Choices and responsibilities: finding the balance

Rapid population growth means the addition of a billion more people in 11 years. The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), scheduled for September 5-13, 1994, will address the issue of population growth and design strategies for slower growth with economic development and environmental protection. This article summarizes Dr. Nafis Sadik's special preparatory message about the conference. The ICPD will address the issues of reproductive health, affordable family planning (FP), and informed choice. There will be an emphasis on better health care, housing, education, and other poverty alleviation measures. Empowerment of women through educational and economic opportunity and increased foreign aid are also themes. Improvements in the quality of life as well as demographic and social change are required. The key to slowing population growth is to meet the need for FP services to reduce fertility. Reexamination of the life-styles of the more affluent is also required. Needs and resources must be balanced. Sustainable development and resource use will depend upon slower population growth, more rational population distribution, alleviation of poverty, environmentally safer consumption patterns, and other measures. The 1994 draft plan of action has a broad mandate which recognizes the linkages between population and development. Target dates and reproductive rights language are bracketed and will be discussed during the conference. Quantitative goals are set for education, child and maternal mortality reduction, and universal access to FP and reproductive health services. The public should be made aware of the development and population links. Developing countries are asked to devote 20% of their government budget to social development. Countries by their action or inaction will choose a world population size in 2015 ranging from 7.27 to 7.92 billion. The difference of 660 million in 20 years is equal to the current population in Africa. The high projection for 2050 is 12.5 billion people. The ICPD will be the last global opportunity before the turn of the century to address the challenges of shared responsibility for the future of life on earth.     

Declines in fertility levels evident in Africa,notes UN Population Fund

This article reports on the UN Population Fund's (UNFPA) African regional meeting that was held in November 1997. The meeting was attended by an assortment of UNFPA representatives and program staff. This meeting followed up the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and 1995 regional meetings on the 1994 Plan of Action. These prior meetings emphasized the link between population and development and the urgency of meeting the needs of individual women and men in a people-centered approach to development, rather than a target oriented one. The 1997 meeting reviewed the progress made toward achieving the goals of the 1994 plan of action by the UNFPA. UNFPA aims to decentralize operations, to play a role in emergency situations, to encourage South-to-South cooperation, to advocate for reproductive rights, and to promote gender equity and women's empowerment. The meeting discussed UNFPA's role in reproductive health, population and development strategies, and advocacy in detail. Participants agreed that there were signs of fertility decline in Africa. Countries are beginning to adopt a reproductive health and rights approach and to address female genital mutilation as a human and reproductive right's issue. Population policies are being changed to include ICPD goals. 32 countries adopted new programs in 1996 and 1997, that integrated the 1994 strategies and selectively focused on issues of concern. Partnerships confirm that population issues are becoming an agenda for all. The major challenge ahead is the mobilization of resources, while dealing with civil strife and political instability.     

"To change the world." Cairo conference reaches consensus on plan to stabilize world growth by 2015

After 6 days of debate and 200 speakers during September 5-13, 1994, participants from 180 countries at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agreed on a strategy for curbing global population growth over the next 20 years. The objective was sustained economic growth and sustainable development. In his opening remarks, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said that the objective was to balance humanity and the environment with the means to sustain life, and that the efficacy of the world economic order depended to some extent on the ICPD. Participants were urged to use rigor, tolerance, and conscience in conference deliberations. Men and women should have the right and the means to choose their families' futures. The preamble stated that the ICPD would probably be the last opportunity in the twentieth century to address globally the issues relating to population and development. UN Population Fund Executive Director Nafis Sadik remarked that the ICPD had the potential to change the world. Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak was elected president of the ICPD. Mubarak stated that solutions to population problems must go beyond demographic accounting and incorporate change in social, economic, and cultural conditions. Norway's Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland stated that development in many countries never reached many women. She called it a hypocritical morality that allowed women to suffer and die from unwanted pregnancies, illegal abortions, and miserable living conditions. US Vice President Albert Gore called for comprehensive and holistic solutions. The essential features of social change would involve democracy, economic reform, low rates of inflation, low levels of corruption, sound environmental management, free and open markets, and access to developed country markets. Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir urged the empowerment of women. Many expressed the concern about unsustainable consumption in industrialized countries. Prior world population conferences had been held in Rome (1954), Belgrade (1965), Bucharest (1974), and Mexico City (1984). The first World Plan of Action was adopted in 1974 and changed at the 1984 conference.     

