National debate on the Mali population policy project
Dabo, K.
Pop Sahel Bulletin d'Information sur la Population et le Developpement 1990(13): 62-64
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 1010-8246 PMID: 12346461 Document Number: 342141
In July 1990 in Bamako, Mali, the government held a national debate on the population policy project. Participants were from the Democratic Union of the Malian People, the Minister of Planning, and the national and regional upper management levels of the national unions of women, youth, and workers of Mali. Observers were representatives from UNFPA, BIT, and the World Bank. The Center of Studies and Research on Population for Development (CERPOD) and the Malian Association for the Protection and Promotion of the Family (AMPPF) were invited to the opening and closing ceremonies. The debate aimed to allow participants to learn about the form and contents of the project and of the draft document of Mali's population policy and to appreciate it in its theoretical and practical relevance. The same document was discussed and recommendations made during a workshop in April 1990 by various leaders of projects supported by UNFPA, AMPPF, CERPOD, and different members of the Studies and Coordination of Population Activities Group. Reports of the first plenary session were on the analysis of the demographic-economic situation of Mali and its different regions, and on the objectives and strategies of the population policy. The demographic-economic study is very important in the scientific formulation of a population policy because a poor diagnosis, poor identification of demographic-economic problems, or their bad formulation leads most often to irreversible errors. Three working groups provided reports containing observations and concrete recommendations to improve the document. The second plenary session was devoted to and adopted the reports. Some objectives contained in the pre-project were control of population growth through accelerated socioeconomic development and adapting fertility to development, food security, improvement of the health status of the population, promotion of family planning and family protection, promotion of human resources, protection and preservation of natural resources, and integration of women into development.