Population
   How can population growth and resources be brought into balance? [Challenge 3]

• Africa
• Asia and Oceania
• Europe
• Latin America
• North America

• Africa
• Asia and Oceania
• Europe
• Latin America
• North America

• Africa
• Asia and Oceania
• Europe
• Latin America
• North America

AFRICA
Africa, with an average completed fertility rate exceeding five children per woman, has grown the fastest among the regions. There are almost three times as many Africans alive today, 767 million, as there were in 1960. Africa’s share of global population was projected to rise from 9% in 1960 to 20%  in 2050. But the continued spread of HIV/AID this 3% annual population grown could reverse and the population could actually reduce over the next 50 years, unless sexual behavior changes.

Coupled with poor management of water and other natural resources, and with policy and institutional failures, previous high population growth has exacerbated the plight of many Africans. Africa’s agricultural sector remains unable to generate a steady and inexpensive source of food for urban populations. Indeed, much of sub-Sahara’s food supply is imported. Its urban centers remain small by international standards, and they have not provided the human capital necessary to fuel industrial expansion.

Community-based natural resource management practices, security of land tenure, and changes of sexual behavior to prevent AIDS are necessary to balance the use of natural resource and population…. Family planning is a crucial factor in North Africa.

In Southern Africa many men in rural areas have too many children, because they work in other areas of the country and do not live with them. For example, a man begins a family in one region and later moves to another region for work and starts another family there. Every now and then, men go back for 'vacations' to the first family. The average completed fertility rate for black South African women is seven.

To some degree, strategies for dealing with HIV and AIDS are in conflict with strategies that are designed to improve health and family planning. Scare techniques are used to combat HIV and AIDS, and these approaches do not work well for family planning. Both approaches use condoms but the messages are often counter to each other.

It has been said in other regions, "development is the best contraceptive". But the situation in the Sub-Sahara region is so serious and poverty is so endemic that development is not a near-term option. The difficulty is that the world sees successes elsewhere and believes that the same policies will work in Africa.  In short, the world expresses the opinion that "they will grow out of it." However, resources are not there and the people of Sub-Saharan Africa are trapped. The donor community believes in the philosophy, "help thyself" and often follows policies based on this belief. Yet, successes elsewhere do not transfer well to this region.

Foreign assistance is often diverted through corruption. This region feels the legacy of the Cold War when both the Russians and the Americans were in effect bribing the leaders of these countries with expensive programs in order to have their allegiance.

Africa was an experimental ground for developmental economists who believed that money could solve all the problems. A set of policies or a policy structure is needed for change. The policies may include changing laws, family planning, avoiding over-taxation, and rationalization of import export policy.  Power structures within this region also turn good plans into ineffective plans.  If, for example, governments do not understand that improving the literacy and education of girls is important, it does not matter how many programs are instituted; it will not get done. Belief, not lip service, at the top level is required.

There is now a general belief that the international donor community was wrong in focusing on macro-development. Instead, the focus should be to empower at the grassroots level, as many of the NGOs have advocated. It is not top-down any longer. Big capital projects have to give way to projects that are broadly supported by local decisionmakers.

Information technology makes a big difference if it is available at the local level. Expensive satellite transceivers use radio frequencies to download information that is used for local training programs. They provide lectures and practical programs that speak to, for example, agricultural workers. Sometimes the courses are generated locally.

The focus is changing. The method to accomplish objectives is the building of local networks. We still use policy analysis, but networks make information available and become important in implementing policy.  There are important trade-offs to be made, and local networks appear to understand what is involved better than top-down methods. For example, maternal deaths can be lowered through the use of emergency obstetrics care, but this is very costly and capital intensive. How much is the life of a mother who would have otherwise died worth?  Again, take the marginal cost of eliminating polio vs. diphtheria. There are only a relatively few cases of polio and cost of eradicating the disease is very high.  Pursuing diphtheria is less costly and may have more immediate effects for more people.  Local groups understand this kind of trade-off.
 

ASIA and OCEANIA
Population control in China is successful, but the conflict between population increases and available resources is a crucial problem for economic development and social progress….  Intensive land use is contributing to widespread erosion and desertification in northwestern China, intensifying yearly dust storms and leading to food shortages and mass migrations, writes Lester Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute. He said Chinese leaders have "more or less" accepted that the country may no longer be able to feed itself. As food production in China falls, western Chinese populations could embark on a massive migration toward eastern cities.
Brown said the food needs of China's 1.3 billion people are partly responsible for the "ecological disaster," but he also denounced a Beijing policy under which northwestern provinces such as Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang plow new land to offset land used for construction in growing coastal provinces. Overplowing leads to more wind erosion, Brown said, while burgeoning livestock populations -- no longer controlled after 1978 economic reforms -- denude the land of vegetation. . (Earth Policy Institute Alert 2001-2).

This is the most urgent problem for China…. The size of China's population is very large and the growth rate is relatively high, even with the adoption of a strict policy of "family planning". According to scientific estimation, the population will reach its highest number at approximately 1.5 billion in 2030. Compared to this, the natural resources per capita are limited and are gradually decreasing, especially arable land and fresh water. Therefore, only the further slow down of population growth and the conservation of the limited natural resources can alleviate this conflict and gradually reach a balance between the two.

Education is the most important factor in addressing the conflict. Not merely formal education in schools and universities, but also ethical education and popularization of scientific knowledge to all people. Education should reach citizens and be recognized as important. At present, China’s educational system is far from perfect. There are many children unable to go to school due to economic conditions. "Hope Project" and "Candle Project" are measures for addressing this problem. Apart from this, popularization of scientific knowledge and ethics cannot accommodate the demands of social and economic development because of the lapses of educational development in the past.

Appropriate actions for China are partnerships with international organizations, and participating in agreements and treaties.  China should also enforce or modify existing laws and regulations and improve planning, accounting and forecasting, and at the same time, create educational programs, modify institutions, infrastructure, and priorities, and initiate new institutions, projects, and programs.

The focus in Singapore is to reduce unemployment and increase income…. Overpopulation especially in the six largest cities is a major problem for Korea. Seoul is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

The traditional notion of preferring a son to a daughter in much of Asia alters the normal sex ratio.

The median age in Japan is 40 and the population growth has fallen to zero or below. Japanese annual birth rates fell to 1.39 in 1997 from 4.54 in 1947. If this continues, Japan’s population will fall to 60.5 million by 2080 down from the current approximately 130 million. Demographers estimate that Japan will have the highest percentage of people over the age of 65 in the world within five years if current patterns continue; by 2050, the median age will rise to 49.

Highly educated and working women prefer to be single.  The average middle class couple cannot afford the high costs of childbearing and education in a very competitive society…. If current trends continue, by 2080 Japan’s population will be half of what it is today. Japanese married couples need to be encouraged to give birth to two or more children; if not the population will be dramatically reduced over the next century. Therefore, the government is considering financial incentives to couples that give birth to a child…. Japan should decide what is the optimal population for its situation.

In his address to the UN Millennium Summit, Tran Duc Luong, President of Vietnam said:  “Agricultural development has been considered as a front of paramount importance, and as a result the nation has been able to maintain food security and increase its food export with every passing year. From a country with high population growth (over 2.3% a year) for a long time, Viet Nam has reduced this rate to 1.7%, thanks to effective government policies and assistance by UN specialized agencies as well as other donors. Our achievements in these and the national program in poverty alleviation have been appreciated by the United Nations. The ratio of poor households by Vietnamese standards has dropped from 30% in 1992 to 13% in 1999.” Hence, focused policies in cooperation with international agencies can make a difference in poorer regions.

On May 11, 2000 India officially reached a population of one billion to become the world's second gigapopulation after China. The UN Population Fund estimates India reached one billion in August 1999. Previously India was predicted to surpass China's population by 2050 at 1.6 billion; however, the UNFPA suggests the date will more likely be 2040. In 1951, India was the first developing nation to initiate a family planning program. The rate of growth of the population is declining, currently at 1.5% or 15m/an. The prospect that over the next few decades, fertility rates will drop from the current 3.5 births per woman today to the 2.1 required for zero population growth, is remote, considering the low baseline of education and literacy. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 50% of India's adults are illiterate, 50% of its children undernourished and 33% of its people live below the poverty line. Surprisingly, fertility rates remain the highest in the north, particularly in the city of Delhi (13 million) where slums are expanding rapidly and by 2001, 57% of the residents could be without water, 41% without sewers and 40% without power.

The prospect of acute water shortages, famine, and disease is significant. India has benefited from sophisticated famine prevention strategies as well as rapid increases in agricultural productivity during the first and second Green Revolutions. However, productivity per hectare now appears to have reached a plateau, and water availability is a key constraint. Also, it is claimed that India has already fully cultivated and irrigated its grain-growing areas. Thus technological solutions such as large hydro projects, e.g. Narmada, and the introduction of high-yielding drought-resistant GM crop varieties are given greater consideration, particularly in the absence of adequate funding for education, opportunities for women, family planning programs, and universal elderly pension schemes.

India’s population growth is alarmingly high and outstripping its natural resources. Although its natural resources are still quite rich, India has not effectively used the agriculture base…. India’s per capita land is less than China’s. Villages must be trained in adopting improved technology in agriculture. Agriculture colleges must be started in each district to inculcate basic knowledge to agriculturists as do Indian engineering schools.

In India we will have to concentrate on the use of renewable sources of energy and exercise conservation. A unique perspective is needed to incorporate sustainability concepts to a wide base of population and at the same time desegregate the concepts in localized terms. If not, general treatment in aggregate terms does not evoke public cooperation. Long-term protection of water resources is possible only if the local population understands the risks associated with unsustainable practices and they are using effective conservation practices for using the available water. This is true of all issues relating to sustainability of forest cover, soil cover, energy, etc.

For Pakistan to balance its population and resources it must stress family planning and political reforms, so as to create an equitable, egalitarian, and democratic system for national economic development and international trade.  Achieving this balance is essential for poverty alleviation in Pakistan.