Non-crisis economies must make adjustments too. World Economy survey

This article presents ?The World Economy in 1999,? a report prepared by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). It was noted in the report that 39 developing countries had gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth exceeding 3% in 1996, compared to just 13 countries in 1999. This indicates that 32 developing countries would suffer a decline in GDP per capita by the year 2000 as compared to 14 in 1996. In addition, slow growth has been recorded at just 2% in 1998 and 1999, with only continued growth in North America and Europe keeping the world economy going. Continued slow growth was expected for the year 2000. In terms of income, commodity prices have fallen in developing countries. Net transfer of financial resources from developing countries was almost $60 billion in 1998, compared to positive flows of about $35 billion in the first half of the 1990s. Overall, the brunt of world economic slow-down had been borne by the developing and transition economies. Thus, according to Mr. Nitin Desai, it is important that there is a coordinated policy response to crisis situations, rather than expecting the crisis economies to undertake the bulk of adjustment actions. There are advantages in coordination, which should include developing countries and the Group of Seven.     

从国际侨汇新动向看我国侨汇政策

近 3 0多年来 ,国际侨汇的数量急剧增长 ,侨汇的作用也发生了重大变化。据国际基金组织 2 0 0 0年度国际收支报告 ,目前全球侨汇总额已超过 1 0 0 0亿美元 ,约为 3 0年前的 5 0倍 ,其中60 %流向发展中国家。印度侨汇每年多达 1 0 0亿美元 ,高居榜首 ,紧跟其后的是墨西哥和菲律宾等发展中国家。值得注意的是 ,在许多发展中国家利用侨汇发展经济的时候 ,中国对侨汇工作却由于外资输入的不断增加而有所忽视。中国 1 982 1 999年 1 8年的侨汇收入总额只有 1 1 0亿美元 ,仅相当于印度1 999年一年的侨汇收入。笔者认为 ,我国有关部门应当关注侨汇工作 ,充分认识侨汇资源的重要意义 ,采取有效措施 ,更好地为经济建设服务。     

Population. The new challenge: translating Cairo success into meaningful activities

The newly named Commission on Population and Development, at its 1995 session in New York, stated it should have the primary responsibility for reviewing the implementation of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in September 1994. The Population Commission was renamed the Commission on Population and Development by the General Assembly. In debate, some countries reviewed their national experiences in population matters, stressing how the Program of Action would influence their policies. At mid-1994, world population stood at 5.63 billion persons, a report on world population trends and policies revealed. During the preceding 12 months, population had grown by 86 million and was expected to grow by an additional 87 million during the next 12 months. While China's representative described a near-crisis situation marked by a net increase in population of 14 million per year in her country, the representative of the Russian Federation expressed concern over the decrease in Russia's population. Between 1990 and 1994, world population had grown at 1.57% per annum. UN medium-fertility-variant projections indicated that the population growth rate would continue declining to 1.33% per annum between 2000 and 2010; 1.15% in 2010-2020; 0.95% in 2020-2030; 0.72% in 2030-2040; and 0.54% in 2040-2050. Consequently, the world population was projected to reach 7.5 billion by 2015 and 9.8 billion by 2050. Assistance for population programs had increased from $220 million in 1988 to $305 million in 1992, the bulk of which came from UNFPA. Family planning, integrated with reproductive health and carried out through a primary health care system, continued to receive the bulk of multilateral resources. Projects to improve the status of women, such as education for girls, leadership training, literacy programs, and projects designed to increase the income of women and their families were being supported by multilateral agencies. An update on global contraceptive requirements from 1994 to 2005 estimated that the total cost of contraceptive commodities would be $7.7 billion.     

经济全球化的环境困境寻根

经济全球化就其实质而言是全球利益和资源的重新分配,发达国家追求全球扩张以及寻求释放外部性成本空间的欲望,发展中国家参与全球竞争以及谋求生存与发展的压力,加速了各国对自然资源的竞争和利用,也使越界负外部性日益增加,全球环境更加恶化并陷入困境。而越界污染的无主治理、发达国家的言行不一、发展中国家的无能为力和两类国家的矛盾冲突是全球环境困境的主要根源。因此,正视现实、寻求合作、遏制贪欲、各执其责是人类面临的现实选择。     

Population,progress, and peanuts

Population and development, more specifically on matters relating to family planning, contraceptives and abortion, have always been key issues at the UN. These were the challenges faced by the Member States of the UN during the General Assembly held in New York from June 30 to July 2, 1999. The 1999 session covered a wide range of questions, which reflected universal consensus on concerns including adolescent reproduction and sexual health, as well as gender-related issues. The special meeting lasted for 3 days of visionary hopes and politics for the future of the world, and also took into account the crucial issue of resources and fundraising. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo was the starting point for such an international understanding and consensus. In the years following 1994, the challenge to carry out lessons learned from the Cairo Conference and ICPD has now led to a final document, which guides nations across the globe on where to concentrate key future actions.     

