Abstract

PIP: As part of the preparation for the up-coming International Conference on Population and Development sponsored by the UN, an expert group met in June 1992 in Botswana to consider issues related to population and women. Particular attention was devoted to gender equality, population, and development; reproductive health and the health of families; adolescent fertility, marriage, and reproductive health; family planning (FP) and FP programs; education of girls and women and the relationship of education to fertility, health, and welfare; women's economic activity and its relationship to demographic factors; and the relationship between women, population, and the environment. While both developed and developing countries were considered, the emphasis was on the latter. 32 recommendations for action were addressed primarily to governments and other social institutions and also to funding agencies. The recommendations call for a recognization that health and education are particularly critical for women. They ask for the development of gender-based analysis and assessment of development policies to discover their impact on women. Service delivery to women should be culturally appropriate, and women should be integrated into development initiatives and into management and policy-making levels of social institutions. Responsible parenthood should be promoted as should the assumption of familiar responsibilities by men. Women should have access to safe abortion services. Adolescents should receive the education necessary to protect their reproductive health, and a minimum marriage age should be adopted. FP programs should be appropriate to their clients and should provide safe methods of fertility regulation. Improved and safe contraceptives and pharmaceuticals which will protect against sexually transmitted diseases should be developed, with renewed emphasis placed on new contraceptives for men. Safe sex measures should be promoted. The health of girls and women should receive priority attention, and female genital mutilation should end. Special efforts, both formal and informal, should be made to provide proper education for women. Equal rights in sexual relationships should be promoted. Women should have increased access to productive and renumerative employment free from gender discrimination or discrimination due to familiar responsibilities and safe from exposure to hazardous substances. All remaining barriers to women's rights should be removed. The crucial role women play in protecting the environment should be acknowledged, and women should receive training in sustainable development. Adequate social security and medical care systems should be developed for all women, and women and children should be protected against all forms of violence. Women refugees are in special need of protection and health and FP services. Finally, data collection should give priority to information-deficient topics, research on women's status and demographic processes should occur, and statistical systems should represent the full diversity of women's economic activities and publish indicators on a gender-disaggregated basis.