With examples justify why population

policy a dynamic process.

TABLE OF CONTENT

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Definition of key terms

1.1.1 Population

1.1.2 Policy

1.1.3 Population policy

1.1.4 Types of population policy

1.1.5 Population dynamic

TABLE OF CONTENT CONT…..

2.0 MAIN BODY

2. 1 Phases of population policy

2.2 Factors for reviewing population policies

• Population dynamic

• Migration

• Mortality

• Poverty

• Rapid population growth conflicts with resources

• Imbalance of social services

TABLE OF CONTENT CONT….

• Development of science and technology

• Influence from international population forums

• Achieving sustainable development and environmental

sustainability

• Population and diseases

• 3.0 CONCLUSION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

• Population is the total number of people living in a specific geographic area

at a specific time.

• Policy is a set of principles that guide a regular course of action.

Population policy is a set of measures taken by a state to modify the way

its population is changing. By Changing it means trying to increase its size

by promoting immigration or by trying to decrease its size.

There are two types of population policy which are as follows

INTRODUCTION CONT…..

• DIRECT/EXPLICIT

They are government actions taken for the purpose of affecting a

demographic out come. Example migration laws, if a country realizes there

is high influx of population from other countries laws are put to control

migration.

• INDIRECT/IMPLICIT

They are government actions that only indirectly have some demographic

effects. Example promoting female education which at the end they

become conscious in controlling population growth.

INTRODUCTION CONT…..

• Population dynamic is that branch of life sciences that studies short-term

and long-term changes in the size and age composition of populations and

the biological and environmental processes influencing those changes.

Population dynamic deal with the way population is affected by birth and

death rates by immigrations and emigration and studies topics such as

ageing population or population decline.

2.0 MAIN BODY

2.1 PHASES OF POPULATION POLICY

The evolution of population policies can be divided into five phases

meaning that in every phase there are changes to be made so as to enable

effective adjustment of the population growth

• The 25-year period following the establishment of the United Nations

(1945-1970)

During the first decades following the establishment of the United

Nations, population and development were only beginning to emerge as

concerns of the international community.

Phases cont…….

Demographic data were generally lacking or deficient, as many countries

had never conducted a census. Thus, knowledge of global population trends

was limited, while the relationship between rapid population growth and

economic development was only beginning to be explored.

Phases cont…..

• The decade of the 1974 World Population Conference in Bucharest (1970-

1980)

By the end of the 1960s, concern was growing in the United States and

Europe about population increases in developing countries and the strains

placed on resources. For example, a bill was introduced in the United

States Congress in 1967 to appropriate funds to support voluntary family

planning programs in friendly foreign nations.

Phases cont…..

• The decade of the 1984 International Conference on Population in Mexico

City (1980-1990)

By the early 1980s, world population growth had declined appreciably,

despite the unfavorable economic conditions prevailing at that time. Ten

years after the Bucharest conference, at the International Conference on

Population in Mexico City in 1984, Government representatives again

debated questions of population and family planning. Four expert group

meetings and five regional meetings preceded and prepared for the

conference in Mexico City.

Phases cont…..

The two main objectives of the conference were to review and appraise the

WPPA (World Population Plan of Action) and to make recommendations

for the further implementation of the Plan. The development of population

policies and programs and the expansion of international cooperation and

assistance were at the top of the agenda.

• The decade of the 1994 International Conference on Population and

Development (ICPD) in Cairo (1990-2000)

Phases cont…….

The final major global United Nations population conference of the

twentieth century, the International Conference on Population and

Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994, produced the Program of

Action.

Phases cont….

• The beginning of the 21st century.

Since the International Conference on Population and Development,

considerable progress has been achieved in many countries in

implementing the objectives of the Program of Action. A review and

appraisal of this progress undertaken by the United Nations five years after

the ICPD found that reproductive health program had been established in

many countries, with rising contraceptive use among couples indicating

greater accessibility to family planning and more freedom to choose the

number and spacing of the children they desired

2.2 Factors for reviewing population

policies

• Population dynamic. Population policy gives implications of recent causes

and consequences of changing population size and composition, therefore

as the size and composition of the population changes there is a need to

adapt new policies in order to meet the demands of a population. (Getis,

2008: 179).

Factors cont…..

• Migration. A systematic shift from rural to urban, one nation to another

nation and continent to continent is another significant feature of increasing

populations. Like migration, it is not necessarily a negative phenomenon.

