Article Abstracts ( pdf format 33 KB)

• Evolution of Population Concerns: Reflections from the Asian and Pacific Population Conferences ( pdf format 79 KB)
  
  By Mercedes B. Concepcion
• The purposes, themes, organization, agenda items and debates of the five decennial Asian and Pacific Population Conferences are described by the author, who participated in all five Conferences. The technical and financial support given by the United Nations and its specialized agencies as well as the Commission secretariat to the countries of Asia and the Pacific in undertaking their population and development programmes is also depicted. From a simple consideration of the demographic situation in 1963, the succeeding Conferences manifested the growing sophistication of the region in the choice of issues to be considered and in the debates and actions taken by the Governments in confronting those issues.

• The Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference: Towards a Repositioning of Population in the Global Development Agenda?(pdf format 60 KB)
  

By Gavin Jones

Since the Bali Conference 10 years earlier, by the time of the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference at Bangkok in December 2002, the Asian and Pacific region had become more diverse demographically, though with a clear shift towards lower fertility and mortality levels. Economically, the region had grown impressively, albeit with considerable variation. In Bangkok, there was less sense of the urgency of lowering fertility rates, and indeed in some countries the issue had become one of needing to raise these rates. These countries and areas held firm to the reproductive health emphases of the Cairo Programme of Action, despite the concerns of the United States of America delegation that the language of the Programme of Action tended to promote abortion and adolescent sexual activity. The Plan of Action on Population and Poverty adopted by consensus at the conclusion of the Conference is a carefully worded document, reflecting current consensus about principles and broad directions for action in the areas of population and development. Though the population issue as conventionally understood no longer appears an urgent concern, there is a need to recognize that population and development issues are just as important for countries with low fertility as they are for countries with high fertility. Moreover, there are important population dimensions of the issues that are currently given the greatest prominence, including poverty and environmental sustainability.

• Knowledge of Sexual Health Issues among Unmarried Young People in Nepal (pdf format 107 KB)
  
  By Nicole Stone, Roger Ingham and Padam Simkhada

Evidence from other country settings shows that sex education delivered in school can make a positive contribution to children and young people’s knowledge and personal and social development, helping to prevent negative health outcomes such as unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Using data collected from a survey of over 1,000 students from six secondary schools in Nepal, this paper explores young people’s knowledge of sexual health issues and sources of information.

The data show that detailed knowledge regarding many sexual health issues is low among both young men and women, although exposure to visual media messages and access to informative sources of literature can have a positive impact. Schools appear to play an important role in informing young people about sexual health matters; however, further curriculum and teacher training material development is required with a shift away from superficial biological coverage towards a more inclusive programme.

• Reproductive Health including Family Planning (pdf format 123 KB)

By Philip Guest

This paper reviews the role of family planning in reproductive health in the Asian and Pacific region since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994. It also identifies areas in reproductive health that should be priorities over the next decade. The Asian and Pacific region has made impressive advances in implementing the recommendations of ICPD. Even though concern has been expressed that an emphasis on reproductive health would diminish the role of family planning, the experience in the region over the last decade has been that the integration of family planning into expanded reproductive health programmes that provide women and men with choice in planning their reproductive lives did not lead to reversals in fertility decline. There remain several areas where recommendations from the Programme of Action have faced difficulties in implementation and where more attention is required. The development of adolescent reproductive health programmes has been hampered by the widespread belief that unmarried adolescents should not be exposed to information and/or services related to reproductive health. Entrenched systems that support gender inequality restrict reproductive choices available to women. Additional attention also needs to be placed on the interrelationships between sexual and reproductive health.