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  • Title: Counting heads in Cairo.
    Journal: Asiaweek; 1994 Sep 14; ():23-4. PubMed ID: 12319156.
    Abstract:
    Representatives of 182 nations gathered in Cairo in September, 1994, at the Un Conference on Population and Development. The resulting 113-page Draft Program of Action contains sober discussions on demographic issues, including projections of population increase in the decades ahead. It focuses on the potential growth of famine, disease, warfare, environmental degradation, and general human misery if the world's population cannot be stabilized at around 8 billion in the next 20 years. The 1994 figure stands at about 5.7 billion, and there will be 12.5 billion people if no action is taken. Previous conferences hosted under the UN helped spark a remarkable decline in fertility rates, especially in Indonesia and Thailand. Even in populous Bangladesh, some 40% of women now use contraceptives, while the fertility rate has dropped from 7 to 4.2 in 2 decades. The proposals debated in Cairo include sustainable development, gender equality, and the empowerment of women. Whatever the country or culture, fertility rates tend to fall dramatically as women become more educated. This has been borne out almost everywhere, most notably in Japan and Singapore. The conference has been criticized by the Vatican as advocating an international standard for easy abortion, encouraging sex education for teenagers, and sanctioning marriages other than between a man and a woman. Some conservative Muslim thinkers have also complained that it promotes Western values and fosters illicit sex. Many supporters of population planning have argued that the empowerment of women will reduce the incidence of abortion. The Cairo document will alienate many across Asia with its references to the plurality of family forms, including the large number of households headed by single parents. The one goal on which everyone can agree is the need to promote policies that will stabilize the global headcount.
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