New Chief for ESCAP Population and Rural Development Division  

Members of Asia-Pacific POPIN will be interested in learning of some recent major personnel changes in the ESCAP secretariat.

Mr Nibhon Debavalya, former head of the Population and Rural and Urban Development Division, has been transferred to become the Chief of the International Trade and Industry Division, effective 5 February 2001. Replacing him is Mr Cengiz Ertuna, former Chief of the Environment and Natural Resources Development Division.

The lateral transfers were made by Mr Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary, in line with his policy to enhance a "culture of mobility" within the ESCAP secretariat.

Mr Nibhon first began working at ESCAP in November 1984 after having served as Director of Thailand’s Institute of Population Studies at Chulalongkorn University. Mr Ertuna, although new to the field of population, is looking forward to the challenge of strengthening the secretariat’s activities in this important field.

Mr Ertuna may be reached by telephone: (66 2) 288-1536; fax: (66 2) 288-1009; or e-mail: ertuna.unescap@un.org

Imelda Henkin Named Deputy Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund  

Members of Asia-Pacific POPIN will be pleased to learn that Ms Imelda J.M. Henkin of the Netherlands has been appointed Deputy Executive Director (Management) of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with effect from 1 April 2001.

Many will remember her from her association with the region. In 1981, she had been appointed the Deputy Chief of the Asia and Pacific Branch and Chief, East and South-east Asia Section of the Programme Planning Division, becoming Director, Asia and the Pacific Division, from 1998 to 2000.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, approved her appointment to the Number 2 position in the Fund on 27 March. She succeeds Ms Kerstin Trone, who retired from UNFPA in January. Ms Henkin's most recent position was Director of the Division for Management Services, a post she has held since October 2000.

"I very happily welcome the decision by the Secretary-General to approve the appointment of Ms Henkin as Deputy Executive Director of the UNFPA", said Ms Thoraya Obaid, the Fund’s Executive Director. "She brings to the position a vast amount of experience which will be a priceless asset for the Fund as it goes through a transition and handles the challenges of the future".

Ms Henkin has had a long and distinguished career with UNFPA, which she joined in August 1974 as associate planning officer in the former Programme Planning Division. Besides the above-mentioned postings, from 1987 to 1992, she served as Chief of the Office of the Executive Director and as Chief, Division of Finance, Personnel and Administration in 1992. She was Director, Division of Finance, Personnel and Administration, from 1993 to 1998, after which time she became Director, Asia and the Pacific Division.

Ms. Henkin began her United Nations career as an associate social affairs officer in the United Nations Secretariat in 1973.

She has a master’s degree, with specialization in urban and regional planning, from the State University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and undertook post-graduate studies in political science at City University, New York.

Head of subregional information network
being transferred to new post 

Mrs Li Yanqiu, Deputy Director of the China Population Information and Research Centre (CPIRC) and Coordinator of the East and South-East Asia POPIN subregional network, has been accepted for another senior position within the State Family Planning Commission based on her long and successful record in international relations.

Although she will continue to work in the field of population, her new role as Deputy Director of the China Contraceptive Supply and Development Centre will put her at the forefront of China’s efforts to provide better and more varied contraceptive supplies for the millions of couples practicing family planning. According to a Chinese spokesperson, the State Family Planning Commission wants to strengthen the leadership of the Centre and its work of international exchanges and cooperation as well as promote the marketing of contraceptives in line with the government’s efforts to bring the benefits of a market economy to the people.

The role of the China Contraceptive Supply and Development Centre is to procure and distribute contraceptive products to serve its very extensive national distribution network. It also exports and imports contraceptives. Previously, as a semi-government organization, it would allocate certain amounts to its distribution centres at the provincial, county and village levels based on central plans. Today, the Centre is actively marketing supplies and trying to meet the needs of couples for a wider variety of contraceptives as a means of implementing the relevant recommendations of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development on informed choice.

Mrs Li will remain with CPIRC for two months in order to complete a number of tasks there and to enable an orderly transfer of authority to her successor. At the same time, she is heavily involved in the organization on World Population Day (11 July 2001) of the First China Reproductive Health and Family Planning New Technologies & Products Exposition in Beijing, which will subsequently be held every two years as a means of promoting better awareness of the wide range of contraceptive methods available in China.

Members of POPIN who wish to contact Mrs Li before her departure from CPIRC may write to her by e-mail at: yqli@www.cpirc.org.cn

  New Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
speaks on women and peace for International Women’s Day 

"Around the world, wars between and within nations continue to wreak havoc on the lives of millions of civilians caught up in the conflicts", she said. "Recent years have seen an alarming increase in ethnic strife in which civilians are actually singled out for attack. Women, who, along with children, make up the vast majority of those affected, are especially vulnerable; they are entitled to better protection and support. Women also have an essential role to play in preventing and ending conflicts".

Pointing out that, throughout history, women and girls have been routinely assaulted and raped during armed conflicts and as refugees, often as part of a systematic campaign of "ethnic cleansing" or political domination, she said: "Shamefully, such offences are still all too common in today’s world, and the perpetrators are rarely apprehended or punished".

"The International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) recognized the need to ensure women’s reproductive rights and provide reproductive health care in crisis situations. Since then, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in partnership with the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, UNHCR, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and others, has worked actively to meet reproductive health needs and address sexual violence in conflicts", she said.

With support from international donors, the UNFPA has supported emergency reproductive health projects in more than 30 countries. These projects provide:

• Family planning including contraception;
• Antenatal care, safe delivery and post-natal care;
• Management of sexual violence and rape, including emergency contraception;
• Treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.

"In addition to protecting women and girls from violence and safeguarding their health, the international community has increasingly recognized that the absence of women from decision-making councils cripples efforts to forestall conflict, and also impedes peacemaking, peacekeeping and post-conflict reconciliation", siad Ms. Obaid. "Last October, the United Nations Security Council held a special meeting that affirmed women’s potential contribution to peace and security", she added.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan pledged to the Security Council that the United Nations would make special efforts to recruit more women for our own peacekeeping and peacemaking missions, and make all our operations more aware of gender issues.

"On this International Women’s Day 2001, the UNFPA hails these efforts, and welcomes the international community’s growing attention to issues related to women and war", she said. As the Secretary-General observed, "Women, who know the price of conflict so well, are also often better equipped than men to prevent or resolve it".

