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ECA Press Release No. 14/2004
AFRICAN COUNTRIES INCREASINGLY AWARE ON POPULATION – ECA REPORT
Addis Ababa, 7 June 2004 (ECA): Nearly all African countries have integrated population concerns into their national development strategies, according to a new report by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) presented at the 10th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) which opens today in Dakar.
In January 1984, African countries adopted the Kilimanjaro Programme of Action at the African Population Conference in Arusha, which, for the first time, drew linkages between population and development.
Eight years later, they adopted the Dakar/Ngor Declaration on Population, Family and Sustainable Development which formed the basis for an African common position taken in Cairo at the first ICPD meeting in 1994.
The main conclusion of the ECA's new report is that African countries have made strong progress since adopting the ICPD Programme of Action in Cairo.
The report says that in 1994 when ICPD adopted its 20-year programme of action, only 25 per cent of African countries had integrated population concerns into their development. That figure now stands at 96 per cent.
The report, which was financially supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), covers poverty, environment and sustainable development, gender equality, the family, children and youth. Other areas featured include reproductive rights and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, population distribution, urbanization and migration;
crisis situations and resource mobilization.
The report will be considered for adoption by the ICPD meeting in Dakar this week.
On HIV/AIDS, the report says 42 African countries have established a unit within the government structure to coordinate HIV/AIDS-related efforts. "In 24 of these cases, the unit was located in the President's Office. Thirty states have established AIDS Councils or Commissions at the ministerial level," according to the report.
Progress has also been made in the area of gender equality, equity and women empowerment. According to the report, all 43 African countries that responded to the ECA survey have taken institutional actions to promote full and equal participation of women in the economy, improvement in the utilization of gender-disaggregated data and equal access to education. Forty-one of the countries have ratified the Convention on Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
The report says 74 per cent of African countries are concerned about their ageing population and that many states are providing social security or pension schemes to the elderly.
It found that virtually all African countries contributing to the ECA survey have adopted a mix of policies to address the needs of children and youth, including protection of street children, laws against child exploitation, elimination of female genital cutting and increased sensitization campaign on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.
But the report also highlighted many challenges to the full achievement of the goals of ICPD, including financial constraints, weak governance, high levels of poverty, HIV/AIDS, inadequate capacity to manage rapid urbanization and on-going structural adjustment programmes in many African countries.
For the full report, please visit www.uneca.org/popia For more information, contact:
In Dakar: (ECA)
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Petchezi Essodeina : (221) 6631898 Ousman Laye: (221) 562 74 24 In Dakar (UNFPA):
Abubakar Dungus 221 521 0975 Obi Emekekwe 221 521 0981
Issued by the ECA Communication Team Economic Commission for Africa
P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Tel: +251-1-51 58 26 Fax: +251-1-51 03 65 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.uneca.org
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