The false developmental promise of Corporate Social Responsibility: evidence from multinational oil companies

Using the example of multinational oil companies, this article suggests that there are fundamental problems surrounding the capacity of private firms to deliver development and the aspiration of achieving development through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) may be fundamentally flawed. The article is based on an extensive twelve-month research project on the Gulf of Guinea region funded by the Nuffield Foundation. This research identified a number of constraints to a developmental role for CSR: the subservience of CSR schemes to corporate objectives; country- and context-specific issues; the failure to involve the beneficiaries of CSR; the lack of human resources; technical/managerial approaches of company staff and the lack of CSR's integration into larger development plans. But even if private companies were able to overcome practical problems, it argues that the current CSR agenda fails to address the crucial issues of governance and the negative macro-level effects that multinational companies cause in host countries. The article concludes by suggesting that a focus on CSR may divert attention from broader political, economic and social solutions for developmental problems.     

福建省PRED系统评价与协调发展研究

区域PRED系统可持续发展是当今世界各国普遍关心的重大课题。本文在借鉴国内外区域PRED系统评价指标体系研究成果的基础上,依据可持续发展指标体系建立的原则,结合福建省的具体情况建立福建省PRED系统评价指标体系,通过计算,分析福建省1995-2004年PRED各子系统及总系统的发展状况和趋势,对系统之间的相关性进行研究,并进行协调性分析,提出协调福建省PRED系统的方法和措施,以达到福建省PRED系统的协调发展。     

Policy feedback via economic behavior: A model and experimental analysis of consumption behavior

This article examines policy feedback via economic behavior in the mass public, with a focus on consumption behavior. Do public policies affect the consumption behavior of mass publics and subsequent policymaking processes and outcomes? If so, how? I introduce a policy feedback model of consumption behavior in the mass public. Within this model, I advance a theoretical argument on the consequences of targeted cash assistance policies (TCAPs) for consumer spending behavior and government provision of basic utilities in developing countries. Using a randomized field experiment in Mexico and pre–post analysis, I find that TCAPs boost consumer spending on private access to basic utilities in the short term and reduce government provision of basic utilities in the medium term. The study pushes policy feedback theorists to think beyond the arena of mass politics, and the findings have important implications for social policy and human development in developing countries.     

Economic Development and Poverty Reduction in Korea: Governing Multifunctional Institutions

Combining economic development and poverty reduction is a challenge for developing countries. In the search for mechanisms that integrate both goals, this article examines the Republic of Korea's development strategy, which transformed one of Asia's poorest nations into an industrialized country with low levels of poverty. The authors investigate the state–society nexus in which Korea's developmental state has operated and look at the role of governance for economic development, focusing especially on multifunctioning institutions performing for economic growth and poverty reduction. The article provides strategic suggestions for developing countries on managing effectively within institutional constraints and moving beyond a simple emphasis on good governance.     

Interrogating the Limits of Welfare Reforms in Singapore

As population demographics change and economic crises spread and deepen, welfare reform has become an urgent problem in many developed countries. As elsewhere in East Asia, the state in Singapore has in recent years stepped up its efforts to deal with issues of healthcare, education, support for care, retirement and even unemployment. Much of this has been in response to demographic shifts, economic trends and, importantly, political pressures. This article evaluates the possibilities and limits of recent reforms. It looks at some promising aspects of reform, such as increases in spending in certain areas, before examining the limitations of the reforms. These include the fact that most resources have been directed toward supporting businesses, while increases in direct spending on citizens have been limited and conditional rather than universal; furthermore, little or no attention has been paid to the issue of women's underemployment. These features suggest constraints within the logic and principles of welfare, which continue to define citizens as having limited rights and entitlements, and citizenship as entailing regular employment and heavy obligations toward the family. The analysis of reforms sheds light on how the appearance of expansion can mask continuing limitations. The case of Singapore illustrates the importance of looking not just at expenditure but also at the principles and logics in which welfare reforms are embedded, in a variety of national contexts.     

Toward a Strategy to Deploy the Internet in Developing Countries

Internet access is highly concentrated in developed countries. Developing countries are interested in Internet applications in order to enter the global market and improve development plans. A strategy to deploy the Internet in developing countries must be viewed within the comprehensive economic development perspective. It should emphasize three goals: overcoming barriers to information; overcoming barriers to economic opportunities; and overcoming barriers to participation. To achieve these goals, two sets of plans are required: first, there must be plans to activate a research environment, using the requirements of Internet access; and second, priorities of Internet applications must be decided. According to the suggested strategy, applications follow this sequence: e‐government; e‐learning; and e‐commerce.     