Some countries in Asia, such as Malaysia, are actively encouraging indigenous populations to have more babies in order to preserve majority status.

In the Near East, the population growth will have an adverse effect on development by destroying resources, creating poverty, and increasing food imports. Priorities in addressing these problems should include population control, education regarding the consequences of population growth, general planning for a better economic condition, accurate statistics for proper planning, regional cooperation for planning, increasing public formal education, restriction by law of child employment, and research to understand the factors affecting planned population growth.

Arab countries have young populations. Nearly 60% of all Arabs are under 25 years old. Palestine has the world’s fastest-growing population; 70% under the age of 25. Between 1990 and 1995, the population of the Gaza Strip grew by 7% a year. At that rate, the number of Gazans will double in a little over ten years. Yemen grew by over 5% annually over the same period, Jordan by over 4%, and only two Arab countries (Morocco and Tunisia) by less than 2%. How will entrepreneurial spirit stimulate enough growth to provide sufficient jobs? Almost half of Algerians aged 20 to 24 are unemployed.

The general view of water management in Australia and the Pacific Island States is that technological solutions related to better rain collection systems and water treatment for the arid and inland regions of Australia, and the possible development of desalinization plants in the Island States, offer a solution to future problems.

Australia has had a very high consumption rate paid for by selling off natural assets. Immigration, not birth rates, will determine Australia’s future population
 

EUROPE
There is no population growth in Europe. The problems of balancing population and resources include consumption, aging, significant population decline over the next 25 years, and social conflict with immigrants. Future benefits for an aging population will be difficult to provide, although information work for the elderly could help.

The EU has taken a leading international role in executing the UN summits decisions on development. The Nordic countries have good expertise for consulting in other regions with problems.

When the 20 ex-Eastern bloc states along the EU Eastern border, and populations beyond them all decide that they will "go West", then Western Europe as we know it today will have human compression dynamics on its hands. The same logic goes for a South-North move across the Mediterranean, and probably so for other parts of the world which I "feel" much less.

In Western Europe there is not a major problem between population growth and resources because the birth rate in most EU countries is well balanced. Thus, the focus can be on other issues that result in the migration of populations across the continent.  For example, the recent conflict in Kosovo has resulted in the significant flow of refugees into several countries.   This has a slightly destabilizing influence on social policy, housing provisions, education and other related factors within the national economies.

Resource availability within Europe and recycling capacities are central issues, however, with various national differences.... The EU has taken a leading international role in executing the UN summits decisions on development.... The Nordic countries have good expertise for consulting other regions with problems.... Wealth is the best contraceptive.

Europe has a preoccupation with the development of birth control policies mainly directed at female adolescents. ... There are sub-regional disparities in birth rate and longevity.

Because population growth in other regions is directly related to education and satisfaction of basic needs, Europe exerts indirect influence on population growth and migration in other regions.  The balance between population and resources is a problem of distribution, not production, and, therefore, first of all a political problem.  It is in the hands of the rich and powerful countries (OECD and G7) to solve it.

As a whole, the population is no longer growing. Rather, it is the contrary, though some individual countries differ. It remains to be seen if migration, such as in France, Germany and Italy, can change this situation.

Population is declining and aging rather than growing. Because of the aging of the population, automation and technological development towards an information society and service economy is needed. In some areas within Europe, there are cultural groups of people among whom the population growth is still strong or the migration keeps the population cohort growing while the other cultural cohorts are declining or not growing. The societies in Europe may become more and more composed of human realities strange to each other and the cultural tolerance may become stressed in the lack of multi-cultural competence in living and politics. For example, Finland is one of the most monocultural nations of the world as demonstrated by its uniform ethnic origin, religion, language (with only a small well-adapted Swedish speaking minority), history, values, high standard of living, democracy, and equality of women in society.  We all have reasons to consider how to learn to constructively and creatively meet other realities strange to us.

We can address this challenge with less urbanization (also in medium-sized towns), more water control, limits to the building of houses and highways, and by supporting railway transport, as is done in France.

In Central and Eastern Europe, the problem is aging (post-productive age), population decline, wasteful water and energy usage, and deforestation.  Wasteful technology and aggressive deforestation in 1970s- 80s in Russia resulted in diseases and pest growth in 1990s and hence loss of some forest areas without any cutting for timber.  Yet, some Russian re-forestation programs have been successful over the past few years. Russian forests are one of the unique resources supporting the quality and health of eco- system in Europe, America and Asia.

Ourchallenge is to increase the birth rate by improving living conditions of young people and young families. The countries of Eastern Europe have the lowest fertility rates in the world. Russia should support population growth programs like those that worked in Central Europe during the 1980s.

In a new Report the UN Economic Commission for Europe warns that population levels are expected to drop by a third in former communist countries by 2050.  Some parts of Eastern Europe have low population density with little money or economic interest to solve environmental problems from the past.

Migration conflicts are possible in the Northern Caucasus and Southern Urals as a result of growing migration, i.e., just in regions with water resources scarcity, high population density and concentration of industrial companies.  Russia needs a migration policy, which should be linked to a settlement policy.

There is also the danger of Gypsy overpopulation in Central Europe without increasing their education and development.

Russia needs a transition to a new technological and conceptual paradigm of co- evolution of humans and the Nature.  The actions like family planning are cosmetic actions and won't change the trends of evolution and won't provide balance between population and the Nature.  We need to increase eco-efficiency... Ecological taxes could limit consumption and waste.... Sustainable consumption policy should be a part of social and economic policy.
 

LATIN AMERICA
There are many population issues facing Latin America and the Caribbean, going beyond just the question of balancing growth with resources. Two of the most important are violence against women and adolescent pregnancy. Most population issues are interrelated such as is the case with rapid urbanization, gender violence and adolescent reproductive health. Rapid urbanization is fed both by migration from rural areas and the continuation of traditionally high fertility among new arrivals in urban settings.  Resources in the form of employment opportunities and governments' attempts to provide basic social services cannot keep pace with the rapid growth; yet, migrants perceive their situation in cities as preferable to the poverty they experienced in rural areas.  Some soon realize that they are not better off, but are embarrassed to return to their villages or farms after experiencing failure in the city. All of this contributes to urban poverty associated with gender violence, disproportionately high rates of adolescent pregnancy and other health problems, with women often the victims.

Is a balance possible, feasible or likely? We have been much more successful in stopping population growth than in generating and equitably distributing wealth, food, housing, and other means of development. There is a certain Malthusian cynicism about the ultimate final solution. This sounds like a politically appropriate form of genocide.... Nature and war may well ultimately resolve the population crisis with an 80 to 90% population depletion.

The population resource balance is the eye of the storm in Latin America. Our population and consumption is increasing, while exports are down and less wealth is generated than other regions.  Our dependency on raw materials (oil & natural gas, coffee, sugar, fruits, beef and wheat) is increasing. We do not control information and 40% of our labor force is illiterate or functionally illiterate. In light of these facts, how can we compete in the international markets?

Rapid urbanization is a major problem that is fed both by migration from rural areas and high fertility among new arrivals in urban settings. The huge income gap drives political unrest. The ‘machismo’ attitude has to change.

The Catholic Church opposes family planning. Religious opposition to family planning still exists among small, but very vocal groups in a few countries and shows no sign of subsiding. But a much more insidious foe of population control efforts is 'machismo,' a phenomenon with a Spanish label, but one that by no means is limited to Latin America and the Caribbean.  The term refers to an attitude of male superiority, the assumption of special prerogatives that come from being male.  In this region, machismo is perhaps the most extreme example of a mind-set that endorses discrimination against women.  Therefore, it has become one of the key elements that are being addressed through education programs aimed at changing the wide range of attitudes regarding gender.  Where machismo exists, its proponents are often convinced that they have an inherent right, as a 'man,' to commit gender violence of one form or another.  There are a number of forms of gender violence, with wife-beating being one of the most common.  Gender violence is not limited to the poor, adolescent pregnancy, or sexual naivete, but the poor bear a disproportionate share of the burden.

The complexity of these phenomena, exacerbated by history and the depth of their cultural/sub-cultural roots, makes them the two of the region's greatest population challenges. An example of the complexity of the adolescent pregnancy issue, is the high percentage of children borne by adolescent mothers that are fathered by older boys or men.  Often, this is the result of consensual sex, especially when the relationship provides the psychological and physical support not otherwise available to the girl. Furthermore, the young girl may not wish to prevent the pregnancy. This presents a formidable challenge to parents, educators, and health providers.
 

NORTH AMERICA
The United States is now the only industrialized country in the world with a fertility rate at or above the “replacement level” of 2.1 children per woman. It consumes about 50 times more resources per capita than India…. The region is still in pretty good condition, but hot spots are growing.... We need to understand the impacts of an aging population and immigration on the economy and resources.

Some believe it is time argue strongly for birth control and against some religions groups (the Pope) and minorities seeking dominance through growth.

People, especially immigrants, need to understand the connection between population and resources.  Immigration is a big concern.... The United States also should gain control of unwanted pregnancies, which is both a political and religious issue. In Latin America the issue is much more significant and the situation is much more desperate, because the quality of life for the masses is already low and declining. If Latin America does not make progress illegal immigration will create bigger problems for the US.

Continued expansion of towns and supporting infrastructure is reducing open and arable land, forcing more animals to share their habitats with people.... North America acts as a sink for resources, at a cost lower than the true value, with differential costs born by less economically fortunate regions.

North America should support economic development of rural areas through political and financial support.... It should use effective land-use planning with limits on strip-mall development to safeguard the rural character of the region, and recognize that population is not only a matter of numbers; it is also a matter of the size of "the environmental footprint".

The total volume of product advertising should be reduced by fairly reducing tax deductions and by the proposal: TIAASA (The Truth in Advertising Assurance Set Aside to fund public service.)

Population should be encouraged by economic and social incentives to grow and move in resource-available directions.  Land use planning must be more rigorous.  The Public needs to shift values to be less consumptive and destructive.  Developers and the public must accept that "development" must fit the resources.  The free lunch is over.