Commission on Population and Development discusses population growth, environment and development issues   

World population at mid-century is expected to be substantially larger, by perhaps 3 billion people, more concentrated in developing countries, more urban, and more ethnically diverse within countries than it is today.

Mr Joseph Chamie, Director, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, made that projection as the Commission began its thirty-fourth session on 2 April. He also said that projections now ranged from a population low of 7.9 billion to a high of 10.9 billion, with particularly rapid growth expected among the 48 least developed countries.

In his opening statement to the Commission on its theme of population, environment and development, he went on to say that India, which now accounted for one fifth of the world's population growth, had a population projected to be larger than that of China by 2050.

In an effort to dramatize the rapidity of India's population growth, he stated that the natural increase in population -- births minus deaths -- for the European Union was 343,000 for the entire year, but India achieved that amount of population growth during the first week of this year.

Delivering a message on behalf of Ms Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Deputy Executive Director Mr Kunio Waki stressed that growing populations, increasing development and urban sprawl had put a strain on air, land and water resources, often resulting in ecosystem disruption and environmental depletion. Those changes affected people's choices and prospects, threatening sustainability and endangering health. They exacted their heaviest toll on the poor, especially women and children.

Asia-Pacific POPIN and related issues discussed at Commission on Population and Development   

The support by ESCAP of many national population information centres belonging to the Asia-Pacific POPIN network was one of the issues raised at the recent meeting of the Commission on Population and Development at United Nations Headquarters.

Mr Jerrold W. Huguet, Chief, Population and Development Section of the ESCAP Population and Rural and Urban Development Division, described this work as well as the range of population information products and services provided by the secretariat during his statement to the delegates attending the thirty-fourth session of the Commission, which was held at New York during the period 2-6 April.

Referring to the global POPIN website, the United States representative stated that the population "databases and websites provide a global resource for national population programmes, NGOs and international agencies in their efforts to assess progress, make regional comparisions and allocate scarce resources to programmes within national boundaries and around the world".

The representative of the Russian Federation, also speaking on the issue of population information dissemination, said that Internet-based information systems not only represent valuable sources of information, but also help to establish links among similar national information systems in the context of implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action.

Also during the meeting, the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council stated that through POPIN "information is being disseminated worldwide and this ties in with the interests of the Economic and Social Council High-level Segment on the roles of technology and information and communication on issues relating to population and development.

In her first address before the Commission, Ms Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), discussed other issues and pledged her agency's full cooperation with every Member State to ensure the implementation of the goals and recommendations of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), set at Cairo.

She said that the Fund's programmes emphasized reproductive health and information services for all, including quality family planning and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. Most importantly, those programmes took into account each country's development priorities and special needs, including social and cultural habits.

"Culture matters", she stated, referring to a statement made earlier in the session. Indeed, cultural perspectives were at the heart of any country's attitudes and behavioural patterns regarding population and development issues. That was particularly true of the ways in which various communities dealt with the persistent and complex impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. She added that, unfortunately, there were many more challenges facing the international development community. Along with the spread of HIV/AIDS, statistics had shown that poverty was on the rise and, generally, millions of human beings, including a disproportionate number of women, were unable to exercise very basic economic, social and cultural rights. In light of that, she welcomed the continued mainstreaming of the ICPD Plan of Action into the global development agenda, as well as world leaders' reaffirmation of support for the principles of sustainable development and broad poverty reduction at last year's Millennium Summit.

In closing the session, Mr Joseph Chamie, Director of the Population Division, reminded the Commission that, while it had deliberated over the previous five days, it was estimated that the world's population had experienced growth of more than 1,061,000. The world's population did not wait for the Commission to reach its decisions, he noted. More specifically, that net result translated into roughly: 220,000 Indians, 128,000 Chinese, 53,000 Pakistanis, 42,000 Bangladeshis and 37,000 Indonesians worldwide. "This", he said, "is the current nature of population change".

The theme of this year's session was population, environment and development.

Global population could grow by 3 billion before middle of century, Commission on Population and Development told   

By the middle of the present century, the global population may be about 3 billion people larger that it is currently, the Commission on Population and Development was told as it began its thirty-fourth session.

The meeting, which is being held at New York from 2 to 6 April, is focusing on population, environment and development, and follow-up actions to the Programme of Action adopted by the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) at Cairo in 1994. A subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council, the Commission is charged with studying and advising the Council on population changes and their effect on economic and social conditions.

One of the early speakers was Ms Fatimah Saad, who is well known to members of Asia-Pacific POPIN from the time when her office served as the focal point in the Network for Malaysia. She said that her government had taken notice of the fact that the agreements reached in Cairo had stressed the notion that demographic factors combined with poverty, lack of access to resources, excessive consumption and wasteful production all contributed to environmental degradation, which could impede sustainable development.

With that in mind, Malaysia had taken steps to contribute to global efforts in mitigating environmental degradation by becoming party to many environmental agreements, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The country had also implemented conservation measures to protect its own biological resources. Now in place was a National Policy on Biological Diversity.

Ms Saad went on to say that it was evident that population growth added pressure to the environment. The challenge, then, was to find ways to meet the demands of a population that was not only increasing, but one that was also becoming more affluent. To make an environment sustainable under such pressures over the long run would necessarily demand, at the macro-level, better integration of population factors within the overall development planning processes. At the micro-level, it would require a better understanding of the links among population, environment and sustainable development. To that end, various government agencies, non-governmental bodies and private agencies in Malaysia had implemented environmental education, training and awareness programmes under the ministry of science, technology and environment.

Another national representative speaking at the meeting, who is well-known to Network members, was Mr Tomas M. Osias (Philippines). He said that his country's national population policy was guided by a reproductive health approach, which ensured the availability and accessibility of quality information and services so that informed choices could be made, and an approach to adolescent health and youth development that focused on information, education and counselling services. It had adopted a Population and Sustainable Development Framework that illustrated the interrelationship among population, society's productive capacity in terms of both natural and human resources, and their link to development, which, in turn, influenced population variables.

