July 2005

World Population Day- A time to review and redefine agendas

World Population Day was celebrated on July 11, 2005 all over the world. It was an occasion to stop and take stock of our programmes and how far we are from our stated population goals. As is the practice every year UNFPA declared the theme for this year's activities as 'gender equality' with a pithy slogan 'Equality Empowers.'

It is true that no country can claim to be developed as long as its women and children are denied access to basic education, health and nutrition services. No population programme can be deemed successful if it does not improve the quality of life of its people and reduce gender and social inequities. It was ten years ago at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) at Cairo that a development and rights-based approach to population was propounded. This was followed by a shift from a 'Numbers Only' approach to gender and social equity based population programmes in many countries of the world. The fact that we have to reiterate 'gender and social equity' as a theme once again shows how difficult the task of bridging the gender and social equity gaps is.

Post-ICPD, India also made a strategic shift in its population policies and programmes. The Reproductive Child Health (RCH) programme and the National Population Policy (NPP) focused on overall improvements in health indicators and quality of health services not merely on achieving contraceptive 'targets'. While one cannot doubt the intentions of the government, it is sad but true that there is much that is lacking in the implementation of the programmes. While gender disparities continue as reflected in the falling 0 to 6 sex ratio in the country, social equity remains a pipe dream with close to 50% people being denied access to basic education, health and livelihood options!

We can bridge the gaps only by conscious planning to reduce the inequalities and by building a national commitment for achieving the goals set for the country. The need of the hour is to design, implement and monitor programmes explicitly to reduce the gaps. Social and gender equity can no longer be pursued as a by-product of ad hoc programmes. Gender budgets and audits are the important tools that need to be made integral to social development initiatives.

A beginning has been made in the Union Budget 2005, which introduced a gender budget. We need to work to expedite the process of its replication at the state, municipal and panchayat levels. This should constitute the agenda of all the agencies concerned about gender and social equity. The National Rural Health Mission also promises to bridge the gaps in service delivery and empower people to influence the quality of services that they receive. The fear once again is that the lofty ideals would get mired in poor implementation mechanisms.

A major issue in India, as we perceive, is that there is a chasm between the policy makers, programme planners, demographers and development activists on the one hand and the grassroots level service providers and the common people on the other hand. It is sad but true that we have not been able to communicate, leave alone convince our people about the linkages between population and social equity. How do we propose to make a difference when population continues to be seen as an issue of sheer numbers and as an outcome of 'ignorance' and 'foolishness' on the part of the poor and illiterate masses? When it is still perceived as an act of personal choice and not as a reflection of gender and social inequalities?

As a communications initiative Population First is committed to demystifying 'demographics', and creating a better understanding of population as a social development issue. While our film Queue- Aap Qatar Mein Hain captures the dominant sentiment of common people on population and draws their attention to the issue, our book "Population: Questions that need to be more frequently asked" (For your copy write to us at: Population First, Shetty House, 3rd Floor, 101 M.G. Road, Mumbai - 40 023 / Phones: 91-22-2262-6507 / 6672 / 6676 / Email: info@populationfirst.org) aims to build public opinion on population issues from a rights-based approach. We have planned a series of activities to promote the book. We welcome citizens groups, schools and colleges to come forward and initiate discussions on health and population issues in communities and institutions.

A small step towards building public awareness and opinion was taken on July 11 on the occasion of World Population Day, when we collaborated with GO 92.5 FM to dedicate one mid-day slot to the issue. A very small effort to begin with, we hope to bring more and more popular media to focus on the issues in the coming months. Population First made a humble beginning in March 2005 by organising a symposium on gender budgeting. We also have the satisfaction of having launched Laadli - Mumbai Girl Child Campaign to set right the communication gap in population programmes which convinced people about the desirability of a small family but not of a girl child.

With gender equity as the theme for this year we are firm in our determination to make a difference - however small it may be, to the issue of gender and population.