Smart growth, which focuses on intellectual rather than material resource is next.... There should be diffusion of family planning, and education for conservation.

• Short overview
• Suggested Actions
• Indicators
• Detailed discussion on this challenge in the book "2001 State of the Future"

AFRICA
If just a quarter of the military spending has been directed to fight HIV/AIDS, specifically for research and cure, the disease would possibly be already eradicated. (Nagoum Yamassoum, Prime Minister of the Republic of Chad)

In 1986 Senegal established a national plan and in 1992 declared war against HIV. Since then, there has been a 10 million increase in the production of condoms, and this reflects the public openness to sex. Furthermore it has legalized prostitution, and has thus made it possible to launch education programs in the highly vulnerable segment of the population. As a result, Senegal's infection rate is 1.7% relative to neighboring countries where infection rate goes usually well over 10%.

Boehringer Ingelheim has been discussing dispensing Nevirapine free to prevent mother-to-child transmission in 30 African countries. Agreements have already been signed with several countries, including Gabon and Senegal.

Zimbabwe's passed a law (May 2001), which will sentence those convicted of consciously spreading HIV to as much as 20 years in prison.

Sickness, together with poverty and ignorance are the three corners of the triad of human suffering. Without a comprehensive approach for all of them, nothing significant can be done. No one can imagine achieving a considerable success in resisting spread of infections without assuring a sustainable pure water supply and sanitary sewage disposal systems. Extreme poverty is the main cause for spread of risky behavior groups, mainly because people have not been offered alternative honorable ways to earn money for a living.  Because the whole world is sailing in one boat, developed countries are obliged to work on improving the quality of life of people in the developing world, at least for the purpose of protecting the health of people in the developed countries.

Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe all have adult HIV rates over 10 percent (25% for Botswana; 22% for South Africa). According to the UN Population Division, life expectancy has fallen ten years in the region because of AIDS and is expected to be reduced by 17 years in 2010-2015.

The key reason for the disease’s growth is lack of education. For example, some South African men believe that intercourse with a virgin will cure their AIDS. Since some men don’t want their virgin daughters to be taken by other men, it is said that some are having intercourse with their own daughters as soon as they are old enough to walk. The Worldwatch Institute stated that without a medical miracle, 20% of the 43 million South Africans would die within five to ten years, which could possibly destabilize the country in unimaginable ways. The UN began its UNAIDS program in early 1996 in order to concentrate funding and international attention on programs for developing countries.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly half of all worldwide deaths from infectious diseases. Also, North African Muslim societies underreport AIDS…. According to UN data, eastern and southern Africa is home to 4.8 percent of the world's population; however, it has over 50 percent of the world's HIV-positive people and accounts for 60% of all lives claimed by AIDS.

In 1999, AIDS killed about ten times more people in Africa than did armed conflict.   At the rate people are dying today, it is bound to adversely affect and frustrate Africa's economic and social transformation.... In the worst hit cities of southern Africa, 40 per cent of pregnant women are HIV-positive. In that same region, more than one child in 10 has lost its mother to AIDS.... The most productive sector of the population, ages 15-60, is affected by AIDS….  Government projections in Zimbabwe indicate that HIV/AIDS will consume 60 per cent of the nation's health budget by 2005, and even that will be wholly inadequate.

More than 13 million Africans have already died of AIDS, 23 million are now living with HIV/AIDS, and 10 million African children have been orphaned by AIDS. HIV/AIDS kills some 6,000 people per day in Africa.  The 21 countries with the highest rates of HIV are all in Africa…. Ninety-nine percent of the orphans left by the global AIDS epidemic are African children… In a report, UNICEF and UNAIDS state that the number of AIDS orphans is expected to rise to more than 13 million by the end of 2000.  A child born in Zambia or Zimbabwe today is more likely than not to die of AIDS…. By the year 2010, possibly 40 million children made orphans by AIDS will grow up in cities across Africa; many will turn to crime to survive.... Those children are far less likely to continue schooling or be immunized and will more probably suffer serious malnutrition…. Tragically, it is no longer unusual to see orphans under the age of 15 heading households.

South Africa's largest generic drug producer, Aspen Pharmacare, is planning to request permission from major global pharmaceutical companies to produce copies of their patented AIDS drugs.  Bristol-Myers Squibb's senior director for project access, Robert Lefebvre, said there is currently no patent on its drug Videx (didanosine) and that the company does not intend to enforce its patent on another drug, Zerit (stavudine). "We are not going to let the patent stand in the way of making the medication accessible or affordable," he said. The two drugs are now available in developing countries for a total of $1 daily (15 cents per day for Zerit and 85 cents per day for Videx). These prices are below cost. However, Aspen claims to be able to reproduce both drugs for less than $1 and in quantities enough to treat millions within months.

Bristol-Myers Squibb acts under its existing ACCESS partnership program with international agencies, including UNAIDS, World Health Organization, World Bank, UNICEF and U.N. Population Fund. The prices of products offered under the ACCESS program will be fully public and the company's medicines to treat HIV/AIDS will be available in every country in Africa that wishes to participate. The company has expanded its philanthropic SECURE THE FUTURE program by pledging an additional $15 million, raising the total level of commitment to $115 million. This will allow it to continue developing innovative ways to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS among women and children and to help communities deal with the crisis. This initiative works with African governments and communities to bring local solutions to the epidemic.

Following on an initiative of five pharmaceutical companies to reduce substantially the price of HIV drugs, Senegal has become the first country to reach an agreement with Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Glaxo-Wellcome, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Merck and Roche. Uganda is preparing to follow suit.

Drug maker Pfizer Inc. will give a two-year, $50 million supply of its expensive AIDS-related medicine, Diflucan, to the South African government, The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2000.

Since more women have AIDS than men (55%-45%), Worldwatch speculates that men will outnumber women 11 to 9, leaving men destined to remain unmarried or forced to leave the region in search of a wife.

Botswana has the world’s highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates, with one of every four adults infected. By 2025, Botswana’s population may be 23 per cent less than it would have been in the absence of AIDS. Nevertheless, because of continuing high fertility, the population is still expected to nearly double between 1995 and 2050. In Zimbabwe, the second-hardest-hit country, one in five adults is infected. Estimated life expectancy at birth is 44 years and will fall to 41 in 2000-2005, 25 years less than what would be expected in the absence of AIDS. The country’s population in 2015 is expected to be 19 per cent lower than it would have been without AIDS.

Although 80% of the global disease burden is in Africa, it has succeeded in eradicating smallpox, and is on its way to eliminating measles, polio, leprosy and guinea worm. Some 48% of deaths among women in the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam are caused by HIV/AIDS, according to Dr. Stephen Hanson of Tanzania's National AIDS Control Program (NACP), who notes that the statistics a few years old and the numbers could be even higher today.  Some 1.5 million Tanzanians have HIV, and more than 520,000 have AIDS. Since 1983, more than 103,000 people have died from the disease. More than 80% of patients are between 20 and 44 years old. "In some parts of Tanzania, AIDS has become the leading cause of death among adult men and women," the NACP says. The NACP also reports that unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners are major factors fueling the AIDS epidemic. Military recruits are at a higher risk because they are sexually active and mobile. Additionally, a crackdown on prostitution in Dar es Salaam appears to have had little effect. Tanzania currently has no official AIDS policy, according to Dr. Bernard Fimbo, head of research and information at the NACP. He says a plan is being prepared and will be implemented in the near future.  However, anti-HIV/AIDS campaigns face numerous hurdles. More than 130 NGOs are currently working on HIV programs in Tanzania, but only 4% have more than a regional or district presence. Most are restricted to small communities. And while educational materials are prevalent, the virus continues to spread. (TOMRIC Agency/Africa News Online, 24 April)

WHO estimates that malaria, spread by the Anopheles mosquito, infects more than 300 million people a year and kills 1 million of them annually. Most who die are African children under the age of 5. Part of the problem is the malaria parasite is increasingly resistant to the standard treatment, chloroquine, which once was highly effective, Brundtland said.

According to an International Labor Organization (ILO) report, the AIDS pandemic is killing off the workforce in many African nations, endangering productivity and encouraging companies to turn to child labor. The report goes on tostate that in South Africa's mining industry one in five workers is infected with HIV, while in Zimbabwe, HIV/AIDS will cut the labor force 17.5% by 2015. Large companies in Tanzania and Zambia reported that AIDS-related health costs exceeded total annual profits in 1997.

Supporting enterprise and jobs is especially important in Muslim countries where marriage is mainly obstructed by lack of jobs, and where marriage would constitute a very strong barrier against all extra-marital activities that spread of HIV/AIDS…. The burden of disease locks Africans into a vicious cycle of high mortality, high fertility and poverty…. So many urban professionals are dying from AIDS that African development problems may be further worsened….  Major efforts are needed for mass education in hygiene and other conditions for good health, advocacy of transparent policies, creating employment. . Some countries have made progress. In Cote D'Ivoire and Benin more than 70% of people now have access to safe water. In December of 1999, a meeting was held at the United Nations Headquarters, the first high-level meeting of African governments and United Nations agencies directly involved in the fight against AIDS. The meeting also included donor governments, private corporations and non-governmental organizations.

Progress can be made through mass education; making sure that governments assume responsibility, be transparent about prevalence of these diseases, and adopt preventive and curative measures; and improved access of the people to health services.

Mainly through their legislative systems, governments have to support the family as the only legally and socially acceptable core unit of the society.  Insure blood safety and improve the surveillance system for emerging viruses and infections through improving the existing local, regional, national and international networks of laboratories and medical centers.

A country might refrain from declaring any epidemics for fear of expected undesired impacts on tourism and trade in general and agricultural products in particular that constitutes the major source of income for most of the developing countries. They might fear domination by some other country(s) under the new concept of globalization. So, it should be stated very clearly what are the disadvantages of not cooperating in facing the new challenge, reporting of epidemics and disease outbreaks and/ or participating in the foreseen global surveillance system or any other UN approved action(s).

