NO. 229 JULY 1993.pdf

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extracted text: No. 229 July 1993

ISSN 0911-0755

JOICFPXEWS
i

Women High on Agenda at Mexico
Latin American and Caribbean conference highlights reproductive rights and health issues

President of Mexico Salinas de Gortari (center) addresses the conference in Mexico.

The conference, held from April 29 May 4 in Mexico City, was attended by
government experts of 31 countries from
the Latin American and Caribbean Region
and representatives of international
agencies and NGOs. JOICFP was also
represented at the meeting which produced
a regional consensus on population and
development that was put forward at the
Second Preparatory Committee Meeting
(Prepcom II), held in New York from May

opening session, President of Mexico
Salinas de Gortari expressed strong
expectations for the ICPD and reaffirmed
Mexico’s support for action on population
and development in the region.
To encourage the active participation
of women and NGOs, the conference
schedule included a meeting for women
on May 1 and a meeting for NGOs on
May 2. This attention enabled women
and NGOs to make valuable contributions
to the conference which were reflected in
the recommendations of the consensus.
Among the issues given priority in
the recommendations was the need to
recognize the opportunity to regulate
fertility as a human right and for
governments to ensure the full exercise
of this right by providing access to FP
services, expanding the coverage and

region in terms of widening women’s

10 - 21. The Mexico meeting was the last

improving the quality of these services,

choices concerning family size and in
creasing men’s share of responsibility.
“The form and content of action pro
grams to improve reproductive health, to
reduce maternal mortality, teenage
pregnancy and abortion, are well-known
in the region,” she said.
In her address given on May 2, Sadik
also acknowledged the contribution that

of five regional conferences held prior to
the Prepcom II.
The conference was jointly organized
by the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC),
UNFPA and the Latin American Demo
graphic Center (CELADE) and chaired by
Patrocinio Gonzalez Garrido, minister of
the Interior, Mexico. Speaking at the

and by providing care without restriction
to all men and women who request it. It
was stressed that FP programs cannot be
detached from social policies, and that
governments need to collaborate with
NGOs and the private sector to make
services accessible to the most
disadvantaged groups.
Noting a concern for teenage

“Success in family planning (FP)
means redefining many long-held
attitudes, especially towards women.
Women are at the center of the devel
opment process. If we are to achieve
sustainable development they will have
to become both the architects and the
beneficiaries of policies and programs.
We need a concerted effort to integrate
women s concerns into all population
policy andprogramming,” said Dr. Nafis
Sadik, executive director ofUNFPA, and
secretary general of the upcoming 1994
UN International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD).
Addressing the Latin American and
Caribbean Regional Conference on
Population and Development, Sadik said
that the ICPD theme of “Choices and
Responsibilities” had relevance for the

non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
are making in the field of population and
development. “NGOs in this region have
made a very important contribution,
especially in reproductive healthcare and
family planning (FP),” she said.
Prepcom II

1

A

n

Prepcom II
pregnancy, the recommendations urged
governments to devote efforts on a
priority basis to designing and adopting
global reproductive healthcare models
for teenagers, focusing particular
attention on population education, and
to reconsider regulations restricting
teenagers’ access to contraceptive
methods.
In view of the current trends in the
region towards decentralization of
decision-making on social policy and
management, the consensus stressed the
importance of governments to open up
channels of communication and share
leadership responsibilities with
community organizations, women’s as
sociations, NGOs and the private sector.
The recommendations also called for
the introduction of IEC strategies to
rectify the problems of low active
involvement of men in FP decision
making and the opposition to
contraceptive use by women.

Paving the Way for ICPD
U.S. reaffirms commitment to raise population assistance at meeting

