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Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development
Chapter 14 : International Cooperation
A. Responsibilities of partners in development
B. Towards a new commitment to funding population and development
A. Responsibilities of partners in development
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Basis for action
14.1. International cooperation has been proved to be essential for the implementation
of population and development programmes during the past two decades. The number of
financial donors has steadily increased and the profile of the donor community has
increasingly been shaped by the growing presence of non-governmental and private-sector
organizations. Numerous experiences of successful cooperation between developing countries
have dispelled the stereotyped view of donors being exclusively developed countries. Donor
partnerships have become more prevalent in a variety of configurations, so that it is no
longer unusual to find Governments and multilateral organizations working closely together
with national and international non-governmental organizations and segments of the private
sector. This evolution of international cooperation in population and development
activities reflects the considerable changes that have taken place during the past two
decades, particularly with the greater awareness of the magnitude, diversity and urgency
of unmet needs. Countries that formerly attached minimal importance to population issues
now recognize them at the core of their development challenge. International migration and
AIDS, for instance, formerly matters of marginal concern to a few countries, are currently
high-priority issues in a large number of countries.
14.2. The maturing process undergone by international cooperation in the field of
population and development has accentuated a number of difficulties and shortcomings that
need to be addressed. For instance, the expanding number and configuration of development
partners subjects both recipients and donors to increasing pressures to decide among a
multitude of competing development priorities, a task which recipient Governments in
particular may find exceedingly difficult to carry out. Lack of adequate financial
resources and effective coordination mechanisms have been found to result in unnecessary
duplication of efforts and lack of programme congruency. Sudden shifts in the development
policies of donors may cause disruptions of programme activities across the world.
Re-establishing and adhering to national priorities requires a new clarification of, and
commitment to, reciprocal responsibilities among development partners.
Objectives
14.3. The objectives are:
(a) To ensure that international cooperation in the area of population and development
is consistent with national population and development priorities centred on the
well-being of intended beneficiaries and serves to promote national capacity-building and
self-reliance;
(b) To urge that the international community adopt favourable macroeconomic policies
for promoting sustained economic growth and sustainable development in developing
countries;
(c) To clarify the reciprocal responsibilities of development partners and improve
coordination of their efforts;
(d) To develop long-term joint programmes between recipient countries and between
recipient and donor countries;
(e) To improve and strengthen policy dialogue and coordination of population and
development programmes and activities at the international level, including bilateral and
multilateral agencies;
(f) To urge that all population and development programmes, with full respect for the
various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of each country's people,
adhere to basic human rights recognized by the international community and recalled in the
present Programme of Action.
Actions
14.4. At the programme level, national capacity-building for population and development
and transfer of appropriate technology and know-how to developing countries, including
countries with economies in transition, must be core objectives and central activities for
international cooperation. In this respect, important elements are to find accessible ways
to meet the large commodity needs, of family-planning programmes, through the local
production of contraceptives of assured quality and affordability, for which technology
cooperation, joint ventures and other forms of technical assistance should be encouraged.
14.5. The international community should promote a supportive economic environment by
adopting favourable macroeconomic policies for promoting sustained economic growth and
development.
14.6. Governments should ensure that national development plans take note of
anticipated international funding and cooperation in their population and development
programmes, including loans from international financial institutions, particularly with
respect to national capacity-building, technology cooperation and transfer of appropriate
technology, which should be provided on favourable terms, including on concessional and
preferential terms, as mutually agreed, taking into account the need to protect
international property rights, as well as the special needs of developing countries.
14.7. Recipient Governments should strengthen their national coordination mechanisms
for international cooperation in population and development, and in consultations with
donors clarify the responsibilities assigned to various types of development partners,
including intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations, based on
careful consideration of their comparative advantages in the context of national
development priorities and of their ability to interact with national development
partners. The international community should assist recipient Governments to undertake
these coordinating efforts.