For example, WHO reports progress has been made in AIDS treatment in Senegal and Uganda with the use of Community based programs instead of simply having a clinic available. In Senegal, educational materials were designed and training sessions organized for religious leaders.  The issue of HIV/AIDS became a regular feature of Friday service (Salat-al-Jumah) in mosques throughout Senegal, and religious leaders discussed the issue on TV and radio.  Brochures were produced to ensure that AIDS education was incorporated into religious teaching progammes. And Christian religious leaders, including those of the Catholic faith, also developed a supportive approach to prevention – providing counseling and psychosocial support and advocating tolerance and care. Although the issue of condom promotion – especially outside marriage – remains an ethical minefield for the country’s religious leaders, they have had the courage to refer people to alternative service providers.

Uganda has succeeded in lowering its very high infection rates. A new innovative social marketing scheme to promote the use of an STI self-treatment kit (“Clear Seven”) has proved to be successful in treating STIs and preventing IV infection. The Kit, which contains a 14-day course of tablets, condoms, partner referral cards, and an information leaflet, is designed to improve STI treatment.

Since 1993, IV infection rates among pregnant women, a key indicator of the progress of the epidemic, have been more than halved in some areas and infection rates among men seeking treatment for sexually transmitted infections have dropped by over a third.

Against a backdrop of low immunization coverage in Africa, Malawi has succeeded in boosting immunization coverage against measles from only 50% in 1980 to almost 90% today. As a result, the number of reported cases and deaths has fallen dramatically.  During 1999, only two laboratory-confirmed cases were reported. And, for the first time ever, no measles deaths. Yet only two years earlier, almost 7000 measles cases were reported and 267 deaths  (although most cases go unreported and WHO estimates that nine times as many cases and almost five times as many deaths actually occurred).

Structural adjustment and particularly user fees on healthcare in Africa “promoted by the World Bank and UNICEF have led to a decline in the use of maternity and other health services in the poorest communities, contributing to a rise in infant deaths and putting women's health at risk", reveals the report "Bitterest Pill of All: The Collapse of Africa's Health Systems," released by Save the Children organization, at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, May 2001. "Income from user fees contributes less than 5% of the cost of health care in most African countries and high administration and running costs may soak up around 40-60% of any revenues raised", says the report.
 

ASIA and OCEANIA
Historically, in Asia, poverty and pestilence tend to go together.... Population is dense.  Balanced diet is not given enough importance, even among the 'educated' in India.  People must be educated and collective preventive measures must be undertaken.

In Asia, new HIV infections increased by 70 percent between 1996 and 1998. India is now estimated to have more people living with HIV than any other country in the world. AIDS is rampant especially among sex workers in Thailand.

Malaria is endemic and outbreaks of dengue are common.  Most recently, the emergence of a new virulent strain, the Nipah virus in Malaysia, killed more than one hundred people.  Also, thousands of pigs had to be slaughtered because they serve as a reservoir for the virus.   Even in modern and sanitized Singapore, there has been a resurgence of tuberculosis in the last few years.

Throughout the world and especially in China, increasing population density, intensive energy and material usage, heavy water and air contamination, advanced technology capable of creating new materials and creatures from chemical compounds, clone organisms, and biological weapons are threatening human security through new and reemerging diseases.

With an estimated four million people infected, India has the largest HIV population and is only in the initial stages of the spread of this pandemic. China, as well, is in the early stages of the spread of this disease and is without a cure or vaccination. As a result, the early twenty-first century may see AIDS in Asia as a much larger issue than what is seen today in Africa.

AIDS is also likely to be a larger problem than people expect, particularly in China. Official announcements by the Chinese say that there are 5,000 cases in the country, but it's more likely to be 2 million centered along the southern border.

At least eight people have died after a highly contagious Ebola-type disease which causes internal bleeding broke out in the south-western Pakistani province of Baluchistan. <http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/weekly/newsnat-25sep2000-8.htm>  (ABC News, September 25, 2000)

Diseases that had almost disappeared, such as tuberculosis and gonorrhea, are rapidly reemerging in South Korea because of the mass influx of foreign laborers,

In Japan no serious problems are reported. Immune technology is rapidly developing and the secrets of long life and its relation with food and climate are also being studied very carefully.

Australia has remained relatively free from many of the world's diseases, but it remains unclear whether quarantine controls can continue to be as effective, especially in a world where global climate change may accelerate the rate of growth of diseases such as malaria.... Improvements can be made by holding off from invading new natural areas.  Many recent disease outbreaks developed in places where people had expanded into previously unsettled areas.

Rather than treating disease with antibiotics, we should focus on improving the health of the population. By creating more healthy living and environmental practices the use of antibiotics could be reduced. More information needs to be distributed to people on the use of other methods besides antibiotics, for treating infections.  The government has begun a big scare campaign on how health and public welfare will be degraded by large numbers of older people in the population. This campaign should be countered with facts on what areas of medical care are actually the most expensive.   People would need less medical attention if they took better care of themselves when they were younger.  Also, the largest amount of money is spent in the last 5 years of human life, keeping a degenerating body alive.  Possibly, allocating fewer resources to such heroic measures and more to higher quality care in younger years would be a better idea.

The use of outpatient services should be accelerated because hospitals are hotbeds for infection… Disease is spread through dirty, damaged, and unbalanced heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. For example, there are several studies that showed (using an interesting poison distributed model called the Wells-Riley equation) that lack of volumetric air changes due to faulty HVAC systems increase the probability of infection for TB. The occupational/environmental medicine literature has good examples of dirty drain pans and ducts causing mold infections and hypersensitivity pneumonitis as well as contaminated cooling towers causing legionnaire's disease, etc.

Australian quarantine operations have changed from rigid interventionist policy to determination by risk management.  The downside is that there may be large consequences as a result of a low probability event remaining undetected.  A further challenge to Australia's policy has been begun by countries claiming that the quarantine policy is actually a trade barrier that is illegal under the WTO Uruguay Round.

In some countries, there is inordinate spending on high-tech, western-style tertiary hospitals which benefit the rich and powerful.  WHO and World Bank should not focus only on dishing out aid, but also on how to manage that aid.

Conditions should be improved for human living standards, especially in poor and minority regions. Health care and medical insurance should be improved. Also, preventive health care such as traditional Chinese exercises of Taiji and Qigong should be encouraged.

There should be increased investment in R & D on these diseases. Legislation should be established and a monitoring system for unhealthy food and water supplies.
 

EUROPE
In Europe old diseases that were defeated are coming back due to the arrival of populations from very poor countries that do not have good sanitary systems. Our problems stem from migration influenza, mad cow disease, and AIDS.... We should give quality sanitary care to the people that are arriving.... Future problems may come from synthetic bacteria from gene laboratories and unknown nano-organisms.... Advanced medical levels in the region will offer potential for research and innovations.

Emphasis in the Nordic countries has moved from physical diseases towards mental diseases.... Global ethical responsibility in medicine should be more fully developed and public financing for the research of new diseases at global levels should be increased.

Our current foci are the elimination of existing fatal diseases through medical advance and monitoring of both immunity and population movements to lessen risks and emergency planning for major outbreaks of lethal diseases.... The public is focused on genetically modified food, and an increased obsession with health, cancer, and heart attacks.... We should support natural immunity of human organisms, and increase control of the environmental health relationship and control of contaminated food from abroad.

Regarding access to basic medication, Belgium has decided at any rate to provide in four African countries, in cooperation with UNAIDS, an assortment of medication worth 250 millions BEF. The direct distribution to patients, which will start this year [2000], will be guaranteed through existing primary health care structures. This basic medication must reach the poorest categories of patients. Offering them direct aid will contribute to break the silence around AIDS. In the same spirit, Belgium has decided to allocate an additional contribution of 150 millions BEF to research in the field of AIDS. (H.E. Mr. Guy Verhofstadt Prime Minister of Belgium)

Deteriorating health systems in Central and Eastern Europe will accelerate problems. We need to increase funding for public health systems.  Russia's HIV-infection rate is skyrocketing and the cash-strapped government is too poor to confront the health crisis, says a senior Russian health official. In 1999, some 18,140 new cases of HIV infection were reported. It appears that the real number of HIV cases may reach 300,000 or 400,000 this year alone. Under an optimistic scenario, by the year 2005 there may be about 1 million cases.

The rebirth of old diseases and the emergency of new ones, including environmental diseases could be problem, which could shake the world. Maybe WHO should initiate the establishment of international center to advance our knowledge in this field. It might be practical to use co-laboratories to involve key experts from around the world. Policy makers around the world do not realize the scope of this problem yet. One has to use media and Internet to inform the population properly about this treat.

In Russia, Infectious diseases decreased during the crises in Russia because the Sanitary and Epidemic agencies work very well in all regions of the Russian Federation. Russian Academy of Medical Sciences has increased research related to new vaccines environmental diseases. The risks of infectious diseases are mostly in the South of Russia, in particularly in the Caucasus due to poor quality and scarcity of drinking water.  Yet Russia does have problems with chronic diseases, which increased substantially during 1990s as a result of social stress and the quality of drinking water. The water distribution technology has deteriorated and surface water pollution has increased. As a result, Russian will increase ground water sources, which are less vulnerable to pollution and provide the legislative base to prevent groundwater depression.

The health care sector in general has deteriorated due to the economic situation and has become polarized between the expensive but good commercial services and the free services which have deteriorated substantially. Although some improvements in public care have occurred where business growth has increased.
 

LATIN AMERICA
In Latin America, TB is back and very alive and HIV is growing. The bomb is ticking, but bureaucracies are very slow and they act when it is too late. The public health systems are weak, bureaucratized, politicized, and under-funded. They are not able to face a real crisis or emergency, e.g., Mexico City earthquake 1985, CA 1998 Mitch...etc.

Unfortunately, Peru is one of only a handful of high-burden countries to have met the WHO targets for TB control of 70% case detection rates and 85% cure rates.