He said an important aspect in that Framework was a definition of development that included: the capacity to bear and rear children; the achievement of desired fertility and other population, environment and development goals within the context of responsible parenthood; access; gender equity; and empowerment. Consistent with that framework, it was recognized that sustainable development must be based on a continuing decentralized population programme, approached in a holistic and multidisciplinary manner, that was gender sensitive, emphasizing male participation in fertility management and recognizing current social realities.

Mr François Heran (France), in drawing attention to the outstanding scientific quality of the work done by the Population Division, said that its documents were irreplaceable. "Without the work of the Division, we would be walking in the dark". The reports had alerted countries to the scourge of AIDS in the long-term and the speeding up in the ageing of the population, both of which would become very significant in a few years time.

Similarly, Mr. Brunborg (Norway) congratulated the Population Division on its excellent work. On the dissemination of data, he believed that all of the Division's reports should be made available to the public on the Internet. He asked why there were two population websites - that of the Population Division and that of POPIN. He asked what happened to POPIN? Was it suffering from a lack of funding?

In his follow-up comments, Mr Joseph Chamie, Director, Population Division, said that research and publications carried out by the Population Division often provided the foundation for much of the United Nations work in the area of population. During the current and upcoming bienniums, the activities of the Division would include issuing technical material, including databases and charts, and providing technical cooperation and advisory services, namely in the form of population websites, among other activities.

Further, he said that the Division intended to make more results available on the Internet in addition to reports. It was also trying to make the information available in a format that was easy to understand. POPIN dealt with many sets of data from all over the world. Until recently, it had been funded by the UNFPA. The Division had tried to develop its own website, consistent with its own format. It had funding until the middle of the current year, with some prospects for the rest of the year. However, budgetary issues had limited its ability to secure funds. It would seek to continue negotiations with possible funders for POPIN.

On the theme issues being addressed by the meeting, Me Prijono Tjiptoherijanto (Indonesia) highlighted some of the issues and concerns that were key for reorienting his country's population policies and strategies into a broader framework of the ICPD. First, those concerns should be integrated into development strategies, planning, decision-making and resource allocations at all levels and across all regions of the world. In Indonesia, the fundamental changes and reforms that were reshaping the country provided it with opportunities to further accelerate people-centred development. Second, rather than concentrating solely on demographic objectives, emphasis should be placed on the importance of human and family development and the need to change attitudes towards reproduction and client-centred provisions of high quality family planning information and services.

Third, he continued, Indonesia's success in implementing its ICPD commitments had been, similar to other Asian countries, drastically undermined by the Asian financial crisis that crippled its previously dynamic economy. He strongly believed in the need for a comprehensive and enduring solution to the problem of foreign indebtedness that confronted those countries most affected by the economic crisis. That would include, among others, debt swaps for population and development programmes. Being acutely aware of the impact of the population dimension on sustainable development, the Government would establish a new institution this year responsible for regulating population growth and ensuring that sustainable development was promoted, he added.

Mr Wang Guoqiang (China) said that China's main goal for the country's environmental protection in the coming five years was to reduce environmental pollution to a certain extent, stop the deterioration of the environment and improve the environmental quality in the cities and areas. The major tasks were to focus on five areas: prevention and control of industrial pollution; environmental protection in urban areas; protection of ecological environment; environmental protection in rural areas; and environmental protection in the sea.

As of 1 November 2000, China's total population reached 1.3 billion, he said. While the government's population policy had been successful in controlling rapid population growth, overpopulation was still an important problem. China's population would increase in the coming decades, with an estimated net increase of more than 10 million annually. The pressure of employment would be further increased and the ageing population would be an issue of concern. Therefore, he added, the issue of population and family planning must be given first priority on the agenda of sustainable development.

Mr Kemal Madenoglu (Turkey) said that adoption of an approach that took into consideration the interaction between population, resources, environment and development had become essential for sustainable development. Turkey was one of the 20 most populous countries in the world, with a population of 66.8 million. A relatively high growth rate put additional pressure on natural resources and resulted in greater production of waste. The population was also rapidly urbanizing; it was estimated that 69 per cent of the population lived in urban areas. Rapid urbanization usually exposed a growing population to a range of concentrated environmental problems and put pressure on resources. Excessive migration, combined with inadequate infrastructure facilities in the urban centres, caused environmental problems.

Rapid and largely uncontrolled urban growth presented substantial challenges for the quality of life and environment in urban areas, he said. Cities faced severe problems associated with air pollution, transport, housing, energy supply and water-related infrastructure. Turkey's eighth five-year development plan (2001-2005) called for development of a national environmental strategy. It emphasized: improvement in the quality of life; increased environmental awareness and management; and sustainable economic, social and cultural development.

Mr A.R. Nanda, Secretary, Department of Family Welfare of India, said his country's population crossed the 1 billion mark on 11 May 2000 and was projected to increase to 1.26 billion by the year 2016. The National Population Policy 2000 had three objectives. The immediate objective was to address the unmet needs of contraception, health infrastructure and trained health care personnel and to provide integrated service delivery for basic reproductive and child health. The medium-term objective was to bring the total fertility rate to replacement levels by 2010. The long-term objective was to achieve population stabilization by 2045, at a level consistent with the requirements of sustainable economic growth, social development and environmental protection.

The Policy, he continued, was gender-sensitive and incorporated a comprehensive and holistic approach to the health and education needs of women, female adolescents and the girl child. It also specifically sought to address the constraints to accessibility to services, which arose due to a heavily populated geographical area and diverse socio-cultural patterns in the population. Its population stabilization efforts were a matter of priority for the Government, reflected in the fact that the Prime Minister headed the National Population Commission.

Mr. Khawaja (Pakistan) said that his country, with a population of 142 million, was one of the most populous nations, having one of the highest population growth rates in Asia and among developing countries. The government, knowing that development goals would not be realized unless the rapid population growth was effectively controlled, was seeking to control population growth by bringing down the fertility rate, while further reducing mortality rates for infants, children and mothers, improving child health care and promoting gender equity.

Rapid population growth in Pakistan had led to environmental degradation, he continued. Some of its natural resources, such as forests, water supply and land, were already undergoing severe stress. One third of the population now resided in urban areas. Economic development had also aggravated many urban environmental problems including pollution. It had been very difficult to provide the investment required for maintaining and expanding the necessary urban infrastructure to meet the rapid population increase. Pakistan's National Conservation Strategy had been formulated to enable sustained policies for lower population growth, thus reducing pressure on the environment and allowing for meaningful economic development.