A total of 370 non-governmental development activities at the conference.
organizations (NGOs) were newly She also expressed pleasure at the strong
approved to participate in the 1994 NGO presence at the meeting. Repre
International Conference on Population sentatives of NGOs from developing
and Development (ICPD) to be held in countries were particularly prominent
Cairo, Egypt, at the Second Preparatory among participants at the Prepcom II and
Committee Meeting (Prepcom II), held at some countries even included NGO
the UN Building in New Yorkfrom May 10 representatives in their official delega
-21. The NGOs, including JOICFP, were tions. Accordingly, NGOs were able to
formally accredited at the Prepcom II to make active contributions to the meeting.
“In few areas of
enable them to take an
international activity
active part alongside
are we seeing such a
other prominent NGOs
rapid change as in the
such as IPPF, agencies
relationship between
such as UNFPA and
governments
and
government delegations
NGOs,” Sadik said.
at the ICPD.
“Although
some
Another major high
countries started off
light of the meeting was
with doubts about the
the determination shown
Focus on Women
appropriateness of any
by the U.S. to increase
significant role for
Women were given priority attention its population assistance.
NGOs, the UNCED
in the recommendations which called for U.S. Representative
measures to eliminate the stereotypes, Timothy Wirth announced that President process demonstrated that a com
prejudices and negative attitudes Clinton had requested a US$100 million plementary role is not only possible but
regarding women in the region that increase in population assistance for fiscal very important.”
impede the effective exercise of women’s year 1994. “I am pleased today to reconfirm
Preparations for Cairo
the Clinton administration’s intention to
reproductive rights.
Abortion was also mentioned in the contribute to UNFPA,” he said. The
Commenting on preparations being
consensus which urged governments to representative also underscored U.S.
study the topic with a view to evaluating support for reproductive choice. “The made at the national level prior to the
the prevalence of abortion and its impact U.S. government believes the Cairo ICPD, she said, “More than 80 countries
on the health of women and their conference would be remiss if it did not have informed us of the establishment of
develop recommendations and guidance national committees to prepare for the
families.
In a departure from the format of with regard to abortion,” he said. “Our 1994 conference. In many of these
previous pre-ICPD regional conferences, position is to support reproductive choice, countries a wide range of government
agencies are involved alongside others
participants of the Latin American and including access to safe abortion.”
as
NGOs,
community
Wirth also made a point of recognizing such
Caribbean conference decided to delay
the finalization of the “Plan of Action” the critical role that NGOs are making in representatives and parliamentarians. I
for the region until after the Cairo meeting. preparations for the ICPD. “Their ideas, am convinced that such a degree of
However, the recommendations laid out energy, experience, and connections to interaction can only be positive.”
Sadik also highlighted the need for
under the conference consensus were real people in every corner of the world
presented at Prepcom II.
[j] have helped us come this far,” he said. investments in women and girls during
“They will give life to our deliberations in her address. “I am a firm advocate of
investing in women,” she said. “In
Cairo and beyond.”
economic and social terms the returns
are enormous.” She added that nowhere
Fred Sai
is that investment more beneficial than in

Carmen Elu de Lenero, technical
secretary, Commission on Women,
Ministry of Health, Mexico (right),
speaks during the women’s meeting.

2

Chaired by Dr. Fed Sai, president, IPPF,
the Prepcom II was the second of three
such sessions to be held prior to the ICPD.
The main aim of the Prepcom II was to
synthesize the recommendations from the
six expert group meetings and five regional
conferences held since the first Prepcom.
Dr. Nafis Sadik, executive director,
UNFPA, introduced a conceptual frame
work for an international plan of action on
the integration of population concerns into

improved health services including
family planning which enable women to
take greater control of their lives, their
well-being and their futures. The UNFPA
head was pleased to note the strong
turnout of women at the meeting, where
90% of NGO delegates were women.
The third Prepcom is scheduled for
April next year ahead of the ICPD to be
held from September 5-13 September,
1994.
[J]
JO1CFP NEWS, July 1993

In the News

NGOs: “the
Last Hope
for the ’90s

55

1

and the environment, which are
interlinked, should be developed. The
Cairo process should reinforce the Rio
process and vice versa. NGOs can be
allies of UNFPA: lobbyists to keep
population issues in the forefront, and
watchdogs to push UNFPA when it is not
doing what it should be doing.

!

UN expert sees NGOs as the
most effective agents of
change in population and
development

Family Planning

Don Hinrichsen

Don Hinrichsen, United Nations
Consultant in Population, Environment
and Development and author of
numerous publications on the
environment, spoke with JOICFP NEWS
on April 21. Below are the highlights of
his comments.
Non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) have an important role to play in
the Cairo conference (1994 UN
International Conference on Population
and Development). NGOs should set up
a dialogue with UNFPA as soon as
possible to see how they can play a
constructive role in Cairo, and find ways
to work better together. UN agencies are
restricted by their mandates, but it is
important to take a more integrated
approach to development. Integrated

development should become the norm, not
the exception. Right now it is the exception.
NGOs can nudge the UN in the right
direction — to make it think in a more
integrated fashion, think integrated projects,
not vertical programs. In the real world,
everything is linked. It makes no sense to
separate them all out.
The Cairo conference faces the same
problem as the Rio Conference (Earth
Summit). If the recommendations are not
followed up, they will not mean very much.
UNFPA has to be given a strong mandate
for the conference to identify clear
directions for the next decade, and it needs
to have firm commitments by the
governments and donors to back it up. A
strategic development plan for population

