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| Introduction
The inextricable link between population and the environment was recognized as far back as 1974 when the World Population Plan of Action (WPPA) adopted at the first World Population Conference in Bucharest included as one of its objectives: "To advance national and international understanding of the complex relations among the problems of population, resources, environment and development, and to promote a unified analytical approach to the study of these interrelation-ships and to relevant policies." The International Conference on Population held in 1984 reaffirmed the WPPA and was equally specific on the necessity for an "integrated approach that takes into account the interrelationship between population, resources, environment and development." In 1989, the International Forum on Population in the Twenty-first Century, held in Amsterdam, also acknowledged that "population, resources and environment are inextricably linked and stress our commitment to bringing about a sustainable relationship between human numbers, resources and development." The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, marked a breakthrough in the discussion of population and environment issues. At the Conference, a succession of world leaders, heads of agencies and eminent individuals stated their belief that population was one of the key issues in the fight for sustainable development. As Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland noted at the opening session, "poverty, environment and population can no longer be dealt with—or even thought of—as separate issues." This conviction was reflected in Agenda 21, the blueprint for action adopted by the Conference. UNFPA responded to the UNCED process in three ways. First, the Fund actively participated in the process itself and contributed to the various UNCED preparatory committees and expert groups. The Fund also produced and distributed publications dealing with various aspects of the interrelationship between population and the environment. Second, following the Conference, UNFPA began examining its activities to see how well they fit with the intentions and prescriptions of Agenda 21 and, correspondingly, what could be done to adapt those that did not. Third, the Fund continued to build upon the international understanding reached at Rio on the population and environment interrelationship in its preparations for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994. The ICPD referred to and reinforced the concerns in Chapter 5 of Agenda 21 by noting the complex interrelationships between population, sustained economic growth, poverty and the environment. Chapter 3 of the ICPD Programme of Action urges that population factors, including not only population growth and age structure but also distribution, migration and reproductive health, be integrated into planning for sustainable development and a healthy environment. The significant influence of the status of women and girls in factors important to demographic transition and to the achievement of sustainable development is also emphasized as is the involvement of women in population and environment decision-making at all levels. As part of its follow-up to UNCED, UNFPA has identified those chapters and programme areas of Agenda 21 that have programmatic, institutional and/or financial implications for UNFPA, concentrating on those that are at or near the core of the Fund’s concerns and mandate. This booklet is a synthesis of UNFPA policies and programme activities directly relevant to environmental concerns in the perspective of Agenda 21. |
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