| Contents
*** WORLD
SUMMIT ON INFORMATION SOCIETY
Summit spurs solidarity, alliances but hard work, action
ahead
The World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) held in Geneva, Switzerland from 10 to 12 December,
closed on an optimistic note of consensus and commitment,
but Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the International
Telecommunication Union and Summit cautioned that the meeting
was only the start of a long and complex process.
“Telephones will not feed the poor and computers will
not replace textbooks. But ICTs can be used effectively
as part of the toolbox for addressing global problems. The
Summit’s successes now give us the necessary momentum
to achieve this”, he said.
“Building the inclusive information
society requires a multi-stakeholder approach. The challenges
raised — in areas like Internet governance, access,
investment, security, the development of applications, intellectual
property rights and privacy — require a new commitment
to work together if we are to realize the benefits of the
information society. Seeing the fruits of today’s
powerful knowledge-based tools in the most impoverished
economies will be the true test of an engaged, empowered
and egalitarian information society”, he added.
Over 54 Heads of State, Prime Ministers,
Presidents, Vice-Presidents and 83 ministers and vice-ministers
from 176 countries came together in Geneva to endorse a
Declaration of Principles — or a common vision of
an information society’s values – and a Plan
of Action which sets forth a road map to build on that vision
and bring the benefits of ICTs to underserved economies.
The Summit was the first multi-stakeholder global effort
to share and shape the use of information and communications
technologies (ICTs) for a better world.
But the Summit was groundbreaking in other ways too.
It offered a genuine “venue of opportunity”
in a unique meeting of leaders, policy-makers, ICT business
people, voluntary and non-governmental organizations of
every possible kind, and top-level thinkers and speakers.
Alongside the three-days of Plenary meetings and high-level
roundtables, nearly 300 side-events helped bring the dream
of an inclusive information society one-step closer to becoming
reality.
Partnership announcements included a US$400,000
grant by the Government of the United States of America
for ICT development in low-income countries. Cisco and ITU
also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to open 20 more
Internet Training Centres in developing countries. As well,
Hewlett-Packard will provide low-cost products that will
help overcome the illiteracy barrier to ICT. Handwritten
texts for example will be recognized for e-mail transmission.
Microsoft, working with United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), will provide a billion dollar programme over 5 years
to bring ICT skills to underserved communities. One innovative
initiative announced to bridge the digital divide is the
Bhutan E-Post project. For faster, cheaper and more reliable
communication to remote, mountainous areas of Bhutan, the
Government of India will deliver e-post services to the
Bhutanese Postal Service via a US$400,000, a V-satellite
network and solar panels power system. The partners include
ITU, Bhutan Telecom and Post, Worldspace and Encore India.
And at the very close of the Summit, the cities of Geneva
and Lyon in France and the Government of Senegal have announced
contributions totalling about 1 million Euros to fund information
technology in developing countries. The contributions will
represent the first three payments towards the Digital Solidarity
Fund, the creation of which is to be considered by a United
Nations working group for the Tunis phase.
“Technology has given birth to the
information age. Now it is up to all of us to build an information
society from trade to telemedicine, from education to environmental
protection, we have in our hands, on our desktops and in
the skies above, the ability to improve standards of living
for millions upon millions of people”, United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan told delegates.
The overarching goal of the Summit has been to gain the
will and commitment of policy-makers to make ICTs a top
priority, and to bring together public and private sector
players to forge an inclusive dialogue based on the interests
of all. In these two respects, the Summit has been heralded
a success.
The Summit’s most notable achievement was across-the-board
consensus earned for a Declaration of Principles and Plan
of Action wording around several contentious issues, and
the spirit of cooperation that permeated the Summit.
Top Summit targets now remain to be achieved,
including connecting all schools, villages, governments
and hospitals, and bringing half the world’s population
within ICT reach, all by the year 2015.
The second phase of the Summit will take
place in Tunis in 2005 and will measure ambitious goals
set in Geneva. With WSIS phase I over, the hard work begins
and hard work lies ahead in the two years before Tunis,
to show that the information society is on the right path.