Widespread promotion of ORT (oral rehydration therapy) with home case management and improved access to safe water an sanitation in Mexico has had a major impact in reducing the number of diarrhoeal deaths among children under five.  Since  the  introduction  of  ORT  in  Mexico  in 1984, mortality rates have fallen by 60% in less than a decade – from over 212 deaths per 100,000 children in 1984 to under 63 by 1993
 

NORTH AMERICA
The combined National Institutes of Health infectious disease and bioterrorism medical research budgets total $1.08 billion. This appreciable chunk of money should be viewed, however, in the context that on average it costs $500 million to bring a single new drug online. At least nine and perhaps fifteen years can be required to take a drug from laboratory to market. No new classes of antibiotics have been introduced since the 1970s, and except for a handful of candidate biowarfare agent vaccines, no new drugs are in the developmental pipeline. Without corrective action, in the foreseeable future there will be no drugs that can fight common pneumonia and many other ailments. (Ataxia: The Chemical and Biological Terrorism Threat and the US Response, The Henry L. Stimson Center, 2000)

The future of this challenge will be determined by progress on new antibiotics and vaccines, improvements in living standards, and global and national systems of surveillance.

The reduction of the excessive reliance on anti-microbial drugs is essential. Increased research and investments on emergence discovery and methods of control and treatment are needed.  The results should be available to all nations at prices they can afford. Ethical market principles should be applied to support growth of food production methods that do not proliferate conditions promoting the expansion of drug resistance, at the expense of those methods that incur that hidden extra cost.  Increase support to international control measures, such as one-shot vaccination development and implementation for more dangerous diseases

This is not an issue of regions because with global travel any major infection is likely to affect the entire globe.  The human race may be losing general fitness as we defeat death through advanced medicine.  It is better to restrict the use of antibiotics and concentrate on alternative gene-therapy and more sophisticated results.... In biotechnology we need responsible use and leadership.

The region itself is fairly safe because of scientific and money resources to fight back, however, this society promotes the use and sale of antibiotics on scales that fuel growth of microbial resistance.... North America is the major destination of global travel. It is also the major location for research that explores immune microorganisms.

We must show the connection between the warming of the planet and the reemergence of diseases and the likely conditions for new infectious diseases, and encourage forthright and immediate practical actions to bring about appropriate timely action.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should share its expertise with the world.... Multi-drug therapies have reduced AIDS deaths in the United States by two-thirds since 1995. Major drug companies will make the combination drug available at very low costs to developing countries that produce AIDS prevention plans.... United States food imports have doubled in five years increasing health problems.

In his State of the Union Address, President Clinton announced several major components of the Millennium Vaccine which include $50 million in the President's FY2001 budget as a contribution to the vaccine purchase fund of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI); presidential leadership to ensure that the World Bank and other multilateral development banks dedicate an additional $400 million to $900 million annually of their low-interest rate loans to health care services; significant increases in federally funded basic research on diseases that affect developing nations; a new tax credit for sales of vaccines for infectious diseases to accelerate their invention and production; and a call to our G-7 partners to join our efforts to ensure a future market for these vaccines.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) are the most common diseases in America next to common cold and flu. One in five Americans are presently infected with STD. 15 million become newly infected with STDs yearly. 45 million are infected with an incurable STD. 63% of STDs occur in persons less than 25 years old. (www.abstinence.net)

• Short overview
• Suggested Actions
• Indicators
• Detailed discussion on this challenge in the book "2001 State of the Future"

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AFRICA
Women hold 6% of the cabinet positions in Sub-Saharan Africa, 4% in East Africa, and 2% in the Middle East and North Africa.  The changing status of women is an extremely important question for the overall development of Africa. Many men in a tribal society do not think that women should have out-of-the-house jobs; they see this as a Western idea.

African women carry a tremendous burden form AIDS discussed previously in Global Challenge 8.

Generally, women work longer hours than the men in Africa. An analysis by the International Food Policy Research Institute showed that women do about 90% of food processing and carrying of water and firewood. They also do about 80% of food storage and farm-to-village transport, 90% of hoeing and weeding and 60% of harvesting and marketing. In many African countries women account for more than 60 percent of the agricultural labor force and contribute up to 80 percent of small scale food production and yet, receive less than 10 percent of credit to small farmers and only 1 percent of credit to agriculture.

Even if women work in the case economy, these female-managed enterprises tend to have less capital than those run by men. This trend is also found among female farmers. Throughout large parts of Africa, female farmers have less access than male farmers to machinery fertilizer, credit and other related financial services. In addition, female farmers do not have access to extension information necessary for increasing crop yield. In Ghana, lack of funding from the Ministry of Agriculture means the farmers pay for the visits made by extension agents.

Given that men participate in the cash-based economy more than women do, men have greater access to information. Furthermore, that most extension agents are men means that women farmers have less access to extension information by default of their gender status.  Another cultural norm that reflects women's lower status and ability to gain autonomy is the property inheritance rights. Although civil law in some African countries allows equal rights in respect to property inheritance, customary law prevails. In Uganda, for example, although civil law provides for rights in divorce, property is divided according to customary law, which means that divorced women are unable to retain access to land that they previously owned through their husbands. In greater parts of Sub -Saharan Africa, women obtain land rights chiefly through their husbands only when married, while losing these rights on being divorced.

Even though there are more women on the Supreme Court in Ghana, tribal traditions have made it difficult for women to increase their position in many parts of Africa.  For example, men want to control everything and cannot imagine working under women's supervision. There is also the prevailing stereotype that women with careers will eventually neglect their families. A woman's personal, intellectual, and professional growth can inhibit a successful family life... intellectual African women have problems marrying African men who believe that they cannot be controlled. This is also a problem in the rest of the world.

Some parents sell their daughters into prostitution.  Homeless urban women with little or no education cannot find work and turn to sexual work. Although they run the risk of never being paid in monetary terms, in some cases, they are paid in kind with food, beer or clothing.  There also were 52,000 rapes reported in South Africa.

Male preference in Egypt and the Middle East often deprives girls of equal access and opportunities to health care, nutrition, schooling, etc. Girls’ access to basic education, although increasing still lags behind, particularly in remote and secluded areas where shortages in schools and female teachers are a major deterrent facing girls’ enrolment. Women’s access to information regarding opportunities in the formal and informal markets is limited. Women do not have the skills to enable them to participate fully in the modern sectors. Women are thus confined to traditional, low technology sectors. Women’s pay lag behind those of fellow men workers. In addition, the domestic work of women as well as their contribution to the agricultural sector (because it is unremunerated) is not included in national income accounts. The health and living conditions of vast numbers of women are deplorable. Access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and proper dwellings is also a major challenge.

The high incidence of female-headed households (approximately 25% of families in Egypt) as a result of death of spouse, divorce etc. increases the burden of poverty.  The multiple roles played by women are often rarely acknowledged. Beyond informal help received by the extended family, formal support systems such as day care centers etc. are limited. Violence against women is another challenge and takes many forms in the Middle East, most commonly in the form of female genital mutilation in some African countries, violence and rape.

As a result of cultural traditions, women in Egypt and the Middle East continue to play a very limited role in the public domain with negligible political participation. As a result of difficult economic conditions and other factors, many women in the Arab world remain unmarried. These women’s problems need to be addressed as many of them suffer various social and financial problems.

In Africa, forty percent of countries with data available have illiteracy rates higher than 50 percent. No African country reports a rate lower than 10 per cent. More than fifty percent of African countries have female illiteracy rates 20 points higher than male rates. Still, in one country, Lesotho, male illiteracy exceeds that of women by 20 percent. However, secondary schools in Africa have the largest gap favoring males in the world.

More than 50 percent of children in the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) are not enrolled in school and education as a whole is "seriously paralyzed," UNICEF states. Most schools have poor basic hygiene and sanitation.  The overall quality of education has seriously declined as a result of civil war even though parents' associations and NGOs were active in sustaining educational activities.

Approximately 60% of women in Tanzania's Dodoma region have undergone genital mutilation, according to the Inter-African Committee on Harmful Traditional Practice. In some areas as many as 81% of women undergo the ritual. According to UNICEF, the practice is common in 28 African countries.
 

ASIA and OCEANIA
Women hold 7 to 8% of the cabinet position in Central Asia, 6% in South Asia, and 4% in the Pacific.

In Asia and Oceania nearly 40 per cent of the countries have illiteracy between 10 and 30 percent and over one-third have illiteracy rates less than 10 percent. Eight out of 21 Asian countries have secondary school gender gaps.

Women's issues are among the major concerns in China, although they may not be as significant as the other 14 challenges raised in this report. There are tensions in the process of transition from traditional society with sex discrimination to an ideology that emphasizes modern sex equality…. The seeds of humanism had not been planted in China's cultural soil, so they could not develop from within the long tradition. The modern spirit of humanism is imported from western countries and it has yet to be established within Chinese people's thoughts and behaviors. Our people do not perceive or understand the women’s issues as deeply and urgently as they are held in West. The enormous population in China overshadows the significance of women's issues. The population as a whole is more important than the sex structure within it because there are not enough opportunities presented for all people. Making a cake as big as possible is given higher priority than distributing it equally. At the provincial level in China, especially in the rural areas, the voice for women's equality is much weaker than in big cities.

Even though female status has substantially progressed, especially in the area of marital freedom, the obvious gap between the written constitution and the reality of women’s situations shows us that China still has a long way to go.

Throughout Asia women have low social status.  There is widespread exploitation of women in big cities for the sex trade…. The changing status of women will improve democracy, equality of consciousness, and holistic social development.... Entrust them with responsibilities and respect them.

The changing status of women signals the full development of our society and improvement of the human condition. It is not only in the process of the transition from a conventional society into a modern one, but also a kind of war between the idea of traditional sex discrimination and modern sex equality.

