participants.

H.R.H. Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the President of the House of Representatives of Cambodia in his opening speech, asked for special attention to the very serious problem of the spread of HIV/AIDS and STDs in Cambodia and its impact in the process of the national rehabilitation. He explained that the important wealth of the country is not the gold, gem, other natural resources, but the human resources.

Parliamentarians from the Senate and the House of Representatives of Cambodia agreed to work together to provide better lives for their people by working to help increase the awareness among the people in their own constituencies and to have the legislative action against HIV/AIDS and STDs.

Mongolia’s Legislative Review on HIV/AIDS

Ulaanbaatar – As a follow-up on the Inter-Country Meeting of Parliamentarians on HIV/AIDS and STDs held in Bangkok in November 1999, apart from Cambodia and Laos, Mongolia also organized a 2-day Seminar of Parliamentarians and Legal Experts in order to review legislators relating to HIV/AIDS and STI issues.

India and Malaysia also plan to organize National Parliamentarians’ Meetings soon.

Lao PDR Follow-up

Vientiane – As a follow-up on the Inter-Country Meeting of Parliamentarians and Specialists on HIV/AIDS and STDs, organized by AFPPD, UNAIDS and UNFPA/CST in Bangkok in November 1999, Lao PDR has taken immediate steps for a Country Level Follow-up.

Dr. Thongphan Chanthalanone, MP, from the Parliament of Lao PDR informed that The World AIDS Day was observed with support from parliamentarians, and a National Workshop of Parliamentarians was also organized in December 1999.

Lao PDR plans to take this follow-up to educate and involve parliamentarians up to the people. A second Meeting of Parliamentarians on HIV/AIDS and STDs has been planed to organize in the year 2000.

Africa Parliamentarians Call to End FGM

About 50 lawmakers from 19 Eastern and Southern Africa countries called for the elimination of practices that harm reproductive health, such as female genital mutilation (FGM), at the end of a three-day workshop in Kampala, organized by the Forum of African and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development (FAAPPD) in cooperation with UNFPA. Legislatures, for their part, were asked to enact laws on domestic violence, including spouse and child abuse, and abuse of the elderly, economic exploitation of children, and protect the rights of the people with HIV/AIDS.

Inter-American Parliamentary Group Making Progress

The Inter-American Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (IAPG) conducted several events in the last one year.

• Study Visit of Spanish and English parliamentarians to Peru and Bolivia. August 1 - 13, 1999. The purpose was to show them the reality of Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs in these two countries and how their governments/parliaments could collaborate with the national organizations working on these issues.

• Sub-Regional Training Workshop on HIV/AIDS with Parliamentarians from Central America. August 17, 1999. As a result of this workshop the participants signed a Declaration of Intent regarding HIV/AIDS.

• Exploratory Meeting Towards a Caribbean Parliamentary Movement for Population and Development. November 22 & 23, 1999, Port of Spain –Trinidad & Tobago. This activity was organized in collaboration with UNFPA and the National Assembly of Trinidad & Tobago. The main objective was to explore the potential for the development of a regional grouping of parliamentarians on population and development issues in the Caribbean.

• Training Workshop for Journalist from the Andean Region on Population and Development Issues. November 25-28, 1999, La Paz, Bolivia. The main objective was to provide a forum for journalists to exchange information and successful strategies for the coverage of news on population and sustainable development issues. There were more that 40 participants from the 5 Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela).

Canada Special

CAPPD (Canada) Celebrates its Anniversary with Forum on Adolescent Reproductive Health and Nutrition

There are six billion people living on our planet – 1.1 billion of them teenagers. Many of these adolescents will be rushed into their reproductive years. Education, access to information, and counselling are key to sustaining their good health and that of their children. This is the issue the Canadian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (CAPPD) highlighted at a forum held on 29 October 1998, to cerebrate its first anniversary.

Ms. Jean Augustine, MP and Chairperson of CAPPD, commented, "Improving women’s maternal health is the first place to begin in securing children’s health and well-being." "Too often, this connection is not made in discourse on nutrition and health. Investing in women’s health has the benefit of lowering infant mortality and maternal morbidity."

The panelists – well known and respected authorities on adolescent reproductive health and nutrition were: Mr. Martyn Jones, MP and Chair of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health; Dr. Hirofumi Ando, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA; Dr. Nicholas Dodd, Chief, Reproductive Health Branch, UNFPA; Dr. David Alnwick, Chief of Health and Dr. Roger Shrimpton, Chief of Nutrition, UNICEF; Dr. Roger Tonkin, President of the International Association for Adolescents Health; Ms. Margret Hilson, Assistant Executive Director oft International Programmes, Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA); Mr. Michael Shenstone, Chair of Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD); Ms. Barbara MacDonald, Senior Nutrition Specialist, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); AND Ms. Sylvia Barrow, Health Specialist, CIDA.

Martyn Jones, MP-Canada, emphasized the importance of parliamentary associations like CAPPD in advancing our understanding and commitment to the ICPD Programme of Action. Hon. David Kilgour, MP and Secretary of State, Latin America and Africa, a guest at the forum, reminded the audience that the issues surrounding adolescent reproductive health and nutrition were important and that we must understand the complexity of the problem.