Shedding Light on AIDS
Japan Family Planning Association (JFPA) has come up with another innovative way
to combat the spread of AIDS in Japan with the publication of a handbook designed to be
utilized as an AIDS-prevention IEC material for young people. Following its release earlier
this year of its novel IEC condom pack, the production of the handbook provides younger
readers with a broad basis of knowledge about AIDS.
The booklet is entitled STOP AIDS CONDOM: To Protect You and Your Loved One
from AIDS and is written by Dr. Hidebumi Kubo, board
member of JOICFP and chairman of Family Planning
Federation of Japan (FPFJ). Small and light enough at
STOP AIDS J
24 pages to be slipped inside a pocket, the booklet
features an attractive cover, as well as cartoons and
diagrams throughout to appeal to a younger audience.
The booklet offers easy-to-understand information
on HIV transmission and AIDS prevention and draws
attention to common misconceptions about the disease.
The latter half of the booklet is devoted to information
about condoms and includes a guide to the correct use

CONDOM)

of condoms to prevent HIV transmission. One of the

most notable aspects of the booklet is its practical
approach to AIDS prevention and the absence of any
moralizing about sexual activities among young people.
As with most of the IEC materials created by JFPA, it is hoped that the handbook will
be sold in bulk to cover the costs of publication and to sustain the association’s ongoing
lEC-production activities. Priced low at ¥200 (US$1.60 at ¥122 to US$1) the booklet is
easily affordable to public bodies such as educational institutions, private organizations
catering to young people and individuals. The association is planning to produce more IEC
materials designed for AIDS prevention in the near future.
JOICFP NEWS, July 1993

By NGOs, I mean village-level
development organizations, income
generating groups, small local collectives
or community groups of men and women
bound by a single issue. In terms of
family planning (FP), the populations
which are hard to reach and cannot be
served by the UN agencies, such as those
in rural villages, must be reached by
NGOs, and those are places where NGOs
are working. The NGOs just have to be
given the tools to work with. I think the
NGOs are the last hope for real
development in the ’90s and beyond —
unless the governments find ways to get
the money down to the ground.
You get better results, faster, by going
through the NGO network than you do
by simply concentrating on the usual
government channels. It is a matter of
ground-up rather than trickle-down
development. I think the NGOs are the
only ones capable of doing this in a
timely and efficient fashion. It takes time
and effort to identify them, what their
strengths and weaknesses are, where they
need help and where they don’t need any.
IEC Campaigns

I also believe that working with local
groups is the best way to effectively
tailor IEC campaigns to meet people’s
preferences. For an IEC campaign to
work, it has to challenge the people to
think about issues. It takes a long time to
educate people, but once people see how
things work, make the connections and
see the results, they catch on. People
may be ignorant, but they are not stupid.
You need to spark their interest somehow
and that takes a long time. You need to
be in for the long haul, and that is where
the big development projects fail because
they all want instant results.
Lecturing people and banging on their
heads will not work. You have to start at
a very basic level, gradually build up the
confidence and understanding of the
people, and suddenly you will get a
breakthrough and everything falls into
place. Then you have a basis for
sustainable management.
[J]

3

Japan

Lessons
from the
Community

provide broader preventive healthcare
services and maintain self-reliance by
charging fees.
In the early 1950s, Kunii’s attention
turned to the alarming incidence of
induced abortion in Japan. Motivated by
a concern for the health of women
undergoing abortions, he launched family
planning (FP) activities and began
developing his philosophy of“humanistic
family planning,” which today forms the
basis of activities conducted in
developing countries through JOICFP
under the Integrated Project (IP).

Kunii’s book highlights
effectiveness of listening to
community people and
answering their needs
The English-language version of “It
all Started from Worms — The 45-Year
Record of Japan s Post-World War II
National Health and Family Planning
Movement” was published by the Hoken
Kaikan in December 1992. Written by
JOICFP Chairman Chojiro Kunii, the
book documents the work of the Hoken
Kaikan Group and spans theyears shortly
after World War II up to the present day.
The book is written as a personal account
by Kunii and includes a variety ofessays,
articles, poems and photos.
Beginning with a description of the
early postwar people’s cooperative
movement, the book provides a
chronological overview of the
progressive movements that were
inspired by Kunii and his supporters.

Children hand in stool samples for
examination during the 1940s in Japan.