Readers wishing to obtain the full text
of the Declaration and Plan of Action of the WSIS may access
the following URL:
http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/listing-all-en-s|1.asp
(Source: ITU, Press Release, 12 December)
*** INDIA: Web
enhanced Training Programme on WINISIS
The Indira Gandhi National Open University
(IGNOU) and the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research (Ministry of Science and Technology of India) developed
a methodology for the delivery of training programmes through
e-learning. This pilot project revolves essentially around
the use of WINISIS, which is one of the most widely used
information retrieval packages used for development of databases
in library and information centres throughout the world.
The training programme envisages delivery
in both online and offline versions, providing multimedia
based self-learning material with synchronous and asynchronous
online interactive environment.
The objectives of the training are as follows
• provide opportunity of learning the WINISIS package
• facilitate self-learning through multimedia courseware;
and
• stimulate learning through online interaction with
experts and peer group.
The purpose of the training is also to collect
feedback from participants about the effectiveness of e-learning
courseware.
The Programme is meant for:
• Library and Information Science (LIS) students minimum
at degree level
• LIS working professionals
• LIS teachers
The programme is intended for beginners.
Advanced learners need not apply. The programme is open
for both Indian and International participants especially
from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
and ASEAN countries.
The entire course is divided into eleven
modules. Each module contains reading material, slide shows,
videos, e-tutorials and quiz. Some of the modules also have
facility for hands on practice through simulation. Progress
from one module to the next will depend on the successful
completion of each module by self-assessment tests.
Modules are as follows:
Module 1 Database Concepts
Module 2 Introduction to CDS/ISIS and WINISIS
Module 3 WINISIS Installation
Module 4 Menus and Dialog boxes in WINISIS
Module 5 Database Design
Module 6 Content Creation and Indexing
Module 7 Information Retrieval
Module 8 Formatting Language
Module 9 Sorting and Printing
Module 10 Database Conversion and Utilities
Module 11 Web Enabled WINISIS
Project Work (for final evaluation)
The entire programme is required to be completed
in 80 hours spread over a month’s time.
The programme is designed in a manner that
can cater to both category of users, those having unlimited
as well as limited access to the Internet. The CD will contain
the multimedia self-learning material whereas the Web will
be used for the purpose of interaction both in a synchronous
and asynchronous mode.
Those desirous of participating in the training
programme are requested to visit the training web site at
http://www.winisis.ignou.ac.in
for registration. Last date for registration is January
21, 2004. Only 100 participants will be registered on a
first-come
first-serve basis. Selected participants will be informed
through e-mail by January 22, 2004.
The course is provided free of charge.
For more information, contact Dr. Uma Kanjilal
Project Coordinator (IGNOU-DSIR Project)
& Reader, Library & Information Science
Indira Gandhi National Open University
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi
Pin- 110 068
Phone: +91 11 26961845
Fax: +91 11 26961845
e-mail: ukanjilal@ignou.ac.in
*** E-schools
aim to connect pupils, villagers across developing world
Thousands of schoolchildren in Bolivia,
Ghana, India and Namibia will soon be learning via the Internet
and other digital innovations thanks to a United Nations
project that seeks to connect thousands of schools and villages
in the developing world through information and communication
technologies (ICT).
The Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative
(GeSCI), launched at the World Summit on the Information
Society held in December at Geneva, is more than just putting
personal computers into classrooms, said Brendan Tuohy of
Ireland, a member of the UN ICT Task Force that spearheaded
the project, along with Canada, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland.
“There is a whole range of activities,
including training teachers, revising curricula, helping
local administrators”, Mr. Tuohy, Secretary-General
of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural
Resources, told a press briefing at the Summit.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that in
bridging the digital divide, “we must match the powerful
new tools of development with the people who need them most.
The Global e-School and Community Initiative does just that
and has the potential not only to improve education, but
also to empower people, strengthen governance, open up new
markets and galvanize our efforts to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals”.
In seeking to address the needs of some
of the 370 million school-aged children who are unable to
attend school, GeSCI will attempt to transform today’s
pilot efforts for ICT education into a comprehensive and
efficient model carried out by strong partnerships. By employing
such models ICT solutions can be delivered at costs that
are potentially five to ten times less expensive than current
approaches.
Among the four countries that will use the
GeSCI approach, the project in Andhra Pradesh State in India
has come the furthest, already having held consultations,
agreed upon a model and on the cusp of implementing the
model.
