EU Presidency Statement - Population and Development

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union at this, the 36th, session of the Commission on Population and Development. The acceding countries of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, the associated countries of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, and the EFTA country of Liechtenstein have expressed the wish to align themselves with this statement.

Mr. Chairman,

First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Ambassador Serkskys, and the other members of the Bureau on your election. Your presence on the chair reassures us that by the end of this session we will have achieved positive results.

It has been almost ten years now since the International Conference on Population and Development, ICPD, was held in Cairo. The agreements reached there constitute a remarkable achievement. It was an achievement in itself that enormous cultural differences on these, sometimes very contentious, issues were bridged and an international consensus was reached.

Cairo was also an achievement in that it revitalized and carried forward the discussion of population and development. Most importantly, the ICPD Program of Action recognized reproductive rights and how essential such rights are to development and poverty eradication. Thus, Cairo proved to be an important milestone on the way to the UN Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals. The great impact of the ICPD can also be gauged by the fact that the Program of Action is now well anchored in countries, in governments and in the growing power of civil society, especially women's movement. The European Union reaffirms its strong commitment to ICPD and ICPD plus Five.

Mr. Chairman,

Turning to the theme of this year's session of the Commission, population, education and development, I would want want to stress at the outset that education is a human right and a key factor in sustainable development through its links to demographic, as well as economic, environmental, health and social factors. Access to education is a fundamental precondition for the empowerment of all people, particularly those most vulnerable and marginalized in society.

In the Millennium Declaration, heads of state and government recognized the importance of education, by setting concrete goals for equal access of girls and boys to primary education, since education is indeed acknowledged as a means to cope with today's complex world.

In this context, the international community should give particular attention to the education of young people, especially girls. Among the broad social benefits of education are increased family incomes, improved sexual and reproductive health, reduced child and maternal mortality rates, better chances of protection against HIV/AIDS. What is more, education contributes to a greater participation in decision-making, awareness of environmental issues and improved social responsibility as well as improved opportunities for immigrants.

The European Union believes that the major challenges concerning the interrelation of education and population in particular in developing countries, starting with the eradication of illiteracy, include eliminating gender disparities, reducing gaps in the access to education at all levels and to information, as well as capacity to deliver quality education for all. Access to education is still a problem, and these issues imply policy reforms, adequate financing, sustained advocacy and strengthened multi-sectoral partnerships, especially in the context of poverty reduction strategies. The European Union feels that recommendations for improving student learning need to focus on the physical environment, the teacher, the curriculum, the learning materials and alternative delivery systems. Furthermore such recommendations should take into account the local context and culture and be in conformity with universally recognized human rights.

The European Union continues to support the objectives of education to increase awareness, knowledge, understanding and commitment at all levels of society, so that families, couples, individuals, opinion and community leaders, non governmental organizations, policy makers, governments and the international community appreciate the significance and relevance of population-related issues, and take the responsible actions necessary to address such issues within sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development.

Mr. Chairman,

The European Union looks forward to the 10th anniversary of the International Year of the Family, to be held in 2004. Also, consistent with the Madrid World Assembly on Ageing, the European Union recognizes the social, cultural, economic and political contribution of older persons to society, and stresses the need to focus recommendations on training and empowerment of older persons, in particular through strengthening adult and life-long education. Such education is essential to combat all forms of discrimination, in particular against older persons.

It is also important that due attention be paid to the use of ICT in the education field (e-Learning). Access to ICT should be guaranteed for all layers of society, particularly for the most disadvantaged groups (e-inclusion).

Mr. Chairman,

In the first years since the Cairo Conference, a consistent, although modest, increase in financial assistance for population-related matters was registered. During the last years, however, this trend seems to have been reversed.

Unfortunately, most of the resource flows come from a few countries. Furthermore, the majority of developing countries are not in a position to generate the necessary funds to cover the cost of their population and development programs, including programs on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The European Union believes that all governments, both in donor and developing countries, should stand firmly in implementing the Cairo objectives and mobilize the additional resources needed to reach the financial goals, in accordance with the objectives set by the Monterrey Consensus.

In the light of the above, the European Union reaffirms its commitment to the full implementation of the ICPD Program of Action and stresses that a firm commitment to population, reproductive health and gender issues is a prerequisite if the goals and targets of the Conference and of the Millennium Summit are to be met.

In the Development Council last year, European Union ministers for development stated that UNFPA deserves strong and further support to pursue its activities, thereby contributing to reaching the Millennium Development Goals. The Council considered UNFPA's activities to be in strict conformity with the Program of Action unanimously adopted at the ICPD in Cairo. The ministers invited all donor countries to pursue their support to UNFPA and welcomed the European Union Commission's intention to strengthen its co-operation with UNFPA.

In this respect, I would like to mention that last week the European Union and the UNFPA signed an agreement for a 22.24 million euro three-year reproductive health initiative for youth in Asia, which will be implemented in the following seven countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam. Of this sum, the European Union will provide 18.5 million euro, and the remainder is expected to be covered by executing non-governmental organizations.

Mr. Chairman,

The role of education in improving the sexual and reproductive health of young people should be particularly stressed. In this respect, education of women and girls is of vital importance. When young people are provided with quality information, sexual education, confidential counseling and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, when in general they live in good health, they learn to make responsible choices. As a result, the numbers of unwanted pregnancies, abortions and sexually transmitted diseases decrease.

Furthermore, we recognize the role education plays in preventing and mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS, through the development of attitudes and skills that can limit the spread of the pandemic, and, in this respect, we would like to stress the importance of the implementation of the Declaration of Commitments on HIV/AIDS. At the same time HIV/AIDS is seriously undermining the education systems in many countries.

Mr. Chairman,

It is a well-established fact, which we believe is worth reiterating, that education, health and life choices offered to young people today determine the economic and social prospects of a country in the years to come. Moreover, education is a crucial determinant of economic growth, especially in developing countries. Also, given its links to improving reproductive health and rights, education can help minimize mortality and morbidity, raise the standards of living of the poor, ensure the empowerment of women, and give people the tools to make informed choices on the number and spacing of children.

Mr. Chairman,

Before closing I would like to address briefly one or two points concerning the future work of our Commission.

The European Union looks forward to the second quinquennial review and appraisal of the implementation of the ICPD Program of Action, at the 37th session of the Commission in 2004. Concerning the modalities, we are already on record as not seeing any need for a change in the format of next year's session. I want to reiterate that position here. We expect a non-negotiating technical review exercise, and believe that a crosscutting thematic approach to the ICPD Program of Action would be more constructive than a chapter-by-chapter examination.

As concerns ways and means to observe, next year, the tenth anniversary of the ICPD Program of Action, ICPD+10, we believe that no decision should be taken at this session of our Commission, since the matter falls in the purview of the ad hoc Working Group on the integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields.

In closing, I would like to state that the European Union reaffirms its commitment to the Cairo Program of Action and the key actions for the further implementation of the Program, adopted by the 21st Special Session of the General Assembly, and calls for the full implementation of all the commitments contained therein, without further delay and without renegotiating.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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• EU Presidency Statement - Commission on Population and Development (22/3/2004)