B. Towards a new commitment to funding population and development
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Basis for action
14.8. There is a strong consensus on the need to mobilize significant additional
financial resources from both the international community and within developing countries
and countries with economies in transition for national population programmes in support
of sustainable development. The Amsterdam Declaration on a Better Life for Future
Generations, adopted at the International Forum on Population in the Twenty-first Century,
held at Amsterdam in 1989, called on Governments to double the total global expenditures
in population programmes and on donors to increase substantially their contribution, in
order to meet the needs of millions of people in developing countries in the fields of
family planning and other population activities by the year 2000. However, since then,
international resources for population activities have come under severe pressure, owing
to the prolonged economic recession in traditional donor countries. Also, developing
countries face increasing difficulties in allocating sufficient funds for their population
and related programmes. Additional resources are urgently required to better identify and
satisfy unmet needs in issues related to population and development, such as reproductive
health care, including family-planning and sexual health information and services, as well
as to respond to future increases in demand, to keep pace with the growing demands that
need to be served, and to improve the scope and quality of programmes.
14.9. To assist the implementation of population and reproductive health care,
including family-planning and sexual health programmes, financial and technical assistance
from bilateral and multilateral agencies have been provided to the national and
subnational agencies involved. As some of these began to be successful, it became
desirable for countries to learn from one another's experiences, through a number of
different modalities (e.g., long- and short- term training programmes, observation study
tours and consultant services).
Objectives
14.10. The objectives are:
(a) To increase substantially the availability of international financial assistance in
the field of population and development in order to enable developing countries and
countries with economies in transition to achieve the goals of the present Programme of
Action as they pursue their self-reliant and capacity-building efforts;
(b) To increase the commitment to, and the stability of, international financial
assistance in the field of population and development by diversifying the sources of
contributions, while striving to avoid as far as possible a reduction in the resources for
other development areas. Additional resources should be made available for short-term
assistance to the countries with economies in transition;
(c) To increase international financial assistance to direct South-South cooperation
and to facilitate financing procedures for direct South-South cooperation.
Actions
14.11. The international community should strive for the fulfilment of the agreed
target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product for overall official development
assistance and endeavour to increase the share of funding for population and development
programmes commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the
objectives and goals of the present Programme of Action. A crucially urgent challenge to
the international donor community is therefore the translation of their commitment to the
objectives and quantitative goals of the present Programme of Action into commensurate
financial contributions to population programmes in developing countries and countries
with economies in transition. Given the magnitude of the financial resource needs for
national population and development programmes (as identified in chapter XIII), and
assuming that recipient countries will be able to generate sufficient increases in
domestically generated resources, the need for complementary resource flows from donor
countries would be in the order of (in 1993 US dollars): $5.7 billion in 2000; $6.1
billion in 2005; $6.8 billion in 2010; and $7.2 billion in 2015. The international
community takes note of the initiative to mobilize resources to give all people access to
basic social services, known as the 20/20 initiative, which will be studied further in the
context of the World Summit for Social Development.
14.12. Recipient countries should ensure that international assistance for population
and development activities is used effectively to meet national population and development
objectives so as to assist donors to secure commitment to further resources for
programmes.
14.13. The United Nations Population Fund, other United Nations organizations,
multilateral financial institutions, regional banks and bilateral financial sources are
invited to consult, with a view to coordinating their financing policies and planning
procedures to improve the impact, complementarity and cost-effectiveness of their
contributions to the achievement of the population programmes of the developing countries
and countries with economies in transition.
14.14. Criteria for allocation of external financial resources for population
activities in developing countries should include:
(a) Coherent national programmes, plans and strategies on population and development;
(b) The recognized priority to the least developed countries;
(c) The need to complement national financial efforts on population;
(d) The need to avoid obstacles to, or reversal of, progress achieved thus far;
(e) Problems of significant social sectors and areas that are not reflected in national
average indicators.
14.15. Countries with economies in transition should receive temporary assistance for
population and development activities in the light of the difficult economic and social
problems these countries face at present.
14.16. In devising the appropriate balance between funding sources, more attention
should be given to South-South cooperation as well as to new ways of mobilizing private
contributions, particularly in partnership with non-governmental organizations. The
international community should urge donor agencies to improve and modify their funding
procedures in order to facilitate and give higher priority to supporting direct
South-South collaborative arrangements.
14.17. Innovative financing, including new ways of generating public and private
financing resources and various forms of debt relief should be explored.
14.18. International financial institutions are encouraged to increase their financial
assistance, particularly in population and reproductive health, including family planning
and sexual health care.
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