Mr Choi Hong-Seok (Republic of Korea) said that rapid economic development, along with industrialization, urbanization and a growing population, had aggravated environmental deterioration in the Republic of Korea. Institutional reform was undertaken in 1980 in response to the growing need for design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, related to the environment in an integrated manner. In 1996, Environment Vision 21 was set up as a long-term plan for environmental preservation. The plan adopted environment-friendly production methods that increased compatibility between economic development and environmental preservation, and fully considered environmental safety in all areas of life.

Population concentration in metropolitan areas, specifically the capital, had been a critical obstacle to socio-economic development, environmental preservation and enhancement of the quality of life, he said. Thus, the New Population Policy, established in 1996, put an emphasis on a balance of population distribution aimed at achieving sustainable development. He stressed that the recent economic recession in Asia had increased poverty and aggravated environmental degradation. Therefore, special attention, at the domestic and international levels, should be given to the establishment of social safety nets in those countries.

United Nations issues wall chart on population, environment and development   

Concerns about the consequences of environmental change and the complex interrelationships between population, environment and development are currently at the top of the international agenda.

Members of Asia-Pacific POPIN will be interested to learn that, in recognition of the importance of these issues, the first-ever United Nations wall chart on population, environment and development has been issued.

The wall chart features new demographic data from the 2000 revision of the United Nations population estimates and projections prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The demographic data include total population and population density, as well as total, urban and rural growth rates for all countries of the world.

The chart also presents the most up-to-date key environmental and development indicators from other United Nations and outside sources regarding fresh water, forests, agriculture and nutrition, poverty and economic development, energy consumption, number of motor vehicles, carbon dioxide emissions and participation in international treaties relating to the environment. A summary of the major findings appears below.

Total population and population growth

World population is currently 6.1 billion people, with less developed regions accounting for 80 per cent of the total. The population is growing at 1.2 per cent annually, or 77 million people per year. While more developed regions are barely growing, at some 0.2 per cent annually, the population of less developed regions is increasing at 1.5 per cent a year. The least developed countries, which are at an earlier stage of the demographic transition, are characterized by relatively rapid growth -- 2.5 per cent annually.

Population density

Sharp differences distinguish more developed regions, with 22 persons per square kilometre, from less developed regions, where density is almost three times higher, at 59 persons per sq km.

Urban and rural population growth

The world is becomingly increasingly urbanized. Although the level of urbanization is considerably lower in less developed regions (40 per cent) than in more developed regions (76 per cent), urban areas in less developed regions are growing much more rapidly (2.7 per cent per year) than in more developed regions (0.5 per cent annually). On a global basis, rural populations are growing at a rate of only 0.4 per cent a year, while in more developed regions the rural population is shrinking by 0.8 per cent a year. Reductions in the rural population will take place after 2010 in all major areas except Africa and Oceania, as a result of the expansion of urbanized territory, the flow of migrants from rural to urban areas, and overall declines in population growth.

Water

Demand for fresh water has steadily risen with increasing population and socio-economic development. Consequently, the per capita availability of fresh water globally has fallen to nearly one third of its 1950 level. Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of the population increase during the twentieth century. About one third of the world's population live in countries that are experiencing medium-high to high levels of water stress.

Forest cover

Up to half of the forests that originally covered the Earth have been cleared. Forests are critical because they house indigenous cultures, shelter global biodiversity, provide ecosystem services, store carbon, contribute to economic growth and meet recreational needs. Although about 90 million hectares of forest were lost between 1990 and 2000, the pace of deforestation is estimated to have been lower in the 1990s than during the 1980s.

Crop land

The amount of crop land available per capita is decreasing in all regions of the world as population increases. Farmers have traditionally satisfied increasing demand by ploughing new land, but in many regions opportunities for expansion are now limited. Boosting productivity has, therefore, become crucial for increased food production.

Undernourishment

Although the percentage of the population that is undernourished has halved since 1970, some 792 million people in developing countries, and 34 million in developed countries and those with economies in transition, are still undernourished.

Gross domestic product per capita

The two defining characteristics of global economic growth in the latter half of the twentieth century have been its unprecedented pace and its unequal distribution between countries and regions. Even though population increased more rapidly during the twentieth century than ever before, economic output grew even faster, owing to the accelerating tempo of technological progress.

Poverty

The percentage of the world's population living in absolute poverty (living on less than US$ 1 per day) has declined since the mid-1980s. However, the decline is below the pace needed to achieve the international development goal of reducing extreme poverty by one half by 2015, and the total number of the poor in 1998 was greater than it had been a decade earlier. Poverty is related to a wide range of factors, including income, health, education, gender and ethnicity.

Carbon dioxide emissions per capita

The intensive use of fossil fuels has led to substantial growth in global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the build-up of greenhouse effects, a contributing factor in global warming. Annual global emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels have been steadily rising and have quadrupled since 1950. Continuation of these upward trends in emissions may pose serious risks of climate change, especially global warming, possibly inducing surges in sea levels, flooding of low-lying coastal areas, migration of ecosystems, the spread of vector-borne diseases and reductions in agricultural yields. Population, the environment and development interact in a variety of ways. Based on the data presented in the wall chart, demographic change and socio-economic development are occurring simultaneously with environmental degradation in a number of countries. The global challenge is to improve the living standards of the population, while safeguarding the environment.

For further information on the wall chart or for requesting a copy, readers may contact the Director, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York, NY 10017, United States. The data presented in the wall chart are also available on the Internet at the following URL: http://www.un.org/esa/population.

United Nations Secretary-General to lead fight against HIV/AIDS   

Representatives of six of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies recently met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, in Amsterdam to agree what further steps need to be taken to improve access for developing countries to better health care, HIV medicines and HIV-related medicine.

The Secretary-General was joined at the meeting by Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Peter Piot, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

The companies have made significant progress individually in providing an expanded number of drugs to combat AIDS. Prices have come down substantially as a result of the companies' individual actions. The Secretary-General urged them to continue and accelerate these initiatives.

Special emphasis was placed on the least developed countries as well as the need for continued country-by-country negotiations in other developing countries. All recognized that qualified non-governmental organizations and appropriate private companies, offering health care, including reproductive health care, to employees and local communities in these nations, should also be considered for increased accessibility to HIV/AIDS medicines.