The number of educated women in China has greatly increased since 1949, especially since 1978. Today many professional women welcome challenges and opportunities for personal development in their career life. Ten years ago, salary and stability used to be the overriding factors in selecting jobs.

The most obvious and pressing issue with regards to inequality existing in China is not between male and female, but between urban and rural. Although the ultimate improvement of human condition necessitates changing the status of women, the more pressing task is to develop an economy that is continuous, fast, and steady. Improving the human condition cannot be accomplished within decades or possibly even within hundreds of years. Since 1978 China has carried out a more open-to-the-world policy, and many Chinese people are increasingly becoming more familiar with Western models and values, especially through the media and the Internet. It is increasingly difficult for information to be hidden through ideological control.

The country’s rapid economic growth and expansion has facilitated the increase in Chinese citizens’ awareness of public affairs.  Chinese have become very sensitive to new information and their thoughts can be affected and changed. Despite this, Chinese civilization is complacent and conservative.  It is difficult to substantially change through external forces.

In 1995 the Forth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing. This conference did not have a significant impact on female status here, nor has gender equity surfaced as one of the urgent issues to be solved by the Chinese government people.

Women's social status in Japan has been improving dramatically.  Their dynamism and economic independence is an increasing social phenomenon.... Japanese women are generally good educators, have good survival sense, and it is worthwhile to hear their voices free from power struggles.... Japanese women are increasing their political and economic power. Females are more aggressive than males, especially among children and youth.  Males are less decisive and less pro-active than a decade ago. Nonetheless, the social norm and company structure is still male-oriented.  This gap is causing a serious problem of under-cultivation or under-utilization of female talent.

In spite of strides made by Japanese women, domestic violence has not decreased. Findings show that more than 50% of women have experienced some kind of physical or verbal abuse from their male partners. Feminist organizations are collaborating to demand legislation to make violence against women a criminal act. Much of the problem stems from the idea that domestic violence is regarded a personal issue rather than a social problem. According to police reports, domestic violence cases as well as murders against women doubled last year from the previous year.

With few exceptions, female educational levels have doubled in South Asia, rising faster than boy's enrollment rates. Particularly for India and Bangladesh, school enrollment ratios for girls are fast approaching those of boys'. However, South Asia is yet to achieve universal primary education even for boys, except for Sri Lanka.

Women are living longer than men in India for the first time in history.  Women are beginning to use Internet even in the rural areas to help start small business. Although factory and home-based workers are guaranteed minimum wage, medical and crèche facilities, and maternity and provident fund through legislation, in practice these laws are disregarded. However, the largest numbers of women are employed in the formal service sector as it absorbs unskilled as well as skilled labor. But rates of salaries are usually low since the demand for jobs in this sector always outstrips supply. Should women enter sectors that pay higher salaries, women earn 80 percent of men's earning in the urban areas, while they only earn 60 percent of what men would receive in the rural areas.

Although educational levels have increased in recent years and women have access to certain forms of technological advances to increase their autonomy, other problems specific to them have persisted. For example, mortality rates are still relatively high across the Indian sub-continent. While in developed countries, maternal mortality stands at about 13 deaths per 100, 000 live births, a developing region like India has 480 deaths per 100, 000 live births. In fact, an Indian woman is 100 times more likely to die of complications arising from maternity-related causes than a woman from a developed country. An estimated 208,000 Indian women die annually due to pregnancy and birth-related complications. While in Pakistan, a pregnant woman dies every 6 minutes, and as many as 1 in 38 women die of pregnancy-related complications, in Nepal 1 in 12 women die of the same causes. A reason for the high numbers of maternal mortality may be explained by the large numbers of girls who enter marriage before the age of 20. That contraceptive use and family planning services are not as widespread increases the chances of maternal mortality. Another reason for high rates of maternal mortality are poor health and nutrition among girls and women of childbearing age. Studies show that about 60% of women in childbearing years in South Asia are under-weight, stunted by inadequate nutrition during their own childhood. Giving birth to low weight infants and passing on the effects of stunting to subsequent generations is a consequence of poor health among women.

The state of women's health condition is related to the persistence of son preference in India as well as the other countries in the sub-continent. Sons are favored over daughters for two reasons: boys on marrying continue the name of the family and, thus are perceived as an asset, while daughters are perceived to be a liability since a dowry has to be provided to marry them off. In India, female foeticide has been reported in 27 of India's 32 states and, in some communities of Bihar and Rajasthan, the birth ratio is as low as 60 females to 100 males, as compared to the national ratio of 97 females for every 100 males. Genetic testing available in most parts of India is responsible for skewing the sex ratio. Discrimination against girls does not stop at foeticide. When it comes to nutrition, the girl child receives less food than the boy child, which adds to the growing mortality rate among female children under the five-year age cohort.

Health programs in India have focused on population reduction through family planning. As a consequence, concern over sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and reproductive tract infections (RTIs) have never been prioritized.  There is an urgent need for programs directed at these problems because of the growing numbers infected with STDs including HIV, as well as those suffering from RTIs. In Bangladesh, over 40 percent of unmarried and married adolescent girls have had symptoms of RTIs and STDs. In addition, 20 percent of unmarried adolescent boys are reported to have STDs. Community and clinic-based studies indicate that as many as 50 percent to 60 percent of married Bangladeshi women of reproductive age are infected with an RTI. In Sri Lanka, it has been reported that 23 percent of the male and 18 percent of the female populations have STDs. The spread of HIV is also of immense concern, since women and men with the virus are concentrated in the poorest parts of the continent. Among the countries of the Indian subcontinent, India has been the worst hit, where between 3.5 to 4.1 million people are HIV-positive. Of these numbers, nearly 40 percent are women. That 1 in every 3,300 children less than 15 years of age has either one or both of his/her parents die to AIDS demonstrates the adverse effects of the epidemic on the younger population. According to a report of a Mumbai antenatal clinic, 5 percent of pregnant teenagers who have visited the clinic are HIV-positive. That the numbers of HIV-infected people in the region are rising at a fast rate means that the problem is not only pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa, but is spreading to other parts of the world.

Poor women in India have been hardest hit by the last decade’s global economic reform and also by the negative social impact of our liberalization policies. Resources once available for the social sector’s health, education, and drinking water projects are now being diverted to export and market-oriented commercial projects.

This economic policy change has had different implications for rural and urban Indian women. The changing pattern of resource management and resource provision for new industries such as IT, media, and the service sector is helping women who are educated benefit from the opportunities of globalization; however, at the same time women’s income is declining in villages, where agricultural incomes have declined by 3.2%. This is particularly significant for future development because, after China, India employs the largest number of women in the agricultural sector. They outnumber men and their role in the new economy will be of unique importance for India. Already the policies of the last decade have pushed some 70 million more people below the poverty line leaving India with 406 million poor.

Consider new land policies. In many states, such as Haryana, common land that belonged to the villages is now being given over to commercial purposes. For decades, women used this land for grazing cattle, collecting wood for fuel, and to relieve themselves. Now they face daily humiliation from landowners and are forced to walk for miles to find fodder or privacy. The entire thrust is on export-led growth because that is where money can be found. In Haryana millions of hectares have been switched from food grain production to floriculture. Consequently, there has been a drop of 25% in coarse food grain production, which is mostly consumed by the poor.

Rice and wheat prices have risen 70 percent during the 1990s, making it difficult for women to secure food. Further, declining agricultural incomes has led to lower per capita consumption of food grain, which has caused growing malnutrition among women. Although women are eating less, they are doing more work. In addition, male migration to urban areas is rising because the cities provide greater economic opportunities. This has led to an increase in the number of female-headed households in villages. With this, women are responsible for feeding their families and frequently end up working long hours.

According to FAO the average woman farmer in the Indian Himalayas works 3,485 hours a year, which averages 67 hours per week. This high level of time comes at the cost of educating young girls, who often must serve as replacement mothers. Despite this development, the government's liberalization policies are favoring multinationals, which seek to employ men more than women. By shifting to large-scale crop production, many women have lost their jobs since they were employed in the food processing industries in the small-scale sectors. In this case, a step toward improving the overall status of the poorest families means investment in women's talent and their capacity to generate income at the micro level.

Women's low status is indicative of cultural norms that discriminate against them. The perpetuation of the caste system also has its implications for women. While lower castes encounter more problems as they possess little access to education and jobs, in spite of affirmative action laws that were established, by the same token, lower caste women face greater discrimination than their male counterparts by virtue of being women.

Although higher caste women may have greater access to opportunities for upward mobility than their sisters of the lower castes may, these are usually limited. For example, about one million have been elected into the village panchayat (councils).  However, these village councils have no money, little role in politics, and little power to make far-reaching decisions. Hence, women's voices are never heard, and they are unable to influence decisions that could change their lives.

In order to strengthen women's bargaining power at every level, there is a need to develop Alternate Gender Budgets where, women's needs and assets are factored into the national exchequer.

Another cultural practice that has contributed to women's low status in India is the dowry system. Although dowry is illegal since 1961, the main problem tends not to be the inequity of laws, but ignorance and misapplication of these laws. As a consequence, dowry deaths occur with little state intervention, as many are treated as domestic issues. According to figures from Amnesty International in 1999, of the 60 cases brought to prosecution (out of 1600 recorded cases), only 2 led to convictions. Domestic violence against women includes not only physical violence, but also sexual, psychological and emotional abuse. Although sati (a Hindu practice where a woman throws herself on her husband's funeral pyre) has long disappeared, physical violence against women in the guise of 'honor killings' - when women are killed to preserve the honor of the family in cases when she violates tribal or cultural norms -- persist. For example, when a woman has an extramarital relationship with a man, her guilt is sufficient for tainting the family's honor while the man is never victimized. Honor killings have occurred in other ways. Although a woman may have the right to marry a partner of her choice, a high proportion of women as well as men have been murdered in the name of honor when they have married or chose to marry spouses according to their own wishes. At present, domestic violence continues to be pervasive since none of the South Asian countries have specific legislation dealing with domestic violence.

