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Background
The Asia-Pacific POPIN (Population Information Network)
Consultative Workshop was convened by UNESCAP at Bangkok,
United Nations Conference Center, from 9 to 11 December
2002. The Workshop was organized in conjunction with
the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference
(Fifth APPC), the decennial Ministerial Conference
on Population held from 11 to 17 December 2002 at
Bangkok UNCC.
Objectives of the Meeting
Asia-Pacific POPIN was established about 20 years
ago to increase awareness on population issues and
provide appropriate, timely and accurate information
and data to policy makers, programme implementers,
researchers and the general public. Through the Network's
activities, which have been mainly funded by the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and implemented by
UNESCAP, national population information centres have
been established in many countries of the Asian and
Pacific region in order to serve the population information
needs of these very countries.
Various training courses and meetings have been organized
and technical assistance missions provided to numerous
members of the Network in order to build up their
national capacity in information management. Through
the grant programme, national and regional databases
have been developed on various topics.
A notable development during the last decade, for
many countries in the Asian and Pacific region, is
the development in information and communication technologies
that has significantly transformed the way one collects,
communicates, manages and disseminate information.
These developments have also changed the role and
functions of the POPIN centres at all levels.
In this context, the objective of the Consultative
Workshop was to review the work of the regional, subregional
and national POPIN activities as well as redefine
the role and work of the network for the future.
Participation
The Workshop was attended by 18 participants representing
12 POPIN centres in Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India,
Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia,
Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet
Nam. Non-governmental organizations such as the Asian
Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development
(AFPPD), the International Planned Parenthood Federation
(IPPF) and the Japanese Organization for International
Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) were also
represented as was UNFPA and the United Nations Secretariat.
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