In all cases, local governments will bring
together all national, regional and local stakeholders in
education to create an efficient, comprehensive system for
delivering education through ICT with the help of the GeSCI
Secretariat.
“This innovative partnership can help
millions of children and young people throughout the developing
world to improve their lives,” Mr. Annan said. “After
all, while education unlocks the door to development, increasingly
it is information technologies that can unlock the door
to education.”
(Source: UN News Centre, 12 December)
*** UNFPA and
the Government of Ireland develop Free Open Source Software
for Knowledge Sharing
The portable Knowledge Asset Development
System (pKADS) -- a knowledge sharing tool used to collect,
distill and synthesize lessons learned in a way that would
improve results and inform policy and development strategies--
was released during the World Summit on the Information
Society at Geneva in early December 2003.
The new software was developed by the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Business Information
Systems, University College Cork, Ireland, with full funding
from the Government of Ireland.
The CD-ROM is being distributed free of
charge. pKADS is a CD-ROM version of UNFPA’s Intranet-based
Knowledge Asset Development System. The new software will
improve the ability of organizations, countries and communities
to capture, synthesize and apply their own Knowledge Assets
– or knowledge resources – as well as outside
knowledge vital for their own development. Such Knowledge
Assets, which are living repositories of collective know-how,
can improve results and inform policy and development strategies.
“We are very pleased to be working
in partnership with the University College Cork and the
Government of Ireland to make UNFPA’s innovative approach
to knowledge sharing available to all, especially the developing
countries”, said Imelda Henkin, Deputy Executive Director
of UNFPA during the software release ceremony held on 12
December. “We see pKADS as a valuable contribution
to bridging the digital divide and a way for UNFPA to help
developing countries and others manage their own knowledge
and attain their development goals”.
UNFPA will make French and Spanish versions
of the CD-ROM available by the end of January 2004. The
Government of Jordan has offered to produce an Arabic version.
Readers wishing more information can contact the Knowledge
Sharing Branch, UNFPA at the following e-mail address: knowledge@unfpa.org
*** EC/UNFPA Initiative
for Reproductive Health in Asia enters new phase
The International Conference on Population
and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994 highlighted the
urgent need to support activities relating to population
and sexual and reproductive health and rights as a means
of promoting sustainable development, especially in some
of the world’s least developed countries (LDCs).
1997 therefore saw the start of an ambitious
and innovative partnership between the European Union (EU)
and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); the EC/UNFPA
Initiative for Reproductive Health in Asia (RHI).
This Programme sought to implement the aims
of the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) by providing sexual
and reproductive health and services and information to
the most vulnerable populations in seven South and South-East
Asian countries. Over the course of four years, this Initiative
– alongside the EC and UNFPA – drew on the expertise
of more than 80 local and international organizations in
Asia and Europe, implementing over 40 projects focusing
on key areas of sexual and reproductive health.
This myriad of innovative approaches has
resulted in the accumulation of a wide range of experiences.
But, as stated by Mr. Shuyun Xu, Director, Asia and the
Pacific Division, UNFPA, “most importantly, this ambitious
and successful undertaking has served the most vulnerable
and neglected populations” in the region and “demonstrates
the commitment of all actors, including EC, towards the
ICPD Programme of Action”.
Some of the lessons learned, best practices
and success stories resulting from this Initiative are summarized
in a publication entitled “Learning from Partnerships”.
Recently released, the publication stems from a collective
effort of the RHI partners and has been coordinated by UNFPA
with the assistance of the German Foundation for World Population
(DSW). It provides a comprehensive overview of a complex
and intricate intervention and takes stock of the successes
and failures.
In a foreword to the publication, Ms. Thoraya
Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director, UNFPA comments: “After
more than four years of implementation, the RHI has logged
many achievements. The RHI has increased access to services,
particularly for underserved populations, with attention
to improving the quality of services”. By tailoring
approaches to different needs and contexts and the development
of culturally appropriate information, education and communication
(IEC) materials, she says, the RHI has reached groups, such
as out-of-school youth, men and boys, who had not previously
had programmes and projects designed for their specific
needs.
“Learning from Partnerships”
marks the end of the first phase of the “Asia-Initiative”.
Yet it also heralds the start of the second phase of the
initiative; the EU/UNFPA Reproductive Health Initiative
for Youth in Asia (RHIYA). “This book will serve as
a valuable resource for the next phase and other large scale
sexual and reproductive health initiatives”.
