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.