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| || Ulaanbaatar Conference ||
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| Parliamentarians Conference in Ulaanbaatar | ||||
| Issues Discussed | ||||
Population issues in CIS countries
 The session entitled, The Status of Population and Development in the CIS and Far East Asia engaged
the delegates in a general discussion around population and development issues in the
sub-region. Mr. S. Tumur-Ochir, Member of the State Great Khural (Mongolian Parliament),
presented a paper on the status of population and development in Mongolia. He gave an
overview of the current legal framework for addressing some of the population and
development issues such as health care, including reproductive health care and services.
Among the problems faced by Mongolia, Mr. S. Tumur-Ochir mentioned were persistently high
maternal and infant mortality, internal migration from rural to urban areas, high
unemployment rate, lower enrollment of boys and men as compared to girls and women in
educational institutions, and environmental problems such as soil erosion resulting from
over grazing.
Mr.Yu Enguang, Deputy to the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, followed Mr. S. Tumur-Ochir and briefed on the population and development issues faced by China, stressing food security and population control. China emphasizes the development of agriculture in order to be able ensure sufficient grain supply for its huge population. At the same time, China pursues a population policy aimed at slowing down the rapid population growth by providing family planning services to all its citizens. The population policy varies from regions depending on the population density and ethnic background. |
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Reproductive Health The Reproductive
Health/Rights session started with a presentation
by Mr. Sha. Batbayar, Member |
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Gender and Population Policy
Ms.Khanaeva Djeren, from Turkmenistan, gave a brief overview of the population statistics, stressing the persistently high maternal and infant mortality rates in Turkmenistan and a large number of people living under the poverty line. She also briefed on the status of the HIV/AIDS effecting Turkmenistan. |
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Food Security and Environment The session entitled, Food Security and Environment started with a presentation by
Mr. Ts. Uuld, Member of the State Great Khural, on the laws and programs of Mongolia aimed
at securing sufficient and high-quality food supply for the Mongolian population. He
suggested that the Mongolian agricultural sector be developed so as to become a regional
producer of high-quality food products for children, the elderly and people working in
hard conditions. Mr. Yoshio Yatzu, Member of the House of Representatives of Japan and Deputy Executive Director of the Japan Parliamentarians Federation for Population (JPFP), gave a rather comprehensive presentation on the linkages between population growth and food security covering several economic theories including the mathusian. He stressed the importance of self-sufficiency in food provision for national and regional security, the need to have emergency food stock and the need to streamline international trade agreements with population and development principles. |
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Adolescents and Elderly
Mr. Victor Kolesnikov, Member of the State Duma Committee on Health Production, followed Mr. Sha. Batabayar with his overview on the status of child and youth morbidity, particularly the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation. The HIV/AIDS infection is prevalent among young people, particularly those that abuse drugs. |
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Highlights & Declaration
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of the State Great Khural,
on the status of the health care sector of Mongolia, including the reproductive health and
services structure. He noted the significant progress Mongolia had made during the
socialist period in terms of creating a health infrastructure and national medical
personnel, and the changes the health care and health insurance systems have undergone
since the transition to market economy. He stressed the difficulties that health care
providers face, particularly in rural areas, due to insufficient funding. Mr. J. Bokoshov,
Chairman of Kyrgyz Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, also
spoke on this topic.
The
session entitled, Gender and Population Policy commenced
with the presentation by Ms. U. Narantsetseg, Member of the State Great Khural, on the
policy changes made in Mongolia in order to ensure women’s rights. Mongolia was able
to address, in real terms, gender equality only after the transition to democracy.
There’s a lot to be done in the sphere of promoting women’s rights as many
social problems such as alcoholism, domestic violence, low legal literacy, etc. negatively
influence women’s situation. Mongolia still lacks a gender sensitive approach to
policy and decision-making, fortunately, there are many women’s non-governmental
organizations that actively run programs for women. Government and the parliament have
started to effectively cooperate with these NGOs.
The
session entitled, The Health Status of Adolescents, Youth and the
Elderly started with a presentation by Mr. Sha Batbayar on the status of
Mongolian legislation and the implementation of national programs for improving the status
of youth in Mongolia. He finished his presentation with an overview of the status of
STD/HIV/AIDS infection and prevention in Mongolia.