*** Fifth APPC-related
publications
In the wake of the Fifth Asian and Pacific
Population Conference (Fifth APPC) held at Bangkok in late
2002 on the topic of “Population and Poverty in Asia
and the Pacific”, a series of publications have been
prepared by the Emerging Social Issues Division of ESCAP.
The latest and final batch of related publications
contains Population and Development, Selected Issues (APSS
No. 161) and two Working Papers on “Labour Migration
in the Transitional Economies of South-East Asia”
and “HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care: Regional
Situation and Issues for Consideration”, respectively.
The release of these three publications
in December 2003 brings to a close the work of the secretariat
on this precise event. The publications, along with all
the Report and other documents prepared for the Fifth APPC,
are available online at http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/population/popseries/index.asp
***
Plan of Action on Population and Poverty endorsed
The fifty-ninth Commission
session of ESCAP (phase II) held from 1 to 4 September endorsed
the Report of the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference
(Fifth APPC). The much-awaited endorsement provided the
necessary approval for the Report to be widely disseminated
and publicized. Most importantly, the Commission endorsed
the Plan of Action on Population and Poverty adopted by
the Fifth APPC also included in the Report.
The Fifth APPC held in December
2002 at Bangkok heard intense debates over the language
contained in the Programme of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) used as
a basis for the draft Plan of Action and in particular over
the semantics of sections F (Reproductive rights and reproductive
health) and G (Adolescent reproductive health) of the draft
Plan, which according to one delegation tended to promote
abortion and adolescent sexual activity.
Following an unprecedented recorded vote on those two sections
and long hours of delicate diplomacy, the Fifth APPC Report
and Plan of Action were finally adopted by consensus at
the closure of the Conference.
During the fifty-ninth
Commission session, several delegations reaffirmed their
Governments’ support for the Programme of Action of
the International Conference on Population and Development,
adopted at Cairo in 1994, and stressed the importance of
reproductive health and reproductive rights in order to
improve maternal health and child survival.
Ahead of the upcoming 10th
anniversary of the International Conference on Population
and Development, the endorsement of the Plan of Action on
Population and Poverty is a welcome development, giving
a new impetus to the ICPD goals and to their achievement
as a fundamental step to attaining the Millennium Development
Goals.
*** State of World Population
2003
UNFPA sounds wake-up
call on young people
Meeting adolescents’
reproductive health needs is an urgent priority in the global
fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS, emphasizes the State
of World Population 2003 report by UNFPA, United Nations
Population Fund.
Neglect and under-funding
of programmes enabling young people to avoid unwanted pregnancy,
unsafe childbirth and sexually transmitted infections are
undermining development and spreading HIV/AIDS; investment
to correct this will be repaid many times over. Those are
key findings of UNFPA’s annual flagship report, launched
early October by the Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid.
While the largest generation
of adolescents in history - 1.2 billion - is preparing to
enter adulthood, the 2003 report, subtitled Making 1 Billion
Count: Investing in Adolescents’ Health and Rights,
rightly focuses on youth, examining the challenges and risks
they face in the context of a fast changing world.
"This report is a wake-up
call ... to listen to young people and acknowledge their
needs. It is a wake-up call to increase funding and expand
information and services to young people. It is a wake-up
call to support them so that they can lead healthy, productive
and dignified lives", stated Ms. Obaid at the launch
of the report in London.
"Today, there are more
young people than ever before and they face serious risks
to their health and well-being. These risks include HIV/AIDS
and other sexually transmitted infections, early pregnancy
and marriage, and pervasive gender discrimination and violence.
All of these factors are aggravated by poverty", she
said. "In fact, the report shows that neglect and underfunding
of adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health needs
are actually perpetuating poverty and the spread of HIV/AIDS",
she continued.
The Executive Director stressed the dire
need of funding: "Supporting young people in their
efforts to delay or avoid pregnancy and to protect themselves
from HIV/AIDS can bring enormous health and economic benefits.
Yet international funding for population and reproductive
health programmes is just 30 per cent of what was agreed
upon by Governments in 1994 at the International Conference
on Population and Development in Cairo".