Encouraging the active participation of all partners in the fight against AIDS has become my personal priority", said Kofi Annan in a statement. "The HIV epidemic demands nothing less than a radical transformation of how we approach health care in developing countries", said Dr Piot. "Many issues must be addressed if care and treatment in the developing world are to be improved, and affordability of medicines is an intrinsic part of such a comprehensive health care strategy".

"Access to affordable medicines is a key element in improving both care and prevention", Dr Brundtland said. "Affordable drugs will catalyse greatly increased attention to voluntary counselling and testing, effective health care delivery systems, and innovative funding mechanisms".

(Source: M2 PressWIRE, 9 April 2001)

Communications prize honours work of POPIN member   

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) recently announced the inaugural APC Africa "Hafkin Prize" to honour the work of Dr Nancy J. Hafkin, who has been a pioneer and innovator in the area of networking, development information and electronic communications in Africa, over the course of her 23-year career.

Many members of Asia-Pacific POPIN will remember Dr Hafkin from her attendance at various meetings as a representative of POPIN-Africa.

The theme for the 2001 Hafkin Prize is "Women-Led, Women-Informed, Women-Inspired Initiatives". The competition for the US$ 7,500.00 Hafkin Prize is open to civil society organizations, government institutions, educational organizations, community-based groups, networks, social movements or individuals anywhere in Africa that have successfully initiated and implemented projects that involve the use of information and communications techologies for development and social justice purposes.

APC will be accepting nominations for the Hafkin Prize until 31 May 2001; the winner will be announced in August. Readers wishing to obtain more details may access the following URL: http://www.apc.org/english/hafkin.

New POPIN electronic publications    

The Population Information Network (POPIN) in collaboration with the Association for Population/Family Planning Libraries and Information Centers - International (APLIC-I) recently compiled two electronic publications.

One of them is a guide to HIV/AIDS resources, and the second a guide to best practices in the field of population and reproductive health, both of which should be useful to members of Asia-Pacific POPIN.

The latter publication is in the Electronic Resource Guide series; it is entitled "Selected Electronic Resources on Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Population and Reproductive Health". It provides hypertext links to numerous organizations and services involved in these fields. The following are the major headings of the Guide, which was produced with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): bibliographic databases and search engines, clearinghouses and resource centres, electronic sites for best practices, case studies and regional and national information, and dictionaries.

The reproductive health guide may be accessed at the following URL: http://www.undp.org/popin/bestpractices.pdf.

The other guide, which is entitled "Getting Started: Selected Electronic Resources on HIV/AIDS", contains the following major headings: terminology; electronic information centres, bibliographic databases; facts: prevention, transmission, treatment, research, virology from the United States Centers for Disease Control, National Center for HIV, STD and TB prevention; global HIV/AIDS & STD surveillance; laws, policies and legislation; conferences; software; and other electronic resources.

Also supported by UNFPA, it may be accessed at the following URL: http://www.undp.org/popin/focuson4.pdf.

New POPIN guides can help in organizing training projects   

Members of Asia-Pacific POPIN are frequently called upon to organize training courses or explain the use of modern information technology to their clientele. Two recently produced resources compiled by the Population Information Network (POPIN) in collaboration with the Association for Population/Family Planning Libraries and Information Centers - International (APLIC-I) should prove useful in such situations.

Under the Electronic Resources Guide series, one of the electronic publications is called "Using the Internet: Selected Internet Courses, Self-tutorials and Training Materials". It enables users to obtain information on the following subjects by clicking on hypertext links: Internet reference materials; building online communities; and online courses, tutorials, curricula and collections of training materials. The guide may be accessed at the following URL: http://www.undp.org/popin/internettraining.pdf.

The second guide, which is entitled "Selected Electronic Training Resources on Population and Reproductive Health", similarly provides hypertext links under the following headings: bibliographic databases and search engines; curricula, models, training guides; directories and dictionaries; software and computer models; and other electronic resources. It may be accessed at the following URL: http://www.undp.org/popin/training111400.pdf.

UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador for Cambodia with Youth  

Cambodian information projects to receive United Nations funding   

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is providing US$ 2.5 million to the Government of Cambodia to set up two five-year information projects aimed at helping this country of 13.4 million to develop a population policy.

One project is aimed at improving the government's research and analysis capability, especially with regard to the 1998 population census; the second is aimed at collecting more population data. "For example, a population survey will be conducted in 2004 and the data compared to the census numbers to help analysts better to chart population growth", said Ms Yoshiko Zenda, UNFPA Representative for Cambodia. Ministry of Planning researchers need data for comparison before they can advise the government on a policy, she added.

The Government of Cambodia is currently working on a five-year economic development plan for the country, and many of the statistics garnered by the Ministry of Planning and UNFPA under the two projects will eventually be used in that plan, according to Mr San Sy Than, Director of the Ministry's National Institute of Statistics. But first, civil servants will have to be trained on how to use the data, he said, adding: "Without statistics, we cannot have a viable projection of population growth and its impact".

Cambodia receives US$ 11.5 million for improving women's health   

With the second highest total fertility rate in Asia, Cambodia has a tremendous need for improving reproductive health services including family planning. Cambodian women currently have an average of 5.3 children each, according to an article published recently in The Cambodia Daily. In 2000, only 19 per cent of them were using modern contraceptive methods.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) last month (March) provided a US$ 11.5 million package to fund a five-year programme aimed at improving women's reproductive health and access to family planning services. The goal is to increase the contraceptive prevalance rate to 30 per cent. Related goals are to improve the spacing of births and cut the abortion rate. UNFPA estimates that more than 2,000 women die annually from abortion- or pregnancy-related problems, although the exact figures are difficult to determine.

"Most of the women die unknown", said Ms Nuzhat Ehsan, Deputy UNFPA Representative for Cambodia. "They have home delivery, and (the cause of death) is not documented. Backyard abortions and the absence of trained midwives and doctors are major factors, she said. The Deputy Representative added: "There just aren't services. There's no coverage. There aren't enough hospitals providing safe deliveries".

The funds provided by UNFPA will be used to train health care workers around the country and provide modern contraceptives.