The role of micro-credit programs has been critical to raising women's status in India. These micro-credit experiments have taken the edge off poverty in some ways by helping women recycle their own savings. Self-help group savings matched by government grants and access to markets has helped to empower women, but many of these schemes are being slashed because of lack of funds. (We have 5,600 million Rupees [approx. $125 million US dollars] locked in non-performing assets and big business houses that have outstanding bank loans; however, these self-help groups are being scrapped). India received a UNDP grant for $6 million to support a micro-credit system for women farmers in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh. UNDP estimated that 35,000 female farmers in 1,000 villages will benefit from the grant since women in these states have become "de facto farmers" as men have left to find work in the urban areas.

In the last decade, the Internet use has increased, reaching even rural areas across the country very slowly. Now, Indian women in the villages are using this technology to improve their lives. In the state of Karnataka, the Association of Women Entrepreneurs teaches women to become small business owners. While the use of the computer improves women’s lives economically as this skill increase job opportunities, technology boom offers village women a chance to break the traditional mold of caste and religious traditions.
 

Sri Lanka adopts an open policy, based on the recognition that migrant workers contribute substantially to national wealth through foreign remittances. With this policy, legislation has introduced extensive safeguards against the exploitative recruitment of women migrant workers. In addition to employment agencies that have been licensed, there is the establishment of a Foreign Employment Bureau to monitor these agencies, supervise contractual arrangements, and provide training and welfare measures for women migrant workers

A Pakistani Commission has begun to find ways to end gender discrimination and protect women's rights, although reviewing and reforming laws that disadvantage women may be difficult. High on their agenda is to curb "honor killings" of women by male relatives. Also on its agenda is the Zina Ordinance, which discriminates against women. Under this Ordinance, cases of rape against women have been treated as cases of sexual relations outside marriage, which transforms the woman from victim to perpetrator. In addition, effort is made toward decreasing the illiteracy rates among women, which stands at 24 percent while the national average is 38 percent.  Investment in education for women is critical since it was found that women with a primary education earned 24 percent more than those with no education, while men with the same level of education earned only 17 percent more than those with no education. In addition to improving human capital and increasing economic growth, female education also reduces fertility rate.

The ruling of fatwa as illegal is a landmark step toward the emancipation of women in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh High Court has ruled that fatwa -- religious edicts issued by Muslim clergy -- are illegal. Dozens of fatwa are issued every year usually targeted at women at village gatherings by the rural clergy. Fatwa impose flogging, stoning, and other forms of punishment such as execution on followers who have been accused of violating religious laws and customs. In some cases, rural clergy were found to receive small payments, justifying their actions in the name of religion. Two renowned justices of the High Court -- of whom one was a woman -- delivered this ruling. Their judgment reflects the failure of the government to provide protection to women against the practice of fatwa.

While in most sectors including agriculture, women earn 71 percent of men's earnings, in the service sector, they earn only 29.4 percent of what men earn. Currently, there are no legal measures for women to leave the country to seek employment elsewhere. When they depart illegally, there are not protected by legal measures, and become vulnerable particularly to abuse.

Since the Taliban Islamic movement took power in Afghanistan in 1996, women have undergone many changes. Although young female students attend regular classes run at local mosques and private home schools throughout the country, women are required to wear the burqua, without which they could be beaten and stoned in public. Professional women such as professors, translators, doctors, lawyers, artists, and writers have been forced to leave their jobs and to stay at home. Since women are not allowed to work irrespective of their educational attainment, if they do not have a husband or male relatives, they may be forced to or are left starving or begging on the streets.  This applies to all women, even those with a Ph.D. The Taliban has also been responsible for banning women from working in international agencies as this posed a threat to national security. This ban was said to increase the number of women and children begging in streets. In addition, the Taliban ordered the shutting down of bakeries run by women, banning foreign agencies from employing Afghan women outside the health sector. The shutting down of these bakeries means that some 7,000 of the city's poorest women, mostly widowed as a result of the two-decade war, will not receive subsidized bread.

The Republic of Maldives acceded to CEDAW in 1993, although it would only follow provisions that would not contradict the Islamic Shariah. Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Women's Affairs and Social Security Aneesa Ahmed said that the country was implementing a wide range of measures and programs aimed at creating greater gender equality, relating to health, education, and access to employment and social development.

Prior to pronouncement of the Doi Moi policy in Vietnam in 1989, women enjoyed greater equality to men. Gender gaps became more pronounced with Vietnam becoming absorbed into the world economy with policy changes. For example, ownership of land is in the hands of a man. Since women only own land through their husbands, should they work on this land, they have less access to credit information, fertilizers, and training. In fact, a recent study of pest management training for rice farmers in Vietnam shows that while 55 percent of male farmers consulted extension service workers, only 23 percent of female farmers were able to do so. As in the case of Africa, the problem is accentuated since most extension workers are men.

Timor has been beset by political conflict in the last years. UNIFEM Director Noeleen Heyzer appealed for women to become active participants in rebuilding their country. Recently, slides in funding forced the UN to cut the number of schoolteachers from 8,000 to 3,000, many of who are women. Yet there has been a significant number of women recruited to work for East Timor's police force.

In Aceh on the island of Sumatra in the Indonesian Archipelago, civilians are suffering worsening human rights abuses in the hands of both the Indonesia security forces and the arms opposition group.  The cycle of violence has left thousands injured or missing, many of whom are women and children. With parents missing or dead, children are orphaned or even risk death as they attempt a search for their parents.

Singapore's swift road to economic success has mesmerized countries around the world. Its achievements have clearly distinguished itself from its Southeast Asian neighbors. Gender disparities, however, continue to exist in spite of the country's wealth. Women find themselves striving for coherence in the midst of conflicting role ideologies that demand they contribute to the prospering economy as well as manage the home. A reason for the persistence of conflicting roles stems from State policy that propagates productivity as an essential force of economic development while fostering tradition in people's values. Increasing women's status, in this case, means a shared-role ideology that emphasizes that men play a heavier role in managing household matters.

In Australia, the changing status can help the human condition by developing a better understanding of men, by both men and women.

Legislation should protect women's rights and further their participation in the decisionmaking process.

Australians emphasize passing and enforcing laws that protect women’s rights, education for females, teaching women how to use birth control, and enhancing social care so that people do not have many children just as a means of providing old age insurance, but instead manages their finances to provide for their old age.

In the Middle and Near East, this challenge is debatable depending on culture. Policies have to take culture into account.  In the Middle East 2% of women hold cabinet positions. In the Middle and Near East, strategies to improve women's status have to take into account the prevailing patriarchal culture. This does not mean that women's status is universally low. In some countries, the high numbers of women in universities attest to their relatively high status.

For example, in Iran today, at least 60 percent of University students are female, as well as one-third of the faculty. The number of women students has tripled since 1990, brought about by a maturing baby boom that started in the early 1980s and continued to the late 1990s. Moreover, women outnumber men in some disciplines, ranging from medicine to the social sciences. Thousands of women work as engineers, lawyers, doctors, scientists, and even as clerics. In addition, more than 340 directors-general in government ministries and 140 publishers are also female. Although large numbers of women are educated, they do not enter professions in equal numbers to men and represent only 14% of the entire labor force. In reality, large numbers of women head universities, publish newspapers, and have equal voice in parliament, but their movements are restricted since they are prohibited from leaving the country unless they secure the consent of their husbands' written permission.

At present in Kuwait, women are denied the right to vote or run for political office. Although Kuwait's ruler and cabinet support women's political rights, the Parliament as well as the 1962 elections law bars women from voting. Liberal members of Parliament, however, have proposed a new bill on women's political rights, but no date has been set to draw it up or pass it.

Although Saudi Arabian women are said to have rights, duties and responsibilities equal to men in the development of the country, there are many human rights abuses against them in terms of policies and practices cemented by customs and fatwa. Discrimination against women touched every aspect of life including family matters, decision-making, employment, education, and the justice system. Although 55 percent of university graduates are women, they only own 40 percent of private wealth and face obstacles in publicly administering any business dealings. Women are also restricted in their movements and must always be accompanied by a male guardian or his written consent. Should they be detained alone or without their male guardian's consent, it is likely that they will find themselves of being accused of moral turpitude. It was also found that the incidence of domestic violence is relatively high in the country, possibly as a result of the practice that restricts women's movements. While Saudi women have suffered numerous human rights violations, female foreign workers also suffer the same fate. Unlike Saudi women, female domestic workers are excluded from the protections afforded to other workers by the Labor Code. They suffer verbal and physical abuse, restriction of movement, and sometimes non-payment of their salaries. Their isolation makes them more vulnerable to assaults since they have little or even no contact with the outside world.

The wealth of the Middle Eastern oil-rich countries has attracted workers from all over the world. A sizable number of migrant female workers   travel long distances to earn a living to send money home. However, many of these women are subject to abuse at the hands of their employers. A study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed the human rights abuses suffered by Ethiopian women working in Arab countries such as Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. While some women are subject to abuses that include rape, death in prison, starvation, confinement and human abuse, other women said that their passports had been confiscated by immigration officials who passed them on to local agents, leaving these women at the latter's mercy. Action must be taken to encourage skills training, education and job opportunities for these women in their own countries. In addition, information campaigns may be launched to warn of the dangers and risks surrounding unprotected migration.

Progress is very slow in Central Asia. Women's position is undergoing change due to these societies desiring for economic growth rather than their having suddenly learned the importance of gender equality and equity Planners and academics have called for the building of more kindergartens and nurseries and a shorter working day for women since these measures would allow them to enter the labor force. They are also expanding the sectors of the economy that largely attract women. In some Central Asian states, access for women to education, work and decision-making is denied. For example, in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, there is only a small representation of women in parliament and in the various ministries. In some neighboring countries the representation is under 15%. Although women in Kazakhstan are well educated, they there are often the last to be hired and first to lose their jobs. CEDAW recommended in early of this year that the country incorporate the definition of discrimination into its national legislation to comply fully with CEDAW. Kazakhstan's Minister and Chair of the National Committee on Family and Women's Affairs Aitkul Samakova said that a special session entitled "Women in Development" was included in the Indicative Plan of the Social and Economic Development of the Country for the first time in the history of the country.