The report was launched simultaneously in
various cities around the world. In Bangkok, it coincided
with the 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference on Reproductive and
Sexual Health held from 6 to 10 October. Addressing the
latest Conference, Dr. Sheila Macrae referred to the report,
stressing that the region had the largest generation of
young people in the world.
"Young people need reliable information
and sufficient knowledge in order to make informed, responsible
and healthy decisions. Yet far too many ... remain trapped
in ignorance", Dr. Macrae said. "AIDS has become
a disease of young people. Today, half of all new infections
occur among youth aged 15 to 24. Each day, 6,000 youth are
newly infected, one young person every 14 seconds",
she continued.
UNFPA’s State of World Population
has been published annually since 1978. The report is available
online at http://www.unfpa.org.
*** Institute
of International Education prepares Census of Human Capacity
in Population
The Institute of International Education
(IIE), a global higher education and professional exchange
agency, is conducting the Census of Human Capacity in Population.
Through this project, IIE is centralizing data on population
and reproductive health experts working in developing countries
in order to create a broad-based picture of the geographic
distribution of population expertise.
A key outcome of the project will be a
list of population and reproductive health experts in developing
countries. That will increase access to population experts
internationally, as well as facilitate the identification
of training capacities and needs.
By participating, interested persons will become part of
a larger network of professionals contributing to an international
picture of human expertise in population and reproductive
health.
If you have a Master’s or Ph.D degree
and are currently working in the field of population/reproductive
health in a developing country, please participate in the
Census by filling out the survey at the following link:
http://www.iieapp1.org/survey/Survey1.aspx.
Kindly indicate in question 18 at the end of the survey
that IIE contacted you through ESCAP.
If you prefer to complete a Word document
version of the Census, please contact IIE by email at jhendrickson@iie.org,
fax: 415 392 46 67, or mail: Census Program, Institute of
International Education, 41 Sutter St. Suite 510, San Francisco,
CA 94104, United States of America.
*** India: Forceful
call for "Missing" girls
A new booklet, showing a shocking decline
in the number of girls compared with boys in India during
the last decade due to sex-selective abortion and infanticide,
has drawn strong responses.
"These findings reveal an alarming
trend, which must be addressed", said Thoraya Ahmed
Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA. "Discrimination
against girls anywhere in the world is a social ill and
human rights violation, which must be stopped. Girls, like
boys, deserve equal love, equal opportunity and equal rights".
The booklet, entitled Missing: Mapping the
Adverse Child Sex Ratio in India, was compiled by the Office
of India’s Registrar-General and Census Commissioner,
the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNFPA.
Ms. Obaid commended the Government of India
for addressing the issue openly. Among other findings, the
booklet reveals a national decline from 945 to 927 in the
number of girls per 1,000 boys aged 0-6 between 1991 and
2001. It points out the particularly grave situation in
states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat,
where the ratio has "drastically declined" to
fewer than 800 girls for every 1,000 boys.
According to the booklet, "one of the
significant contributors to the adverse child sex ratio
in India is the practice of elimination of female foetuses".
However, it also notes the killing of newborn girls. "The
girl child is killed by putting a sand bag on her face or
by throttling her", a mother who killed her first two
girl children is quoted as saying. "It is not a rare
phenomenon; it happens without any hindrance".
Speaking at the launch in India in late
October, UNFPA’s Representative François Farah
said: "Every daughter in this land is a human being
in her own right and, as such, deserves all rights and entitlements,
which society should promote, protect and uphold".
He said that the problem of "missing" girls was
a result of son preference. As a remedy, Mr. Farah called
for greater advocacy by authorities, civil society groups,
cultural, religious and media institutions to promote the
value of the girl child and eliminate gender biases in prevalent
social practices. The booklet can be downloaded from http://www.unfpa.org/
(Source: UNFPA Press Release, 28 October)
*** United Nations
launches Internet-based initiative for schools around the
world
The top United Nations communications official
recently launched an initiative that will link thousands
of students from around the world in one of the largest
educational events ever attempted on the Internet and said
the programme fits well with the world body’s desire
to see the benefits of information technology spread as
widely as possible.
"There is still a long way to go before
the benefits of new technologies are available to all people,
and some fear that these technologies might actually widen
the gap between rich and poor countries" Under Secretary-General
of the United Nations Department of Public Information Shashi
Tharoor said during the launch of the World Summit Event
for Schools in mid-September.
