INFORMATION SERVICE

May 2004

Many AFPPD Alumni Become Ministers in India

New Delhi – Several Parliamentarians who have participated in AFPPD events have been elected to Indian Parliament. Six of them are Ministers in the new Government.

Mr.P.Chitammabram is now the Minister of Finance; he was a Speaker at the International Forum of Parliamentarians on ICPD Review at the Hague in 1999. Others are Mr.Rajsekharan, State Minister for Planning and Mr.Prathvi Raj Chauhan, Minister in the Prime Ministers Office; Mr.P.M. Sayeed earlier Dy. Speaker now Union Minister for Power; Ms.Renuka Chowdhary, Union Minister for Tourism; Mr.Kanti Lal Bhuria, Minister of State for Agriculture.

Mr.Lakshman Singh (AFPPD Vice – Chairman), Dr.Jagannath Manda and Mr.Suresh Prabhu; Mr.Kishan Singh Sangwan; Mr.Prasanna Kumar Patasani; Dr.Vallabhbhai Kathiria, Former Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and many others have been reelected as Members of Parliament. All of the above has participated in AFPPD and IAPPD events.

Two prominent AIDS activists Mr.Kapil Sibal and Mr.Oscar Fernandes are also now important Ministers.


Population, Reproductive Health Champions Win in Philippine Elections

Most of the leading members of the Philippine Congress supportive of population, reproductive health and family planning policies who ran for re- election on May 10 emerged victorious thereby earning them either a new three-year or six-year term.

Leading the pack of winners is Senator Rodolfo G. Biazon, Senate Co-Chair of the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) who has been pushing hard to legislate both a population and a reproductive health policy. His win entitles him to a new six-year term.

The other PLCPD co-Chair, Congressman Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, ran for Governor of her home province of Aurora and won convincingly against her rival. The other prominent legislative advocates of population, reproductive health and family planning policies who
also readily won include the following Congressmen/women: JR Nereus O. Acosta, Rep. Gilbert C. Remulla, Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, Emilio C. Macias, Darlene Magnolia Antonino-Custodio, Cynthia Villar, Etta Rosales and Liza largoza-Maza, among others. All of them are entitled to a term of three years. Congressman Acosta is a Deputy Secretary-General of AFPPD.

The win of PLCPD members belied the claim, and the fear, of an election backlash from the mainstream Catholic religion, which has opposed any policy that promotes the free use of modern contraceptives, although it has been monitored to mount a negative vote campaign in certain areas. Instead, Francisco "Kit" Tatad, a member of the conservative Opus Dei and
family planning opponent, who is widely believed to enjoy the Catholic hierarchy's election support, failed to get a Senate seat.


Parliamentarians at World Population Forum

Mr. Yoshitaka Sakurada M.P. and Mr. Hideo Jimpu M.P. (Japan) and Senator Dr. Malinee Sukavejworakit, Secretary General of AFPPD attended the World Population Forum in Washington DC from 13-16 May. It was addressed by Mr. Yoshio Yatsu, MP (Japan) and AFPPD Chairman, Mr. Kunio Waki, Deputy Executive Director UNFPA, Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, UN Under-Secretary General, Mr. Jyoti Singh, President Population 2005, Mr. Peter Schatzer, Director IOM Regional office in Italy, Ms. Gunta Lazdane, WHO Office Europe, Ms. Valentina Leskaj, MP, Minister for Labour Albania and Mr. Mohamad Nizamuddin, Professor Columbia University and many more prominent people. Mr. Werner Fornos, President of the Population Institute, orgnised this event.

AFPPD at APLF Stakeholders Meet in Shanghai


UNAIDS organized an Asia-Pacific Leadership Forum stakeholders meeting in Shanghai on 26 May to discuss the programme implementation of APLF. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Nafis Sadik, UN Secretary General Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS, Mr. Peter Piet, Executive Director of UNAIDS, Ms. Marina Mathiar, Ms. Lois Bradshaw of USAID and other prominent HIV/AIDS activists. AFPPD Executive Director, Shiv Khare, Mr. Tony Lisle of UNAIDS, Tony Bates of APLF and Dr. Suman Mehta, Associate Director Asia-Pacific Division UNAIDS Geneva also attended.

Dr. Obaid Meets Japanese Parliamentarians

UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid visited Japan from May 23rd to26th and met Members of Japanese Parliamentarians Federation for Population (JPFP) led by Mr. Yoshio Yatsu, Chair of AFPPD and briefed them about the current programme direction of UNFPA and the support UNFPA ICPD POA is receiving from developing and developed countries. Dr. Obaid expressed her thanks for Japanese contribution to UNFPA. Dr. Obaid was given Honorary Doctorial Degree (Dr. of Law) from Kansai University. She was accompanied by Ms. Safiye Cagar, newly appointed Director of External Affairs, Mr. Vernon Mack, Ms. Kae Ishikawa and Ms. Kiyoko Ikegami (Director UNPFA in Tokyo).

Malaysian Prime Minister, Hon. Badawi meets with AFPPD Chairman

Dato’ Seri Abdullah Hj. Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia is a founding member of AFPPD and attended AFPPD activities before becoming a Minister. During his recent visit to Japan, he met with members of the Japanese Parliamentarians Federation for Population (JPFP), including Dr. Taro Nakayama, Chair of JPFP, Mr. Yoshio Yatsu, Chairman of AFPPD and many others. He promised his continued support for AFPPD.

AFPPD Treasurer Retires

Ms. Napsiah Omar, Member of Parliament of Malaysia has now retired from Parliament; she did not contest the seat in the recent elections in Malaysia.

World Bank Parliament Network in the Middle East and North Africa

Parliamentary Network on the World Bank has formed a chapter at the Regional Parliamentarians Conference in Alexandria, Egypt on June 7-8 2004.

New Chair of Population Committee in Iran

Dr. Ahmad Kahs Ahmadi the incumbent MP and a member of the National Committee on Population and Development Parliament in the last Parliament was elected as the new chief of the National Committee on Population and Development of the newly elected Islamic Consultative Assembly. This committee is a member of AFPPD.

Asian Parliamentarian at Human Rights Meeting

Mr. Hiroyuki Nagahama and Mr. Yoshihiro Kawakami, MPs from Japan represented AFPPD at the World Forum on Human Rights meeting of UNESCO from 16-19 May 2003, Nantes, France.

African and Arab Parliament renewed committment for ICPD+10

Dakar: More than 400 African experts gathered for a four-day meeting in Dakar, Senegal 7-11 June 2004 with the aim of strengthening the implementation of the 1992 Dakar/Ngor Declaration and the Programme of Action of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). Members of Parliament from 20 African countries in attendance, who met on 6 June for a side event titled "ICPD At Ten Roundtable of Parliamentarians", reaffirmed commitment to the principles, objectives and actions contained in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 5-13 September 1994) and in the document Key Actions for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (New York, 30 june - 2 July 1999). Further committed them to the implementation of the recommendations emanating from the ICPD at Ten Review, building on the Ottawa Parliamentarians Commitment (21-22 November 2002) and within the framework of the New Partnership for Afirca's Development (NEPAD).

The African and Arab Parliamentarians pledged as public advocates, legislators and policy makers, to carry out these actions and to systematically and actively monitor the progress we make in doing so. We further pledge to report on an annual basis, through the regional parliamentary groups, on progress made and resulted achieved.