The Politics of Population by Stanley Johnson

Author:Stanley Johnson [Johnson, Stanley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Demography
ISBN: 9781134066100
Google: Pbr9AQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-11-05T04:53:46+00:00

The Declaration asserted that sexual and reproductive health and rights were fundamental to all people. It spelt out a set of operating principles and programme strategies to ensure that these rights can be exercised. It called on national governments and international agencies to reshape their policies to ensure health and rights.

In the first eight months since the initiative was launched, over 2288 individuals and organisations from more than 105 countries signed and endorsed the Women’s Declaration – women and men from many walks of life, professions, cultures and sectors, unions and village associations, major family planning agencies, feminist networks, and human rights groups. They were rich and poor, rural and urban.

They differed as to whether population policies should exist, about the safety and appropriateness of particular methods of contraception, or about the best way to deliver sexual and reproductive health services. But they all – at least according to the sponsors – shared the values and agenda set forth in the Women’s Declaration.

Women’s groups were also active at the national level as preparations continued for the Cairo conference. In Brazil, for example, in an exceptional move, about 80 per cent of the proposals on population and reproductive health issues, tabled by feminists, were incorporated into the government’s official report.

Towards the end of 1993, almost 500 women from every corner of the country attended the ‘National Encounter on Women and Development – Our Rights at Cairo ‘94’, held in the capital, Brasilia. It was here that the ‘Brasilia Charter’ emerged – a document defining women’s reproductive rights and outlining the population policies which Brazilian women would like their government to present at ICPD.

The Encounter, a joint effort by seven women’s NGOs, brought together representatives of over 70 different women’s organisations, experts and institutions specialising in development and demographics. Several deputies and senators from various political parties also participated.

The Brazilian women’s movement pressed for women’s reproductive rights to be recognised. Equally significant, they campaigned for women’s access to education, training and jobs, especially in fields where gender discrimination persisted, and in specialised areas.

Jacqueline Pitanguy, one of the organisers of the Encounter, applauded the Charter as the initiator of the historic process to build women’s citizenship. She stressed that it had made the voices of Brazil’s women more audible. The organising efforts of the last two years would be evident in the language finally adopted in the Plan of Action.

As 1993 came to an end, it was increasingly apparent that a large number of women around the world were determined that Cairo would not be a re-run of Rio. Arguably, as far as population issues were concerned, the women’s groups did not “get their act together” early enough to influence significantly the outcome of the Rio text. Neither Agenda 21’s tone, nor its content has much in common with the NGO Treaty on population and the environment. However, after Rio, where their success had been at best partial, the women’s groups fixed their sights on Cairo.

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