Mexico City Population Conference

1. Mexico City Population Conference • August 1984 • Preceded by draft Recommendations, which were revised and accepted in final form • Declaration on Population and Development drafted at Conference

2. Declaration -1 • 1. Reaffirmed validity of 1974 World Population Plan of Action • 2. Recognized progress in human welfare, but also problems - especially stagnation in economic growth and increase in number of people living in absolute poverty • 3. Economic difficulties and problems of resource mobilization in developing countries

3. Declaration - 2 • 4. Population growth, high mortality and morbidity, and migration problems causes of great concern • 5. Confirmed principal aim of social, economic, and human development, of which population goals and policies are integral part

4. Declaration - 3 • 6. Global growth rate declined from 2.03 to 1.67 % per year • 7. Demographic differences between developed and developing countries remain striking • 8. Population issues recognized as fundamental element in development planning

5. Declaration - 4 • 9. Population policies - good experience in previous 10 years • 10. Population and development policies reinforce each other when they are responsive to individual, family, and community needs • 11. Improving the status of women and enhancing their role is an important goal in itself and will influence family life positively

6. Declaration - 5 • 12-14. Family planning • 15. Maternal and child health • 16. Aging • 17. Urbanization • 18. Migration • 19-21. Role of governments, NGO’s • 22. Close interrelationship of population and economic and social development

7. Focus • Much of the focus was, therefore, on economic development • Lip service was paid to status of women, but most attention to women was through family planning and maternal and child health • How did this come about?

8. Attitudes of developing countries • No longer thought of international population assistance as racist, genocidal, or imperialistic • No longer accused Western nations of advocating population control as a substitute for foreign aid

9. Attitudes of developing countries-2 • Recognized that problems of rapid population growth, infant and child mortality, urbanization, and migration must be addressed • -- with or without transformation in the world economy

10. The US position • The conference was dominated by conflict over the US position • This position was at variance with the draft Recommendations -- which had been drafted only a few months earlier with active US participation

11. US position on population • “Population growth is, of itself, a neutral phenomenon” • developing countries experiencing population pressures should reduce government interference in their economies in order to promote economic growth and thereby reduce fertility

12. US position on abortion • Much more restrictive than previously • Previous position: US funds could not be used for direct support of abortion-related activities • ADDED: they should be withheld from organizations using other resources for these purposes

13. Economics • At Bucharest in 1974: US offended by Third World introduction of North-South economic issues • At Mexico City in 1984: US took the opportunity to advance its own political views • BUT - developing countries had much greater influence on Plan in 1974 than US did in 1984

14. Changing economics • Between 1974 and 1984, developing countries had government changes toward more pragmatic and market-oriented development -- e.g. China, India, Mexico, Algeria • Many LDC’s highly in debt to MDC’s - making them more cautious in international politics

15. Changing outlook toward population • By 1984, most LDC’s believed it was in their interest to reduce fertility and address population issues as part of their development strategy • China, sub-Saharan Africa -- had changed their 1974 views that population was unimportant

16. Conference preparation • UN wanted to avoid reopening the Bucharest debate or jeopardizing gains achieved there • The framework of the conference was to develop further that agreement • Wanted scientific and technical basis for the recommendations

17. Preliminary meetings • UN Population Division held a series of specialized meetings • -- fertility and family • -- population distribution, migration, development • -- population, resources, environment and development • -- mortality and health policy

18. Other meetings • UN Regional Economic Commissions sponsored inter-governmental meetings • Preparatory Committee -- enlarged special session of the UN Population Commission • --met twice early in 1984 -- to review draft Recommendations and try to settle as many issues as possible prior to the Conference itself

19. Conference location • Mexico City is so close to the US that there was a much larger contingent of American journalists, academics, lobbyists, and Congressmen and their staffs than had been possible in Bucharest • Therefore, the debate over the changed US position took place with a great deal of US involvement

20. US role in population • Delegates recognized that US government, for better or worse, had been the single most important source of leadership and resources for international population programs • AID had largest population assistance program of any donor • large staff - 60 in Washington, advisors in more than 40 countries; support to over 90

21. US position on population, development, family planning • Fundamental change in assessment of consequences of rapid population growth and appropriate policy responses • “The relationship between population growth and economic development is not necessarily a negative one” • “governmental control of economies” had caused population growth to change from an “asset” to a “peril”

22. US position - 2 • “Population control programs alone cannot substitute for the economic reforms that put a society on the road twoard growth and, as an aftereffect, toward slower population increase as well” • There was no global population crisis that requires drastic forms of intervention by governments

23. US position - 3 • Repudiated “demographic overreaction of the 1960’s and 1970’s” • By so doing, implicitly repudiated the high level of commitment and resources devoted to population programs in those years by US Agency for International Development • Argued for a more optimistic assessment of the global population and economic situation

24. US position - 4 • Reaffirmed longstanding US policy that family planning programs must be purely voluntary • US would not give population assistance to or through any international or non-governmental organization that supports abortion or coercive family planning programs - or any sort of coercian to achieve population growth objectives

25. Results of US position • US halted AID support to International Planned Parenthood Federation • US has been in arrears in UN funding - holding it hostage to abortion and other views • Recommendations incorporate optimistic outlook of the Reagan administration on social and economic accomplishments and prospects of the LDC’s.

26. Position on abortion • US delegation was headed by James Buckley, selected largely for his views on abortion and acceptability to right-to-life groups • Official US policy statement: the US “does not consider abortion an acceptable element of family planning programs” • To keep consensus, did NOT introduce this as an amendment to the recommendations

27. Other views on abortion • Vatican: proposed that abortion be “excluded” as a method of family planning • Compromise: abortion “in no case should be promoted as a method of family planning” • US supported this. Sweden presented formal reservation. • What does “promoted” mean? - interpreted differently by different countries

28. US position on status of women • US, despite earlier support, made no mention of this theme in its policy statement • Consistent with views of right-to-life movement and New Right re traditional view of family and role of women in society • Reagan administration facing an election - could not afford to be seen as opposing efforts to enhance status of women - concerned about gender gap in voting

29. US vote on status of women • US delegation ultimately endorsed a proposal to strengthen the language dealing with women • There is a separate section near the beginning of the recommendations on the status of women

30. Attitude of US delegation • Many delegates from other countries expressed disappointment at the overall lack of knowledge and expertise concerning population and development problems of the Third World among US delegates • They thought selection of delegates was totally politically determined • annoyed by didactic tone adopted by some US delegates

31. US opposition • US scientists argued need for safe, legal abortion as backup to contraceptives fail • Gallup Survey just weeks before conference indicated strong support for family planning assistance to LDCs and rejection of tying family planning assistance to others’ policies on abortion • Six members of Congress came on their own and held dissatisfaction press conference

32. Why? • Reagan elected in 1980 • needed continuing conservative support • had followed earlier administrations in support for reduction of population growth • 1984 election loomed: Selected delegation for political, not population, expertise • Coalition of right-to-life, New Right • targeted AID’s population program- met promises to this group

33. What happened? • Other governments truly disappointed in US • They continued to support population growth reduction • US isolated in that regard - still powerful • Increased activism - probably led to focus on women at the 1994 conference