On 7th July, a World Population Day special symposium was held at the Japan Press Center, Tokyo, organized by JOICFP, and Council on Population Education (CPE) and others, supported by UNFPA, under the theme of "Women and Health and Development." The symposium also commemorated the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the UN, and included a presentation ceremony for the recipients of the Kato Award 2005.

In an opening address on behalf of Yasushi Akashi, Former Under-secretary General, UN, and President, CPE, Michio Ozaki, Director, CPE, said that although the rate of world population increase was slowing there would still be another three billion people on the planet by 2050, giving a total of 9.1 billion. This would cause problems in living standards for everyone.

In addition, birth rates in developed countries are low and aging populations raise other problems. However, India and China, he said, will soon face population transition as the typical pyramid structure of population starts to invert.

The audience
at the World Population Day Special Symposium

Safiye Cagar, Director, IERD, UNFPA, delivered an address on behalf of Thoraya Obaid, Executive Direcutor, UNFPA by saying that in 1945, the UN had established conditions for dignity and the improvement of life. The current attention to reducing poverty and discrimination were central to human rights, she said.

Speaking about gender inequity, she explained that the solution was to involve men in efforts to raise equality and universal access to education, and that laws and policies must actually be implemented as equality was the cornerstone of development, needing concrete and continuous action.

Cagar: men must be involved in raising gender equity

Cagar was followed by UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Yuko Arimori, who gave an outline of her visit to Africa in March 2005. Details of her visit can be found here.

Panel discussion

In a panel discussion coordinated by Ozaki, Kiyoko Ikegami, Director, UNFPA Tokyo Office, explained the paradigm introduced by ICPD in Cairo in 1994: the acceptance of the individual approach to population; RH as a basic right; and the establishment of quantifiable health goals.

She went on to talk about the current world RH situation, from the viewpoints of RH being a lifelong concern, the financial shortfall in RH commitments by developed countries, and the ignorance and confusion in political and medical circles on the matter.

She finished with a presentation on the MDGs, focusing on life expectancy, MMR/CMR, and rates of HIV/AIDS in selected countries, stating that although rates were improving in some countries, the situation was worsening in Africa, leading to greater disparity among countries.

Journalist Mieko Takenobu spoke about the 49th special session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), held in New York in March 2005, marking the tenth anniversary of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September 1995.

She said that some conservative parties had tried to avoid discussion of RH by focusing on issues such as abortion and gay marriage, and that although the Beijing Platform of Action mentioned the need to lower induced abortion rates, there was now no mention of this. Takenobu cited an American historian's view that the US Republican party had adopted the issue of abortion to marginalize women in speaking up on issues as women are more interested in social and welfare issues, which are expensive for the government.

Takenobu then expressed her fears about Japan, where conservative forces are fighting against gender equality and sex education in schools, partly in reaction to the low birth rate. She explained that the real reason the birth rate was low was that women had a negative image of home making and raising children in a patriarchal society.

Dr. Seiichi Matsumoto, President, Japan Family Planning Association, reviewed RH indicators in post-war Japan, noting that MMR/CMR had rapidly fallen then, but that now in many parts of the world this was not happening. He continued by focusing on Japanese adolescents, saying that abortion and rates of STI infection, including HIV/AIDS, were rising.

He also looked at other adolescent issues such as rising teenage delinquency and its links to contemporary family life and values.

(from left) Ozaki, Ikegami, Matsumoto
and Takenobu during the panel discussion

Congratulating the symposium on its success, Cagar also thanked the Japanese government for its support in achieving the MDGs, and for the five billion dollars pledged to its new Health and Development Initiative. She said UNFPA hoped that Japan would continue its strong support and remain a partner in the years to come.