The Equity and Legitimacy of Markets for Ecosystem Services

Markets for ecosystem services are being promoted across the developing world, amidst claims that the provision of economic incentives is vital to bring about resource conservation. This article argues that equity and legitimacy are also critical dimensions in the design and implementation of such markets, if social development goals beyond economic gains are to be achieved. The article examines this issue by focusing on two communities involved in a project for carbon sequestration services of forests in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The perceived legitimacy of the activities and the distribution of economic outcomes and project‐related information are found to be mediated by organizational allegiances and the history of social relations regarding access to property and forest resources. Political affiliation determines the project's legitimacy, while the poorest farmers and women have been excluded from project design and implementation. The authors argue that pitfalls such as these contribute to reinforcing existing power structures, inequities and vulnerabilities, and suggest that this is a product of the nature of emerging markets. Markets for ecosystem services are, in effect, limited in promoting more legitimate forms of decision making and a more equitable distribution of their outcomes.     

Transnational Migration and the Economy of Funerals: Changing Practices in Ghana

Migrants are increasingly leading transnational lives, impacting the institutions that shape local economies both in their place of residence and in their home communities. One example of this is the institution of funerals in developing countries. Funerals are becoming multi‐sited events as migrants from developing countries play important roles in the organization, financing and practice of funeral ceremonies in their home countries. Funerals thus give rise to flows of money, goods and people across national borders, ultimately affecting different economies around the world. This article uses a multi‐sited research design to follow the flows associated with a funeral held in a village in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Detailed data were collected simultaneously in four locations involved in the funeral, and a multiplier analysis was used to trace funeral spending in different locations and sectors. The analysis shows that funeral spending supports various economic sectors in Ghana and across the globe, reinforcing the nature of funerals as (partly) economic events, which should be included in economic analyses of remittances and migration. Funeral practices are modified in various ways to accommodate transnational elements. At the same time, funerals continue to act, even in a transnational context, as occasions for reaffirming ties and a sense of belonging; they form a way for home communities, both rural and urban, to keep migrants interested in them.     

发达国家与发展中国家城市化若干问题的对比研究

本文首先对比了发达国家和发展中国家城市化进程上的差别,简要分析了经济发展水平对城市化进程的制约作用;阐述了两类国家城市化发展的新态势与存在的三方面主要问题,即城市化水平的差距日趋缩小、发展中国家受到过度城市化与大城市急剧膨胀的严峻挑战、发达国家进入逆城市化与再城市化的新阶段;最后针对全球化背景下城市化发展面临的机遇和风险,提出对各国城市化协调发展战略的初步思考。     

The Food Resources of the Capitalist World

The author discusses a major research program now under way at the Institute of Geography, covering food production and consumption in the developed industrial nations and in the newly independent countries. Under investigation are ways of expanding food resources in the developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; overcoming the food deficit and reliance on food imports of African countries; and creating a diversified agriculture combining both export crops to finance economic development and food output for domestic consumption.     

巨型城市走廊理念及其规划与管制

城市走廊是城市系统的空间形式之一,在区域与城市发展及规划中由来已久。随着全球化、信息化、经济一体化的发展,巨型城市走廊开始显现。本文以基础设施带、区域发展核心及规划理念等几个方面阐述巨型城市走廊理念。以发达国家和发展中国家的巨型城市走廊为实例,探讨巨型城市走廊发展中存在的问题及其规划与管制。     

Economic Restructuring,Coping Strategies and Social Change: Implications for Institutional Development in Africa

Since the early 1980s, most African countries have experienced unsatisfactory rates of economic growth and profound changes in livelihood systems, which have affected the way their modern institutions function. However, when confronted with evidence of poor economic performance in countries undergoing adjustment, the international financial institutions often blame governments for their lack of political will in regulating the activities of bureaucrats and vested interests. They recommend policies aimed at restructuring public sector institutions through privatization, public expenditure cuts, retrenchment, new structures of incentives and decentralization. Despite efforts to implement these measures in a number of countries, the problems of low institutional capacity remain. Two key contradictions appear to explain why institutions have been largely ineffective in crisis economies in Africa: the growing contradiction between the interests of bureaucratic actors and the goals they are supposed to uphold; and the contradiction between the institutional set-up itself and what goes on in the wider society. To understand how these contradictions work, it is necessary to look more closely at the set of values and relationships that anchor institutions on social systems. The issues here are social compromise and cohesion; institutional socialization and loyalties; overarching sets of values; and political authority to enforce rules and regulations. The crises in these four areas of social relations, which are linked to the ways households and groups have coped with recession and restructuring, have altered Africa's state institutions so that it has become difficult to carry out meaningful development programmes and public sector reforms without addressing the social relations themselves.