New centre in the Lao People's Democratic Republic provides reproductive health information   

Young people in the capital city of the Lao People's Democratic Republic have a reliable source of population and reproductive health information now that theYouth Health and Development Centre, the first of its kind in the country, officially opened in March.

Supported by Save the Children - UK and implemented by the Vientiane Municipal Women's Union, the Youth Health and Development Centre is the last of the six reproductive health information projects in the Lao People's Democratic Republic to become fully operational. Over the past 12 months staff have been trained in youth work techniques, counselling and reproductive health (RH) information; outreach work has begun among adolescents; and a large attractive building close to the centre of Vientiane has been renovated.

A training manual for use with young people in the Centre has been developed and piloted. Using participatory methodologies, the first formal training of adolescent peer educators began in the last week of March. Final discussions are taking place with the Ministry of Health concerning the setting up of the Centre clinic, where basic RH services will be provided.

The Centre will also provide recreational and income-generating activities for young people through the organization of concerts, courses and sports events. The Centre is the first social venue specifically catering for adolescents in Vientiane and it is anticipated that in due course young people will become involved in key aspects of its management.

Readers wishing to obtain further information on this project may contact Mr Guy Hatfield at the following e-mail address: scflao@laotel.com

Director of United Nations Population Division
says new international order emerging   

Knowing in advance about major population trends is important to members of Asia-Pacific POPIN, so that they will be able to anticipate the information needs of the audiences they serve.

An important trend that is occurring, according to Joseph Chamie, Director of the United Nations Population Division, in a commentary published in the Washington Times, is that rapid population growth in some regions and population decline and ageing in others, in addition to international migration, urbanization and HIV/AIDS, are bringing about a "New International Population Order".

International migration will play a key role in this new order, says Mr Chamie. Because of low fertility and increased longevity, the populations of Japan and most of Europe are already becoming smaller and older. Without any international migration, the population of developed countries would drop 10 per cent by 2050, he writes. Consequently, developed countries are relying on international migration to supply modest population growth.

Mr Chamie also predicts an increasing urban population that will result in a worldwide "historic shift in ... urban-rural population". In 35 years, two thirds of the population will live in urban areas, up from one-third 35 years ago, he says.

The world population will consequently become more ethnically and culturally diverse, larger, older, more urban and more concentrated in developing nations, Mr. Chamie writes, concluding: "In order to avoid political and social calamity ahead, governments and policymakers need to grasp now how these seismic shifts must fundamentally alter established assumptions about the future". (Washington Times, 4 March)

Talking Points For World Population Prospects 2000   

Population of less developed countries will rise from 4.9 billion in 2000 to 8.2 billion in 2050, according to the World Population Prospects 2000 report. Particularly rapid growth is expected in 48 least developed countries where population will almost triple, rising from 658 million to 1.8 billion, despite projected marked decline in fertility and the severity of the HIV/AIDS crisis in some of those countries.

Despite the worsening impact of HIV/AIDS in terms of increased morbidity, mortality and population loss, the population of the most affected countries is expected to be larger by 2050 than today.

The surge in world population growth underlines the need for increased attention to population issues and for renewed commitment to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). While great success has been achieved, the need remains for urgent attention to critical population issues, particularly the ICPD goals and ICPD+5 benchmarks, including reproductive health and rights; improvement of the status of women; longer life expectancy; lower infant and maternal mortality; and closing the gender gap in education. This surge in population effectively decreases the possibility of meeting the needs of everyone.

Although assistance from the international community is needed to provide the resources necessary to address population issues, ODA has shown a downward trend from 1992 to 1998. However, that trend has stabilized and is now showing somewhat of an upward trend. Population assistance still is less than half the level of the commitments made at the ICPD in Cairo during September 1994.

With regard to the issue of population decline in developed countries, the world population is projected to be 9.3 billion by 2050 (instead of 8.9 billion projected in 1998). The populations of 39 countries are projected to be smaller than they were in 2000 (Japan/Germany by 14 per cent; Italy/Hungary by 25 per cent; and Russia/Georgia/Ukraine by 28 - 40 per cent).

In the countries with declining population, particularly in Europe, marital fertility has not declined much. What has declined is the number of people getting married and those staying in marriage. The age at marriage has also increased.

Ageing:

As a result of increased life expectancy, world population will age faster in the next 50 years, with the number of persons aged 60 years or over increasing from 8 per cent to 19 per cent in less developed countries (374 million to 1.6 billion). In the developed countries, the increase will be from 20 per cent in 2000 to 33 per cent in 2050 (231 million to 395 million). Worldwide, the number will go up from 606 million to almost 2 billion.

Migration:

International migration is expected to remain high during the 21st century and the more developed regions, including the United States, are expected to remain net receivers, gaining an average of 2 million per year over the next 50 years. Because of low fertility, the population of those countries would start declining in 2003 without migration and, by 2050, would be 126 million less than the 1.18 billion projected under the assumption of continued migration.

Women's Day statements reveal links
between women and development, and reducing poverty   

International Women's Day on 8 March provided the opportunity for many organizations to advocate improved conditions for women and draw attention to reproductive health issues.

For members os Asia-Pacific POPIN tracking such information, the following excerpts have been assembled based on statements made on that Day.

The United States-based Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP) noted that, while Women's Day should be a day to celebrate the gains made by women globally, "the celebration has been marred by President [George W.] Bush's reinstatement of the global gag rule, which prohibits foreign organizations that receive US funds from using their own, non-US funds to provide legal abortion services, lobby abortion law reform or provide counseling or referrals on abortion". (CRLP release, 7 Mar)

A World Bank report released to coincide with International Women's Day says that countries making an effort to promote women's rights and increase women's access to education and other resources face lower poverty rates, faster economic growth and less corruption than countries that do not.

"Engendering Development -- Through Gender Equality in Rights, Resources and Voice" is an extensive study focusing on links between gender and economic progress in developing countries. The report's recommendations stem from comprehensive research with women's groups and findings from last year's General Assembly special session on gender equality, development and peace for the 21st century.

"Gender disparities are very closely associated with poverty", said report co-author Elizabeth King. "The gap between men and women in such things as health and education is greater in poor countries than in rich countries, and within countries it is greatest among the poor".