But problems arise when urbanization occurs so rapidly that local

governments are unable to provide necessary public services, such as

adequate housing and sanitation, and when there are not enough jobs to

absorb all those who move to the cities.

Factors cont….

• Mortality. Occurrence of deaths also influences population policies to be

reviewed. These involves maternal mortality and infant mortality which

made Tanzania and other developing countries to provide free health

services for pregnant women and children below five years old. An

estimated 585,000 women die each year from causes that are related to

pregnancy, and 99 percent of these largely unnecessary deaths occur in

developing countries. In 1987 an international conference in Nairobi

produced the Safe Motherhood Initiative as a policy response to the

problem of high maternal mortality in developing countries.

Factors cont…..

• Development of Science and technology. Science and technology in other

side is probably the most daunting challenge that humanity has ever faced

in terms of population increase since mortality has greatly decline due to

better health care and food supply. Most of the developing countries such

as Tanzania has greatly experienced such changes of technology hence

population policies should be reviewed in order to sustaining our future and

become free from population growth and urbanization problems.

Factors cont……

• Influence from international forums. The international forums have

greatly influenced the population policy among the third world countries

since most of this sub Saharan countries highly depend upon the outside

policies. The United Nations established in 1945 gathered demographic

statistics from countries and exchanged views on population issues, from

that time several international forums seen to appear over time discuss and

encourage other nations to mobilize population. In mobilization of

population the forums conducted aimed at solving different population

problems hence making the population policies to change over time.

Factors cont……

• Population and diseases. as the population increases the chance of

outbreak of diseases such as cholera cannot be avoided within the

population. The aspect of population and diseases calls upon the

government to revive the population policies so that it may meet the needs

and the demand of the health of a given population and how to control the

occurrence of the outbreak of such diseases. The policy should advocate

ways of prevention against the diseases together with mass education to the

people. So the population policies try to change over time so as to control

the diseases or to improve the general health of a given population

(Bradford, 1977: 256).

Factors cont……

• sustainable development and environmental sustainability. This is

another reason which may lead to the reviewing of population policy

whereby the government is trying to create every means on how to deal

with the population of the area and the environment surrounding that

population by ensuring sustainable use of the resources. Here we consider

the level and scale of sustainability that is to say maximizing outputs

without causing irreversible decline in the condition of a specified resource

therefore through achieving these objectives the government has to revive

the population policy (Harrison, 1989: 413).

Factors cont

• Poverty. Poverty is a cause of high fertility rate likewise high fertility is a

cause of poverty within a population. Due to this tremendous increase there

is a need to review population policy so as to overcome this situation of

rapid increase of people. The policy should stress the need of individual to

have a family that will go hand in hand with the carrying capacity of the

world. Take an example in china with its population policy of one child

which assures each family within the country to have a better and

sustainable life. Also, In 1980 Mexico introduced policy known as Sistema

Almentario Mexicano aimed to solve the problem of rural poverty in many

areas of the country (Slater, 1986: 120).

Factors cont……

• Rapid population growth and conflicts over resources. Population

growth in relation to natural resources cannot be separated. From this point

of view when the growth is very high it means that the resources will run

short meaning would not be able to sustain the whole population. A review

of the policy is very important so as to address on the importance of this

resource and why and how they should be utilized. The reviewed policies

should indicate the task of government to invest in human resources by

educating the mass on issues pertaining resource. The means of mass

education can be through television ,radio and newspapers so that

awareness is risen hence reduce of conflicts among the people (Davis,

1971: 34).

Factors cont……

• Imbalance of social services. The social services referred here include

health care, education, electricity and water supply. Imbalance of this

services leads to social misery and suffering among the people within the

society and nation at large. The cause of this misery is a result of improper

population checks as stated by Malthus. With this there is a need to review

the policies so as to make sure that there is a balance between population

and the available services provided something that Malthus was

emphasizing upon (Davis, 1971: 87).

3.0 CONCLUSION

Policy measures aimed at shaping the composition, size, and growth of national

populations inevitably have an impact on women’s reproductive health and decision-

making. Therefore, governments must approach these measures with a clear commitment

to women’s reproductive rights. Such a commitment can be demonstrated in a national

constitutional guarantee of individual reproductive decision-making. In addition,

population policies themselves should not only meet human rights standards, but should

also embrace human rights principles, particularly those articulated in the ICPD Program

of Action. Finally, even where population policies explicitly embrace demographic

goals, they should target strategies that improve women’s status and health.