Back to home page1993 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 4
93.64.01 - English - Cynthia LLOYD
What Is the Family (and Who Does the Planning)?
The family is "the basic unit within society", in the language of the 1974 World Population Plan of Action. But does anyone know what this basic unit looks like, how it gets formed, or who makes the decisions in it? A look at the evidence suggests we take too much for granted when we talk about the family: we assume that the core members of a family - father, mother, children - live together in the same household and function within a unified family economy; that parents plan, bear, and rear children jointly with a long-term view of their costs and benefits; that the head of the family is an altruist; and that families enjoy long-term stabilty. Reality differs from these assumptions in ways that have important implications for population and development policy. (FAMILY, SOCIOLOGY)
1993 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 5
93.64.02 - English - Hugh O'HAIRE
Europe's Concerns
Civil unrest and violence greet migrants to some European countries, especially those where large populations of the unemployed regard newcomers as competitors for what jobs and social welfare benefits there are. A report from the European Population Conference, at which debate was dominated by immigration, falling fertility, aging, and, in the East, the lack of family planning services. (EUROPE, IMMIGRATION, UNEMPLOYMENT)
1993 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 6
93.64.03 - English - Jaya DAYAL and Farhan HAQ
The "Broker Issue"
Population is "a broker issue - it touches everything else", as one senior delegate put it last month at "Prepcom II", the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the year's International Conference on Population and Devleopment (ICPD). Human rights, reproductive health, and migration were among the key topics at Prepcom II, where participants from governments, international agencies, and some 400 non-governmental organizations debated the themes for discussion at ICPD. (WORLD, CONFERENCES)
1993 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 7
How the Other Half Moves
It's time to retire some old myths about men, women, and migration, according to this year's State of World Population report. Women make up nearly half of all international migrants, and three in four refugees. In many parts of the world, they have long outnumbered men in moving from the countryside to cities. Contrary to the stereotype of the "passive migrant" - the dependent wife who follows her husband, for example - most are active mimgrants building new lives and contributing more than men do to their families and communities, despite earning less than their male counterparts. (MIGRANTS, WOMEN'S STATUS)
1993 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 8
93.64.05 - English - Abid ASLAM
Beyond the Holy War
In the war between church and state over family planning in the Philippines, the side alternately trade salvoes in the media and sue for peace at the treaty table, making it difficult to predict the war's outcome. Regardless of who wins, the new national family planning programme will have an uphill struggle to succeed, documents show. (PHILIPPINES, FAMILY PLANNING POLICY, CATHOLISM, RELIGIOUS, INSTITUTIONS)
1993 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 9
93.64.06 - English - Mahmoud F. FATHALLA
The Unfinished Revolution
Women have gained more reliable and convenient methods of contraception, but at a price: They have a disproportionate responsibility for family planning, and they are at increased risk of being infected by men with sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus. Now, women, scientists, and family planning programmers are calling for a new generation of contraceptive methods that are safer and that women can control and use ot protect themselves against disease and unwanted pregnancies. (WOMEN, IDEAL CONTRACEPTIVE, SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES)
1993 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 10
93.64.07 - English - Abid ASLAM
Pakistani Prospects
Pakistan's family planning programme has been on a political see-saw since it began more than three decades ago, its fortunes rising and falling with changes in government and legislation. In 1991, the programme seemed to be riding high. Since then, the United States, a major financial backer, has withdrawn funding and a new government was formed last month. The programme's future remains in the balance. (PAKISTAN, FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMMES)
1993 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 11
1994 - VOLUME 21, NUMBER 1
93.64.08 - English - Hugh O'HAIRE
AIDS and Population: Think Again
Despite persistent rumours to the contrary, HIV/AIDS infection rates are unlikely to make a significant dent in any given country's population growth rates, experts say. The main impact of AIDS will be to lower life expectancy through increased infant and young adult mortality; impede economic development as it kills people in their productive years; and force dramatic social change by depriving societies of many of their young and middle-aged adults, particularly women, while making orphans of their children. (AIDS, MORTALITY TRENDS, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT)
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