Integrated Project

From the cooperative movement, which
was brought to an end by the high postwar
inflation, Kunii moves on to describe the
creation of the parasite control (PC)
movement which flourished and quickly
spread throughout Japan. With about 80%
of the Japanese population infected with
parasites at the time, the PC services proved
extremely popular and established a firm
financial basis for self-reliance.
The success of PC provided Kunii with
valuable lessons on how to mobilize peo
ple, which he shares with readers in his
book. Kunii’s interest in health issues
continued to grow in the postwar years,
and with the support of the government
and academic groups, he was able to

Essentially aimed at appealing to the
interests of community people to improve
their health and standard of living, the IP
utilizes PC to stimulate interest in health
and integrates a number of components
such as FP, nutrition and environmental
sanitation that directly improve the health
and way of life in the community.
Kunii’s book also provides back
ground to the establishment of JOICFP,
one of the member organizations of the
Hoken Kaikan Group, and offers insights
into past and cunent population issues.
In the latter part the book, Kunii offers
comments on new challenges in the field
of population, world peace and
international cooperation.
|j]

today’s troubled world. If, as
you said at the time, we could
“suppress material desires and
enrich spiritual life,” if we could
the human dimension
move “towards more active
of the FP program
international cooperation” and
which we must
if we could appreciate the urgent
understand.
need for unpolluted “air,”
Bal Gopal K. C.,
“water” and “green” for human
UNFPA country
survival — the world will be a
director, Pakistan
much happier and peaceful
*
*
*
place.
The book as a whole
Professor Mahroof Ismail,
Kunii soon after the war.
is a good example of
head,
Department
of
the integration of
Parasitology, University of
preventive health services. Your experiences Colombo, Sri Lanka
*
*
*
in PC activities after World War II and
continuation in a new health field such as FP
In MEXFAM we are very enthusiastic
were farsighted movements and reflected about following your steps and achieving as
change in the social structure of the country. much self-reliance as possible.
Also, the tripartite system consisting of
Alfonso Lopez Juarez, director general,
government, academia and private Family Planning Foundation of Mexico
(MEXFAM)
organizations was a good initiative.
*
*
*
Dr. Claudio Sepulveda, representative,
UNICEF, Turkey
We in Africa need to learn the lesson that
*
*
*
Japan became a rich country from many
The part I would want to quote from your such small contributions of its own citizens
book, whenever the opportunity arises, is the such as you; and that foreign aid will not be
one dealing with thoughts from your essay enough to lift us out of poverty and ignorance.
“Small Japan.” It is truly remarkable that what
Isaac K. Boateng, executive director,
you wrote over 20 years ago is so relevant in Planned Parenthood Association ofGhana

Words ofSupport
JOICFP Chairman Chojiro Kunii
received a variety of responses from
readers about his book ‘‘It All Started from
Worms — The 45-Year Record of Japan s
Post-World War II National Health and
Family Planning Movement.” Below are a
few of the comments.
Your life and experiences are an
inspiration to readers involved in health and
population programs in developing
countries. Through this book they can better
carry on the advocacy aspects of their
program with their respective governments,
and they will be in a better position to
understand and adapt the Japanese model to
their special situations and to carry on
periodic assessment of their effectiveness of
their programs. We recommend that the
book be distributed if possible to all family
planning associations involved in Integrated
Projects.
Richard Turkson, regional director,
Africa Regional Office, IPPF
*
*
*
I found your book very impressive. It
covered not only a historical description of
the FP movement in Japan but also included

4

JOICFP NEWS, July 1993

Indonesia

Building a Successful FP Program
J. S. Parsons highlights the unique elements in Indonesia's FP program
J. S. Parsons, deputy director, Asia
and the Pacific Division, UNFPA, spoke
with JOICFP NEWS on April 30 about
the transferrability of the experiences of
Indonesia’s family planning (FP)
program with other countries. Below is
an outline of his interview.
At present, is there is great focus
being put on those lessons that are truly
Indonesian FP experiences which
many of us believe are transferrable
across national borders. What are
those key lessons?

development of Indonesia. Your
contribution in this is a vital and real
contribution to Indonesia’s development.”
People feel proud - FP acceptors and
providers - because they have contributed
in this way.
The next lesson is that BKKBN has
mobilized, again through the President’s
Office and through its own activities, the