The report says that countries with smaller gender gaps in areas of education, employment and property rights have lower child malnutrition and mortality rates, more transparent business operation and faster economic growth, which help further narrow the gender gap. (World Bank release, 7 Mar)

The World Bank urges countries with high levels of gender disparity to embrace measures to elevate women's status, such as equal access to land and property, designing programmes that will help to bridge the gap between men and women and support women's needs with better transportation, water and education systems. (Gumisai Mutume, Inter Press Service/TerraViva, 8 Mar)

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Catherine Bertini, issued a challenge on the eve of International Women's Day, stating that closing the gap between the school enrolment of boys and girls in developing countries should be the top priority for the international community. She urged countries to help send girls in developing countries to school, adding that girls' education is one of the most effective weapons against global hunger and poverty.

"There is now a critical mass of experience and evidence proving the value of educating girls", Ms Bertini said. "It is virtually impossible to overestimate the importance of giving a young girl the opportunity to spend even a few years in school before her working life begins".

Ms Bertini said that two thirds of an estimated 875 million illiterate adults in the world are women. (WFP release, 7 Mar)

Another United Nations organization issuing a statement on 8 March was the International Labour Organization (ILO). In a report to mark International Women's Day, ILO said that women are making up a growing percentage of the world's workforce but many are still finding it difficult to break into senior positions. (Naomi Koppell, Associated Press, 8 Mar).

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that International Women's Day stands as "a reminder that, for the majority of the world's women, daily life remains a difficult and sometimes dangerous struggle".

"We must do more," Mr Annan said. "We must address the issue of women, peace and security on several fronts. While women are often the first victims of the armed conflict, they must also be recognized as a key to the solution". (UN release, 8 Mar)

UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura said in a statement that "violence afflicting women and abuse, especially against women and children, are still prevalent."

"A broad range of suffering and humiliation, spanning from family and peer violence to international/global trafficking of human beings, forced prostitution, slavery and violence associated with armed conflict and war, is still present in all our societies", he said. "We even witness -- and condemn -- the denial of even the most basic human rights to women in some parts of the world under misguided regimes".

Mr Matsuura said that "five years after the Beijing conference, we need to state again, loud and clear, that there can be no sustainable development, neither locally nor globally, if the intellectual capacities, creative potential, practical resourcefulness and leadership abilities of more than half the world's population are ignored or suppressed".  (UNESCO release, 6 Mar)

A new study released on 8 March by two United States advocacy groups -- Population Action International and CARE -- says that a woman dies as a result of pregnancy or childbirth every minute, usually in the developing world. The study also says that one in every 65 women in developing countries will die from reproductive health-related causes during her lifetime.

The 20-page A World of Difference, released to coincide with International Women's Day, also ranks 133 countries according to a "reproductive risk" index, which notes that the largest gap was between Ethiopia and Italy. In Ethiopia, less than 10 per cent of all births are attended by trained personnel, and one out of seven women die from pregnancy complications. In Italy, the chances of a woman dying in pregnancy or childbirth is only one in 6,000 (Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service/TerraViva, 8 Mar).

Economic and Social Council begins consideration of proposal
for Information and Communication Technologies Task Force   

The enormous potential of new information and communication technologies as a force for accelerating broad-based economic growth and reducing poverty were highlighted at a meeting on 8 March of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

The purpose of the meeting was to consider a proposal for the establishment of an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force. The proposal is contained in a report of the Secretary-General and based on the recommendations of an Advisory Group he convened last April. The Task Force's aim will be to spearhead efforts to integrate ICT in development plans, programmes and projects and promote ICT development and ICT applications in all sectors of the economy.

Such a task force could have an impact on the work of information networks such as Asia-Pacific POPIN.

Background

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resumed its 2001 organizational session to adopt its agenda and hold a general discussion on the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in global efforts at poverty reduction and economic development.

The Council had before it the report of the Secretary-General on the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force (document E/2001/7), which had been prepared in response to the ministerial declaration of the high-level segment of the Council's substantive session of 2000. That declaration had called for the creation of such a task force on the basis of consultations with all stakeholders and Member States to be undertaken by the Secretary-General.

According to the report, the Secretary-General, to assist him in carrying out the mandate, designated Mr José María Figueres-Olsen, the former President of Costa Rica, as his Special Representative on ICT. He also established a Group of High-level Advisers on ICT, chaired by Mr. Figueres-Olsen. The Group of Advisers was composed of representatives of governments, the private sector, foundations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the academic community. Several teams, headed by members of the Advisory Group, conducted wide-ranging consultations during October-December 2000 with governments and other relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, in all regions.

The report states that the outcome of the consultations testifies to the fact that there is wide agreement that ICT can be a potent instrument for accelerating broad-based growth and sustainable development and for reducing poverty. ICT was creating a new context for development, thereby offering both a unique opportunity and an urgent requirement for an unprecedented new initiative. However, there is concern that at present the huge potential that the ICT revolution provides for development is not yet adequately reflected in development policies, programmes and projects.

Although ICT did not provide the magic wand in overcoming poverty or development problems, it could make a major contribution in tackling many long-standing challenges. The establishment of the ICT Task Force can be an important catalyst in this endeavour. The challenge is not solely to bridge the existing global "digital divide", but to avert the prospect of its rapidly growing wider.

(Source: DPI news release ECOSOC/5939 dated 8 March)

NGO changes name to reflect emphasis of ICPD on women's health   

On March 8, 2001, International Women's Day, AVSC International officially became "EngenderHealth", marking what the organization's announcement calls "a giant step forwrd in the agency's 58-year commitment to improving women's health worldwide".

Among the global leaders in international family planning for over 30 years, EngenderHealth has worked in a broadened spectrum of women's healthcare during the past 10 years, in accordance with the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

The word "engender" means to empower, enable or facilitate, and thus reflects the agency's role as facilitators of change in healthcare and health systems. The name EngenderHealth also speaks to the agency's emerging role as enablers in the crucially linked areas of family planning, maternal and child health, post-abortion care, STI/HIV services, quality improvement, infection protection, and men as partners.

Please note that on March 8th the agency also launched a revamped website, <http://www.engenderhealth.org> which addresses the needs of both consumers and healthcare professionals who seek to learn more about EngenderHealth, its programmes around the world, and reproductive health in general.

