The significance of the United Nations international population conferences
Macura, M.
Population Bulletin of the United Nations 1986(19-20): 14-25
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0251-7604 PMID: 12314721 Document Number: 348198
The 4 international population conferences held under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) are placed in historical perspective. Although each was unique, together they comprise a coherent whole reflecting the changing world situation and the increasing understanding of population dynamics and policies. The 1st UN Population Congress was held in Rome in 1954. Organized in collaboration with the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, it was comprised of experts and emphasized methods and technics of demography, which was still evolving as an independent discipline. The 2nd Conference at Belgrade in 1965, resembled its predecessor in that the delegates were experts. However, it expanded the scope of demographic concerns to related fields and policy issues. For the 1st time fertility was viewed as a policy variable in the context of development planning. The Bucharest conference, held a decade later, was the 1st comprised of government representatives. Since the scientific and technical topics had been explored in preparatory symposia, the conference focused on drawing up the 1st international document on population policy, the World Population Plan of Action, which reflected the tension between states emphasizing the need for fertility decline and those emphasizing the need for a new international economic order. The 1984 conference, held in Mexico City, was also made up of government representatives. Benefitting from extensive preparations including 4 scientific symposia, 5 regional meetings and meetings of the Preparatory Committee, it was successful in refining and making more concrete the World Population Plan of Action. Taken together, the 4 conferences transformed demography from a purely statistical discipline to a multidisciplinary science extending into the domain of population policies and programs.