Political Commitment

One is the importance of
political commitment and the
translation of that commitment into
a viable non-monetary reward
system for all who participate in
the FP effort. Once a year, President
Soeharto invites hundreds of
representatives from every province
in the country to the palace have
lunch. Among them are people
who have been FP users for 10-15
years and these people receive
rewards for their contributions to
the Indonesian development effort.
This eventreceives tremendous TV
and printed media coverage and
these people go back to their villages
as national heroes.
In addition, each cabinet minister
works as a sort of an ambassador of the
president himself in both his own sector
as well as in the areas. Government
ministers in turn are talking about FP,
looking at FP and praising FP. It is
amazing the range of government
ministers who will have something to
say about FP.
There are many countries in the
developing world that have a strong
political commitment to FP yet have not
been able to translate that commitment
into something that will actually
galvanize the infrastructure, the man
power and the people. FP is presented in
Indonesia as a major development effort
and as an opportunity for the Indonesian
people to contribute to their own
development, to their government’s
development and to a program that is
highly favored by the president. The
BKKBN (National FP Coordinating
Board) is saying “Here is an opportunity
for you to personally participate in the
JOICFP NEWS, July 1993

J. S. Parsons

development ministries of the government.
FP is not just the responsibility of the
BKKBN or the Ministry of Health (MOH),
which is the main service provider. FP is
everyone’s baby, literally. Every ministry
of the government has a stake in seeing the
success of FP and, therefore, most
ministries are considered to be in the
category of “implementing units.”
The key implementing unit is the MOH
since it provides the services. The military
also provides services, both to the military
population and through special activities
organized in the communities. The
Ministry of Agriculture has its own
implementation unit. The Ministry of
Education is involved in population
education. The Ministry of Information
provides major support to the FP program.

Development Ministries
Every development ministry and
agency of the government has been brought
around to seeing the importance of FP to
their development work. They therefore

support it in their work. That kind of
mobilization of government ministries is
very important. That is why BKKBN’s
FP program in Indonesia is called a social
movement. It mobilizes the entire soci
ety, be it ministries or people.

Religious Leaders
The other key transferrable
concept, is the mobilization of a
variety of formal and informal
leaders. Traditionally, these have
been the religious leaders. The
amount of time, energy and money
that have been spent by the BKKBN
in motivating religious leaders is
incredible. It has been a slow
process, but it has generally paid
off. It has brought about a greater
tolerance on the religious leaders’
parts for elements of FP, which in
other circumstances might be con
sidered sensitive to religious
values.
The print and electronic media
have also been very carefully
cultivated. There are training
opportunities, contests for reporters
to go out to report the best FP
stories and study tours both within
the country and outside the country.
The media is also involved in
virtually every international meeting that
occurs on population or FP.
Community Mobilization

Teachers are another group that have
been motivated to support FP and at the
most basic level is community
mobilization. There is no other country,
I was told by a recent UNFPA evaluation
mission to Indonesia, that has addressed
community mobilization the way
Indonesia has with the systematic
objective of getting communities to
assume increasing responsibility for the
planning and implementation of their
own FP efforts. Today there is a wellestablished village presence that involves
a variety of people from a variety of
sectors all contributing mostly as
volunteers to the success of the FP effort.
Those are the key lessons of the
BKKBN. From the beginning it has
involved a very conscious approach to
mobilization from the highest levels right
down to the grassroots.
|T|
5

Zambia

Headway
for Women
in Zambia
Womens clubs in IP areas in
Zambia become a vital
community force as activities
expand
When women join hands, they can
accomplish a great deal. That is the
message from the members of the
women’s clubs in the areas of Zambia
where JOICFP ’ s Integrated Project (IP)
is being promoted. Encouraged under
the IP to make the women’s clubs an
active force in their communities and
provided with some modest support in
the way of materials and training, the
women in IP villages are coming to
gether in increasing numbers to tackle
such problems as malnutrition and
illiteracy and to learn about issues such
as family planning (FP).

Women’s Clubs
When the IP was launched in Zambia
in 1985, there was a total of three women’s
clubs in the three pilot project areas.
Today, that number has been increased
to 23 with membership limited to around
35 or so for each club. The activities of
these clubs have also expanded
dramatically as they have won the active
participation of women and gained
support of the village authorities as well
as the community at large. As a result,
the clubs have become an influential
force in the development of the IP and
instrumental in raising the standard of
life in the community.
One of the most obvious benefits of
the clubs is that they have helped make
the presence of women felt more strongly
within the home and the community. As
the clubs have brought positive changes
to community life, village people have
been more willing to place value on
women’s activities. With greater recog
nition, the women have gained confidence
and freedom to expand their joint
activities and discuss issues such as FP.
The establishment of women’s
shelters in IP areas has done much to spur
the collective activities of women. The
construction of the women’s shelters is
6