Staff email addresses will now be @engenderhealth.org

Telephone, fax and mailing address will remain the same.

-----

For more information, please contact:
Carrie Svingen
Marketing Communications Manager
EngenderHealth
440 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10001
212/561-8538
csvingen@engenderhealth.org

New health research reporting service   

Asia-Pacific POPIN members may wish to access an online service called "id21", an Internet-based development research reporting service, which recently added a new facility to its current package with the launch of "id21 Health".

The new resource, which can be accessed at the following URL: http://www.id21.org/health, provides a searchable database of concise, easy-to-read summaries of research relevant to health policy in developing countries. A wide range of subjects are covered, including health sector reform, maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, disease and disability, and environmental health.

id21 Health also offers this information in a free email newsletter, called "id21HealthNews", for those with limited Internet access.

To subscribe to id21HealthNews, send an email to: lyris@lyris.ids.ac.uk with the message: 'subscribe id21HealthNews'.

The new site builds on the strengths of id21, a respected resource for policy makers and practitioners for nearly four years.

id21 is supported by the UK Department for International Development, and hosted by the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.

id21 Health also aims to stimulate debate on specific health policy topics through its free publication, entitled "Insights Health". The first issue, due out in March, will focus on non-communicable diseases. People wishing to subscribe to Insights Health should send us their name and full postal address by mail, fax or e-mail.

Please send an e-mail to: id21@ids.ac.uk if you have any questions or comments. And please forward this message to colleagues who may also be interested in our service.

Dr. Heidi Brown
Health Editor
ID21 at the Institute of Development Studies (Charitable Company No.
877338)
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9RE, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1273 877115
Fax: +44 (0) 1273 877335

Information about United Nations Television Forum 2000 available online   

A webcast and the final report of the fifth United Nations World Television Forum, held from 16 to 17 November 2000, have just become available on the United Nations website at http://www.un.org/tvforum.

The Forum, entitled "TV@Globe//adding values in the digital era", brought together close to 1,000 top media industry leaders and experts from around the world to discuss the fundamental challenges facing television in the digital age, especially its role in bridging "the digital divide".

ESCAP currently is focusing more of its work towards bridging that divide and members of Asia-Pacific POPIN may want to access the website in order to gain more knowledge about the latest thinking on this important subject.

The webcast, one of the most extensive ever of a United Nations event, includes streaming videos of all 77 speakers, complete with downloadable excerpts of the texts of each presentation and biographical data on the speakers. The final report of the Forum is also available on the site in downloadable "pdf" format.

In his speech to the Forum, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the television industry to become "an agent for change and a partner for progress" in helping to bridge the digital divide. Recalling that overcoming the obstacles would require concerted measures from a whole range of actors, the Secretary-General expressed the hope that the television industry could contribute to the work of the planned Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force.

(Source: DPI news release PI/1328 dated 12 March)

Meeting on information collaboration in a global context   

Although most members of Asia-Pacific POPIN may not be able to attend the thirty-fourth annual conference of the Association for Population/Family Planning Libraries International (APLIC-I), they may use the Internet to access information on the 26-28 March 2001 meeting.

To be held at Washington DC , the conference theme is "Not a One-Way Street: Information Collaboration in a Global Context".

On Monday, 26 March attendees will take a special tour of the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. The visit will include an update on PubMed, including any expected changes in POPLINE; a demonstration of the NLM Gateway, a report on NLM's efforts in distance learning; and a demonstration of the website "http://www.clinicaltrials.gov".

The conference itself begins on Tuesday, 27 March. Speakers include Susan Pasquariella of POPIN, Nancy Hafkin, formerly of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Leela McCullough of Satelife, Kurt Moses, Vice President and Director of Computer and Systems Services at the Academy for Education Development, Carl Haub, the Conrad Taeuber Chair of Population Information at Population Reference Bureau and Elizabeth Robinson, Associate Director for Information Programs at Family Health International.

The conference will include breakout sessions on strategies for marketing your library, measuring the impact of information, support and interaction with your regional offices, the APLIC Union List, the APLIC web site and specific tools that are used by population librarians. To view the agenda see http://www.aplici.org/program.html.

Readers wishing to obtain more information may visit the APLIC web site at http://www.aplici.org.

Violence against women databases being developed   

The Center for Communication Programs (CCP) of the Johns Hopkins University (JHU), with funding from USAID and UNIFEM, is building a database and a collection of communication materials, training packages, and other documentation on the topic of violence against women.

This resource base is being developed within the Center's Media/Materials Clearinghouse (M/MC) and will function as a major resource for policy documents, communication programmes and materials and training packages throughout the world.

The Center is requesting those working in this field to collaborate with JHU/CCP in locating and centralizing important documents and communication materials such as pamphlets, posters, videos, audiotapes, training materials, and novelty items (t-shirts, key rings, etc) to be added to the collection.

For more information, readers may access the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs at the following URL: http://www.jhuccp.org.

Recent Publications on Women    

Members of Asia-Pacific POPIN seeking to enlarge their collections with material on gender issues will be interested to learn that the Population Reference Bureau, on the occasion of International Women's Day (8 March), announced the availability of two resources focusing on the lives of women.

"Conveying Concerns: Women Report on Families in Transition"

Regional meetings on gender issues and ICT   

Members of Asia-Pacific POPIN who include gender issues among their areas of coverage will be interested to learn that, on 29 March 2001, Sookmyung Women's University in the Republic of Korea will host a regional symposium on gender and ICT.

The theme of the symposium is "Gender Equality/ Equity through Information and Communication Technology (ICT)". The symposium is jointly being organized by the Asia Pacific Women's Information Centre (APWINC) and the Research Institute on Asian Women (RIAW), both of which women's organizations are based in the University.

The symposium will be followed by a regional meeting on "Gender Equality and ICT" on 30 March. Through these activities, it is hoped that participants will be able to discuss current initiatives on gender and ICT as well as to explore new directions and strategies for future collaboration in the area of gender and ICT.

For more details, readers may contact:

Ms Kio Chung Kim
Director, Asian Pacific Women's Information Network Center
Sookmyung Women's University
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Tel: 82-2-710-9886
Fax: 82-2-710-9689
e-mail: kiochkim@sookmyung.ac.kr
website: http://women.or.kr)

Older persons' knowledge about HIV/AIDS