Linking national and global population agendas: case studies from eight developing countries
Lee, K.; Walt, G.
Third World Quarterly 16(2): 257-272
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0143-6597 PMID: 12320181 DOI: 10.1080/01436599550036121Document Number: 296865
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, with funding from the UN Population Fund, has coordinated a study of family planning policies and programmes in four pairs of developing countries: Zambia/Zimbabwe, Algeria/Tunisia, Pakistan/Bangladesh, and the Philippines/Thailand. Each pair of countries was chosen for its rough cultural and economic similarity, but dissimilarity in terms of population policy and implementation. The study consisted of two parts: a policy analysis of the historical determinants of family planning policies in terms of policy actors, processes and contexts; and a demographic analysis of the consequences of family planning in terms of fertility rates and other indicators. Overall it was found that, in all four pairs, national family planning policies and programmes have been shaped to a varying degree by global developments. The extent of this influence has depended on the compatibility between national and global policy contexts: It is held that (i) the degree of support by a government for family planning has corresponded with that country's relations with Western countries over time; and (ii) support for family planning has been influenced by changing economic circumstances in each country, as well as particular development strategies pursued. This argument is best supported over the period of study by the cases of Algeria/Tunisia and Zambia/Zimbabwe. In Algeria and Zambia, prior to the 1980s, there were strong anti-imperialist feelings among political leaders which were an effective barrier to western family planning policies; amid shifts in ideology from the early 1980s, global level activities (e.g., the Mexico conference) helped mobilize increased national attention to family planning.