Members of the Bwafwano women’s club greet visitors.

usually done as a joint community effort
with the support of the local authorities.
With a meeting place, women are then able
to gather more easily to exchange
information, share experiences and take
part in income-generation activities such
as gardening, sewing and knitting. Through
such communal work, women have gained
the administrative skills for banking and
the establishment of revolving funds for
reinvestment into continuing activities.
The positive impact that the
organization of the clubs has had on women
has been clearly demonstrated in Kapata,
Luapula Province, where a number of
women’s clubs are runningday care centers
from their shelters. The centers, initially
set up to tackle the problem of child
malnutrition in villages, have also inspired
the launch of literacy classes for women
and collective agricultural activities.
The Katunasa Women’s Club in
Kapata, for example, has seen its activities
expand since it started day care services.
The services, operated out of the shelter
from 8 a.m. - 11 a.m., are primarily aimed
at bringing children together to provide
nutritious snacks made from local food
sources. The club charges about 30 kwacha
(10 US cents) a semester for the services.
Extremely popular among the

A literacy class in Katunasa.

community, the day care services have
spurred the women’s club members to
launch home-gardening activities to
secure stable, year-round sources of food,
and to learn nutritious ways to prepare
food for children. The provision of school
lessons for the children at the day care
center also created an awareness of the
importance of reading and writing and a
desire to learn among the women
themselves who set up adult literacy
classes for club members.

Awareness of Health
A greater awareness of health has
also been another benefit the day care
center has brought the women of
Katunasa who are now planning to run a
maternal and child health clinic from the
women’s shelter. By mobilizing the
women to play a more effective role in
raising the health status of the children
through better nutrition, the IP has also
created greater interest in health issues
among the community as a whole, which
has in turn made community people more
willing to listen to the health benefits of
birth spacing for children and mothers.
In cooperation with the health
advisory committees for local steering
committees implementing the IP at the
local level, JOICFP has continued to
encourage the expansion of the activities
of the women’s clubs in Zambia. In
addition to providing such items as
cooking utensils, cloth and seeds for
gardening, JOICFP has also worked
closely with members of the Municipal
Coordinating Committee for Overseas
Bicycle Assistance (MCCOB A) to secure
the donation of paper and pencils for the
day care centers. Notebooks and toys
will also be donated by MCCOBA
members to support the activities of the
centers this year.
[J]
JO1CFP NEWS, July 1993

Opinion

Sri Lanka Still on Track
De Knocke notes Sri Lankan success and new openness in Maldives
Dr. Hans de Knocke, country director, hear about in Sri Lanka is only for twoSri Lanka and the Maldives, UNFPA, thirds of the country. We do not know
spoke with JOICFP NEWS on May 21 what is happening in the rest of the island.
about population and family planning
Population Policy
(FP) issues in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Below is an outline of his interview.
One of the major reasons why Sri
The objective of the population policy
Lanka has managed to do so well in term s of the present government is to achieve
of population is because people are replacement-level fertility by the year 2000.
educated. I think this is superior proof For UNFPA, the main focus in Sri Lanka
that education is a good basis for is adolescents and those subgroups with
achieving success with a population high fertility. On average, the fertility is
program. B ut there i s more to the success quite low in Sri Lanka, but there are quite
a few pockets
than education.
In Sri Lanka
where the fertility
is high and where
there has been a
there are enor
traditional
mous health prob
emphasis on the
lems.
social sector as a
For adoles
whole — both
cents, UNFPA is
education and
focusing
on
health. Com
school youths and
pared to other
out-of-school
countries, there
youths with the
has been easy
integration of
access to schools
family life edu
and health faci
cation (FLE) into
lities over the
school programs
whole island and
and vocational
this has made Sri
training programs.
Lanka a very
It is just starting
fertile ground for
and the document
a
population
has just been writ
program.
ten with the Labor
The status of
Hans de Knocke
Ministry to get
women in Sri
FLE included in
Lanka has also
been an important factor in the success. vocational training.
The Maldives are totally different in
The position of women may be the result
of education, but I get the impression that every respect to Sri Lanka. To be able to
the women in Sri Lanka have always had talk about population issues openly is a
a different position in society than in new development for the Maldives. There
have been some small projects in the past
other South Asian countries.
with the Health Ministry, but they have
been very low profile. However, the present
Model of FP Success
president has started talking about
Up until the 1980s Sri Lanka was a population growth and this has had an
model of a successful FP program. It was enormous impact. It has now become
given a very high profile by the acceptable to talk about FP.
Fertility is very high in the Maldives
government and was the pride of the
country. But Sri Lanka has been in a war which has a population scattered over 200
since 1983 and this is still the main islands. We have just conducted a PRSD
problem confronting the country.
mission and on the basis of that I will
There are severe population problems present a country program in September
within in the war zones among the Tamils, this year. By January next year we can
especially among the east Tamils who begin the program in which IEC for the
have a tradition of high fertility. The people as well as the policy makers will be
good health and the low fertility that you the most important project.
g]
JOICFP NEWS, July 1993