The Programme will, for three months, enable
students to examine the impact that communication technologies
are having on their right to give and receive information
and on their right to an education.
A series of on-line activities, set up and
managed by the UN’s CyberSchoolBus web site in partnership
with European Schoolnet, will guide their exploration. These
will conclude with a live interaction, via the Internet,
between students and a Head of State at the World Summit
on Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Geneva at the
end of the year.
Mr. Tharoor said he hope the project would
show teachers, governments and donors what can be achieved
for so many students with a simple computer and a telephone.
At the conclusion of the three months of student interaction,
the CyberSchoolBus and European Schoolnet will invite educators
"responsible for computer networks that link thousands
of schools in over 40 countries" to Geneva for a special
gathering that will parallel WSIS, Mr. Tharoor announced.
The three-month event will feature
activities at www.cyberschoolbus.org.
(Source: UN News Centre, 18 September)
*** Preparations
for UN-backed summit on information society move forward
With just over few weeks to go before a
summit on the information society, held under United Nations
auspices, delegates have succeeded in agreeing on several
areas for action but still must narrow differences on a
number of key issues.
During the third resumed session of the
Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS), negotiators managed to adopt nearly 90 per
cent of the text of the Action Plan and 75 per cent of the
Declaration of Principles to build an information society
for the benefit of humanity for endorsement by Heads of
States and Governments at the conference.
The WSIS will be held from 10 to 12 December
in Geneva.
The draft Declaration articulates a common
vision of the key values that should serve as the foundation
for the emerging information society, while the draft Plan
of Action sets out time-bound development targets aimed
at extending access to information and communication technologies
(ICTs) to all.
Issues that require further negotiations
will be discussed on 5 and 6 December in Geneva, and include
issues of privacy, consumer protection and protection of
data; the role of all stakeholders in the management of
the Internet at both the technical and public policy levels
and the balance between them; financing of information and
communication technology (ICT) for development, possibly
through a Digital Solidarity Fund, which would channel financing
to ICT for development; and the role of media and human
rights issues.
"We have succeeded in raising awareness
at the highest political level of the implications of the
information society. Commitment has been expressed to tackle
the injustice of the digital divide and to develop new frameworks
for cyberspace to ensure that the benefits of the information
society are extended to all, not just to a privileged few",
said Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized
agency in charge of organizing the event.
(Source: UN News Centre, 17 November)
*** New releases
from the Population Division
The United Nations Population Division has
recently released a variety of publications that should
prove interesting to Asia-Pacific POPIN family members.
In the wake of the World Population Prospects: The 2002
Revision made available on CD-ROM since mid-September, the
Population Division released a concise version of the Population,
Education and Development report that will be issued in
2004.
The report provides a summary of recent
information on selected aspects of population, education
and development. It discusses topics such as the interrelationships
between education and fertility; education, health and mortality;
and education and international migration. The report identifies
different ways in which education, besides being a primary
aspect of individual well-being, plays a pivotal role in
national development and demographic change, given that
through education, individuals are empowered to have choices
and make decisions in areas such as work, place of residence,
family size, health and lifestyles and personal development.
The Division has also recently published
"The Impact of AIDS"; a report documenting the
wide-ranging impacts of HIV/AIDS on population size and
growth, national mortality levels, families and households,
agricultural sustainability, business, the health sector,
etc. The study shows that the AIDS epidemic will continue
to have devastating consequences for decades to come for
virtually every sector of society. However, the report shows,
immediate and concerted actions to prevent new infections
and to treat and care for people living with HIV/AIDS could
save millions of lives and reduce the destructive consequences
of HIV/AIDS.
In addition, the Division also released the 4.0 version
of MORTPAK, the United Nations software package for demographic
measurement. Widely used by demographers throughout the
world in previous DOS versions, the new software takes advantage
of a Windows user interface.
"Population, Education and Development:
The Concise Report", "The Impact of AIDS:, can
be downloaded free of charge from the Population Division’s
web site at http://www.unpopulation.org. Hard copies of
the reports and the software can be ordered from the Office
of Mr. Joseph Chamie, Director, Population Division, Room
DC2-1950, United Nations, New York 10017, USA.