Sustainable
Development: a
World Bank View
Ismail Serageldin, vice president in charge
of ESD (environmentally sustainable
development), World Bank, spoke on May 14
in Tokyo about the Bank’s views on the
environment and sustainable development.
Below are the highlights of his presentation.
The key areas concerning the environment
today are: climate change, the ozone layer,
biodiversity, the seas, sustainable agriculture,
the forests, droughts, toxic waste, energy,
and consumption patterns.

Consumption Patterns
According to a recent UNDP report which
provides an overview of the global economy,
the richest 20% of the world’s population
receives 83% of the total income of the world,
whereas the poorest 20% receives only 1.4%.
There are huge disparities in consumption
patterns: the developing countries consume
70% of the calories, 6% of the paper and 8%
of the energy is consumed by developed
countries.
The dimensions of ESD include economic
(sustainable growth and capital efficiency),
social (equity, social mobility, participation,
and empowerment) and ecological (ecosys
tem integrity, natural resources, biodiversity,
and carrying capacity), which are all
interrelated. If different analyses are made
under different premises without the
integration of all elements, internal conflicts
will result.
Development & Environment
The Bank is working on four global issues:
global warming, ozone depletion, biodi
versity, and the pollution of international
waters. We must change the way people
think — there is no dichotomy between
development and environment. Environment
is a central part of promoting real sustainable
development, that is, development should
not be carried out with the sacrifice of the
environment.
The Bank carries out environmental
assessment systematically for every
investment. With regard to population, the
Bank has steadily increased the size and
scope of its population lending. It provides
direct support for family planning (FP), which
is reinforced by lending in other human
development fields, and is trying toencourage
girls’ education on a very large scale. The
Bank will facilitate Japan to share its
experiences in pollution abatement which is
a mix of incentives and regulations that have
worked in different industries. Japan’s official
development assistance puts high priority on
the environment and that philosophy is in
tune with that of the World Bank.

7

Voice of Voices
By Chojiro Kunii
An International Movement
On April 27, MCCOBA (Municipal
Coordinating Committee for Overseas Bicycle
Assistance) held its first General Meeting.
An organization comprising 15 members (14
city governments and JOICFP), MCCOBA
has been actively donating reconditioned
bicycles and other items to people in
developing countries. Since its establish
ment 5 years ago, the organization has seen
its activities expand with the enthusiastic
support of the people receiving the bicycles.
As of March this year, over7,000 bicycles
had been donated to people in Asian, African
and Latin American countries through
MCCOBA. Other items such as treadle sewing
machines, microscopes and stationery have
also been sent abroad under the scheme.
It has been particularly heartwarming to
see the number of grassroots campaigns that
have sprung up in Japan to support the scheme.
Notable among these is the campaign launched
by students of Taishido Junior High School in
Setagaya City. Under the campaign, the
students have been soliciting the help of
residents through fund-raising activities to
support the donation of reconditioned sewing
machines abroad.
School Campaigns
The studentsand faculty of Fuchu Daikyu
(No.9) Junior High School in Fuchu City
have also become active in the international
cooperation field since sending reconditioned
sewing machines to Guatemala under the
scheme. Another supporting school is Tokyo
Jyoshi Gakuin in Nerima City. The school
has not only donated sewing machines, but
ran a campaign to increase awareness of
international cooperation and raised ¥220,000
(US$1,800 at an exchange rate of ¥122 to
US$1) at its fair to assist with shipping costs.
Contributions to the scheme have also
been made by Janome Sewing Machine Co.,
Ltd. which has been repairing donated treadle
sewing machines free of charge. Meanwhile,
retired mechanics have made significant
efforts to overhaul the bicycles to almost new
condition prior to shipment.
There is a domestic movement in Japan
called the “Small Kindness Movement.” In
my view, the activities of MCCOBA represent
the international version of this goodwill
movement. Like the goodwill movement, the
donation scheme continues to attract support
and most recently the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the Japan Bicycle Promotion
Institute have been collaborating with us to
support this cause.
JOICFP would like to continue
cooperating with UNFPA and IPPF to expand
this scheme. These donation activities work
in well with our Integrated Project (IP) which
involves practical activities that assist people
to improve their lives.
[JI

8

DIARY
Mark Laskin, assistant secretary general, IPPF,
visited JOICFP on April 26 and 27 to exchange
information.
*
*
*
J. S. Parsons, deputy director, Asia and the
Pacific Division, UNFPA, visited JOICFP on
April 30 for a meeting with JOICFP executives
and staff.
*
*
*
JOICFP Program Officer Kiyoko Ikegami was
in Mexico from April 29 - May 5 to attend the
Latin American and Caribbean Regional
Conference on Population and Development
and to hold discussions with MEXFAM
officials. She moved on to the U.S. where she
was in Atlanta on May 6 to exchange

China in Spotlight
Population, environmental and
economic prospects for China and the larger
international role the country is expected to
play in the future were among the issues
covered in a speech given by Takeo Fukuda,
JOICFP president and former prime
minister of Japan, at the joint meeting of
JOICFP board members, counselors and
councilors, on May 31. The meeting, an
annual event, was held to discuss the policy
and action plan for JOICFP.
Recently returned from a summit of
former heads of state in Beijing, China,
Fukuda referred to a report released by the
World Bank in April that foresees a dramatic
increase in the gross domestic product of
China over the next decade and the
emergence of the country as a major
economic power.
With a large
population and a
strong economy,
China will have
to take a more
active role in
world affairs and
its action will
have a large im
pact on the future
of
the earth and
Fukuda
its people, he said.
Commenting on his experiences in
China, Fukuda said that he met with Chinese
leaders including Jiang Zemin, general
secretary, Communist Party Central
Committee. During discussions with Jiang,
Fukuda said that he expressed a hope that
China would not follow the pattern of other
economic superpowers and become a
military giant. Fukuda said that he also
encouraged Jiang to continue its successful
efforts in the population field.
JOICFP Chairman Chojiro Kunii also
spoke about China at the meeting, reiterating
his desire to establish a center for South-toSouth cooperation in the country.

information with the Centers for Disease
Control and in New York until May 12 to
take part in Prepcom II.
*
*
*
Holly Ornstein Carter, writer and
photographer, visited JOICFP on May 17 to
collect information on Margaret Sanger.
*
*
*
Dr. Hans de Knocke, country director, Sri
Lanka and the Maldives, visited JOICFP on
May 21 to exchange information.
*
*
*
JOICFP Program Officer Aiko lijima was in
Indonesia from May 24 - June 2 to prepare
for the Asian Regional Workshop on
Effective Strategies for Community-based
FP/MCH Project with Special Focus on
Women to be held in Jakarta in October.
*
*
*
Jaehee Wilder, newly appointed director
for Japan, Australia and New Zealand,
UNICEF, visited JOICFP on May 28 to
discuss future collaboration. She was
accompanied by UNICEF Program Officer
Jun Kukita.
JOICFP DOCUMENTARY SERIES
NEW DOCUMENTARY FILM

The Awaking Kowloon
Village Women in Vietnam
Color/Vietnamese & Japanese version: 39 min.
English version: 32 min.

-J

iMl'a

a

Despite the many years that have passed
since the end of the Vietnam War, the people of
Tan Buu Commune still have no bridge to
replace the one that was destroyed in a bombing
raid. Each day, children cross the river by boat
to go to school along with women volunteers
who promote family planning and maternal and
child health among the community people.
The Awaking Kowloon — Village Women in
Vietnam documents the struggle of the Tan
Buu people to rebuild their bridge and the vital
role that women play as agents of change.
Distributed by

Sakura Motion Picture Co., Ltd.
Yoyogi Center Bldg., 57-1 Yoyogi 1-chome, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo 151, Japan Tel: 81-3-3320-6311 / Fax: 81-3-3320-7666
Telex: J34799 ITCIN0THI Cable: “SAKURAMOVIES TOKYO"

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16mm/VTR (Beta, VH.S/NTSC, PAL, SECAM)

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JOICFP NEWS is a monthly newsletter
published by the Japanese Organization for
International Cooperation in Family Planning,
Inc. (JOICFP).
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suggestions and contributions. Please mail to:
JOICFP NEWS
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JOICFP NEWS, July 1993

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