*** New Population
Encyclopedia offers thorough review, reflects expanded scope
of rield
The newly published Encyclopedia of Population
provides a comprehensive appraisal of the field of population
studies. The reference work was badly needed, as the last
encyclopedia of population was published more than two decades
ago in 1982.
The Encyclopedia is directed both to professionals
in the population sciences reading outside their immediate
areas of expertise and to other social scientists, college
students, advanced high school students, and the educated
lay reader. "An effort is made to avoid material and
jargon that would require specialized knowledge", write
the editors, "but without losing significant detail
through undue simplification".
The two-volume set includes 336 short articles
written by 278 authors. The contributors are experts from
a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds; from anthropology
to biology, demography, economics, geography, public health
and sociology, among others.
Along with the standard demographic entries
and biographies of persons notable in the field, topics
covered in the Encyclopedia help to delineate a broadened
scope of population studies. Among these are: ageing in
population, HIV/AIDS, animal ecology, childlessness, climate
change and population, emerging infectious diseases, environmental
ethics, feminist perspectives on population issues, human
extinction, and population in literature.
Subjects related to demography, too, are
treated in a reader-friendly fashion. In her article on
population dynamics, for example, Heather Booth of the Australian
National University, Canberra, provides a basic introduction
to the topic. She describes population growth and decline,
population age structure, and population momentum and ageing,
avoiding complicated mathematics.
Other demographic topics that are each explored
in several articles are: applied demography, demographic
techniques, economic demography, fertility, historical demography,
mortality and health, political demography, population statistics
and data collection, prehistoric demography, reproduction
and birth control, and urban demography.
(Source: Demeny, Paul and Geoffrey McNicoll,
eds., (2003). Encyclopedia of Population, New York: Macmillan
Reference, USA via Population Briefs, October 2003, Vol.
9, No. 3)
*** India: Newly
released CD-ROMs provide extensive knowledge about population-related
studies
The International Institute for Population
Sciences (IIPS), one of the few institutes set up solely
for the purpose of studying demography in India, has recently
released three CD-ROMs containing valuable information in
the field of demography and health. Designed and produced
by IIPS’ Data Centre, the CD-ROMs could prove useful
to population experts across India as well as in other developing
countries.
The first CD compiles articles published
over the past 30 years in Demography India, a journal prepared
by the Indian Association for the Study of Population (IASP)
and launched in 1972. Published every six months, Demography
India focuses, as its name implies, on population issues.
The CD allows a search by author, subject and volume number.
The second CD compiles the results and numerous
reports of the National Family Health Survey-I carried out
in 1993-1998 by IIPS in collaboration with East-West Center,
Macro International and USAID. The survey covered 26 states
of India and was based on a total target sample of more
than 90,000 ever-married women aged 15 to 49 years old.
The full text in pdf form of all the 26 reports and summary
reports of 26 states is available in CD or can be consulted
from http://www.nfhsindia.org
The last newly released CD covers the Reproductive
and Child Health (RCH) survey and includes district level
reports and the national report. For more information in
this project, visit http://www.rchindia.org
*** Population-related
name changes in Viet Nam
In Viet Nam, some changes in names of population
institutions are to be noted. Following a recent decision
by the Chairwoman of the Committee for Population, Family
and Children, the National Committee for Population and
Family Planning has been renamed Viet Nam Commission for
Population, Family and Children. Likewise, the Center for
Population Studies and Information becomes the Information
Center for Population, Family and Children. Among other
duties, the Center is to conduct surveys to collect data,
process and analyze data to serve State management and produce
and disseminate population-related publications.
*** International
Conference on Women and Migration in Asia to be held
The International Conference on Women and
Migration in Asia will take place from 10 to 13 December
in India. The Conference is being organized by the Developing
Countries Research Centre (DCRC) of the University of Delhi.
It will seek to explore the gender implications of migration
processes both within different Asian societies as well
as across the Asian region and beyond. The Conference has
contemporary significance in the context of Asia, which
has seen tremendous intra-regional and inter-regional migration,
as well as global movements of Asian people to form enclaves
in developed countries.
Among the objectives of the Conference is
to emphasize an interdisciplinary approach in a comparative
perspective focusing on intra-Asia as well as outside Asia
migration.
For more information on the three-day event,
e-mail dcrcworkshop@hotmail.com or visit the following URL:
http://www.dcrcdu.org
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