Women living in the northeastern Semipalatinsk region have been found to be in poor health. A study, funded by the US Embassy discovered that the country's environmental problems caused by Soviet nuclear weapons testing for more than four decades was responsible for harming women's reproductive health. As a result, more than 10 percent of the children living in this area were found to have prenatal malformations. In addition, more than 20 percent of pregnancies in Semipalatinsk resulted in stillbirths. The World Health Organization in Kazakhstan reported this year that the maternal mortality rates among women have been rising and more than half of pregnant women suffer from anemia. These trends are coupled with high child mortality rates and high levels of abortions and sexually transmitted diseases.

An UNICEF study states that there are 60 million fewer women in the world today than would be expected from demographic trends.  This is due to by sex-selective abortions, female infanticide, and inferior access to food and medicine. The bulk of the discrepancy is found in South Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and China.
 

EUROPE
In Western Europe the status of women has progressed in the past few years.... Sub-regional disparities in the rights of women and their access to opportunities need to be resolved.... Even though the situation is moderately good in Europe and especially good in the countries in the North, continuing development is important. However, more education is needed, especially among certain groups. Employment of women, members of ethnic minorities and refugee groups is especially difficult…. Spread standards of equal opportunity and ensure meritocracy and fairness for all.... In addition, there is a need to put quotas in place for gender and minorities in political organs from local to national and supranational levels.

The industrial countries in Europe are advanced in providing maternity protection, flexibility in the labor market, access to credit, and support of entrepreneurial innovation by women.... Swiss women have a relatively weak position relative to women from the rest of EC countries (see NAU). Families are getting smaller in industrialized countries and the percentage of women as heads of families is increasing. In Southern Europe, women continue to face discrimination in the labor markets, although they often have a higher level of education than men. Moreover, there is still little protection for women over the age of 40 who reenter the labor market, after choosing to look after their own children for a short time. Older women are also not excluded from problems, although the kinds of difficulties they face differ. Elderly women, especially those who have lost their husbands, receive too little to live on comfortably, even if they had once worked and contributed to social security. This problem is marked especially given inflation and rising costs of living. Given that women have a longer life expectancy than men and that there are greater numbers of older women than men, this has become an increasing problem in Europe.

We need to develop strategies to prevent all forms of violence perpetrated by men, both partners and men external to the family unit, against women and their children…. Apply a new approach to the problem of domestic violence by engaging multi-agency working and coordinated delivery of services to women and children experiencing domestic violence.

Many of the delegates to the Palermo conference on the fight against transnational organized crime, in December 2000 were concerned about the trafficking of women, migrants and children. The United Nations estimates there are between 200,000 and 500,000 illegal sex workers in the European Union (James Blitz, Financial Times, 13 Dec). In Italy alone, the number of women trafficked from Ukraine, Albania and Moldova is on the rise, according to a report issued this week by the Italian Parliament's anti-mafia commission. Many of the women are kidnapped or promised legal work, but are ultimately sold to criminal gangs that bring them to Italy (Frances Kennedy, London Independent, 13 Dec).  Further, the UN and the International Helsinki Federation of Human Rights report that 75,000 Brazilian women have been forced into prostitution in the European Union (Isabel Murray, BBC Online, 12 Dec).

The major problem seems to be aggressive male sexuality that is doubled and enforced by a primitive Darwinist ideology of competition.  As this merely reflects the real world situation, we will only become humane to the extent that we change this situation together with the accompanying ideology.

In Italy women are increasingly contributing to the private sector with small creative initiatives. As in other parts of Europe, strong social and financial pressures force women to work very hard. As such, they are left with little time and energy to stay at home with children, which threatens the nuclear family.

Women in Central and Eastern Europe hold 7% of the ministerial positions, down from 25% prior to the fall of communism.  In general women’s position is relatively good since females have access to education and jobs. Even in terms of secondary school enrollment rates, Eastern Europe has one country showing gender gaps. While women's position is improving, men have experienced discrimination. In transition economies of Eastern Europe, men have felt absolute declines in life expectancies in recent years. In spite of the cessation of wars, there has been an increase in male mortality rates linked to growing stress and anxiety caused by worsening unemployment among them. The position of gay and lesbian minorities has been improved in recent years

Everyone's potential should be used for positive change. Although there are many women working in NGOs, they are not found in high-level decision-making positions, or are they found in high-level management positions in business. That which is lacking is a "female" way of thinking in our everyday politics and public life. It is natural that the world has two poles, male and female; we need to promote the "female pole" in the everyday public life.... In late last year's municipal elections, the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) called for one-third of the top candidates from each party to be women. However, some parties not only found women candidates, but also went beyond the one-third figure, showing that the country has the potential of achieving a gender balance in politics and decision-making. Until then, women's influence in the political sector has been slow since the traditional culture does not offer women many opportunities in public life.

An estimated 50,000 Russian women are trafficked abroad every year and forced into sexual slavery, according to a coalition of human rights groups who launched a campaign in May 2001 to educate young women on the dangers they face from traffickers. Russian women and girls are usually taken to Western Europe, the Middle East and China, the coalition said.

As the Central and Eastern European countries want so much to be accepted into the EU, if there is an action taken by the EU regarding women, our official representatives will most likely follow the EU's lead.
 

LATIN AMERICA
Approximately 60% of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region have literacy rates higher than 90%. About 70% of those entering the University of West Indies are women. Only 8 countries in the LAC region have disproportionate secondary school rates favoring males.

UN study shows that in Bolivia 98% of abuse victims are women and nearly 75% of them did not complete their primary education. We need to change the laws pertaining to rape, sexual harassment, and equal pay for women. Women in Bolivia are in the most precarious situation in the LAC region in spite of commitments made at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Although there is indication that poverty among women has been reduced and there are mechanisms in place to increase their political participation, the situation has not changed significantly. Aside from women, children are also subject to abusive treatment. In late last year, the government launched a national plan with civil organizations to reduce the violence against children.

Among developing countries worldwide, Latin America has the highest rates of maternal mortality. Latest figures show that nearly 23,000 of the 600, 000 of women who die every year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth are from Latin America. The main factors for high maternal mortality rates stem from illiteracy, poverty and lack of sexual education. About 85% of women's deaths during or after pregnancy are due to hemorrhage, abortion, postpartum complications and infections, while 15 percent dies of other diseases. It has been established that high rates of maternal mortality are related to low economic power and illiteracy. This link has been proven with evidence from the region. In Cuba and Costa Rica where rates of literacy among women are highest, it has been found that maternal mortality rates are the lowest.

In matters of women's parliamentary participation, Latin America and the Caribbean have made little progress. Among 13 countries that have seen improvements in quotas for women's parliamentary participation as established by law, Cuba has the highest representation of women in its Parliament, standing at 27.6 percent. This figure still falls short of the goal of the Beijing Conference set at 30 percent female representation in parliament.

Chilean women continue to face political as well as labor barriers in spite of substantial access to education. In Santiago, 87.2 percent of women have access to secondary education, ranking third in the region, but only 8.9 percent hold public offices. Furthermore, only 36.6 percent of women work, mainly taking on low-paid seasonal agricultural work or domestic service. Although Chile is far more developed economically than Ecuador and Jamaica, it possesses greater gender barriers. Additionally, the new privately managed pension system has increased gender inequalities. Under the old pay-as-you-go system of social security, calculations for men and women did not differ, and women could obtain pensions with fewer requirements than men. Currently, benefits are calculated according tot individual's contributions and levels of risk. Such factors as women's longer life expectancy, earlier retirement age, lower rates of labor-force participation, lower salaries, and other disadvantages in the labor market are directly affecting their accumulation of funds in individual retirement accounts, leading to lower pensions, especially for poorer women. Here, policymakers need to more adequately incorporate gender variables in designing and implementing policy changes.

Although women's propensity to participate in the labor market has increased all over Latin America, this trend is particularly evident in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The growth in female labor force participation is a response to increasing unemployment and job instability associated with the implementation of structural adjustment policies since 1991 rather than to improvements in labor supply conditions nor diversification of the structure of occupational opportunities available to women. Furthermore, it has been found that women choose to work in order to reduce household economic uncertainty.
 

NORTH AMERICA
The United States is a global leader in its efforts to protect and promote respect for women and other groups. Ongoing efforts to end all forms of discrimination by sex, race, color or religion are fully supported by the courts and the legislature in line with government policy. Thus, women hold a strong position in society as they play a more important role in purchasing decisions. In addition, industries now are responding to needs and desires for products and services that appeal to women's sense of environmentalism, spirituality, and desire to improve the human condition.  Support given to women by way of housing, social edical services, economic, technological as well as political support directly translates into steps toward sustainability.

Women have a proven affinity toward environmentalism and improving the human condition. Women in the U.S. have an increasing role in purchasing decisions, and through such decisions influence environmentally more friendly products. Industries are now responding to needs and desires for products and services that appeal to women's sense of environmentalism, spirituality, and desire to improve the human condition.  Any support given to women and other groups with similar values - including social, housing, medical, technological, political, economic support- would directly translate into steps toward sustainability.

Ongoing efforts to end all forms of discrimination by sex, race, color or religion are fully supported by the courts and the legislature in line with government. North America is a global leader in this area.  The value to all for protecting and promoting respect for women and other groups can be demonstrated by many criteria.

Although women’s status in the US is relatively better than other countries, there is still a need to remove corporate and government 'glass ceiling' biases on Wall Street that favor males and promote fair pay and access to credit, education, and professional and scientific societies. Continue to monitor compliance with existing sex, race, and religious discrimination regulations such as equal pay.

Why is it that the US is not among the 167 countries that have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women?

Institute programs of pregnancy prevention and child-care to give women more control over their lives.  Have educational programs to support value changes that "permit" men to accept and perform more domestic duties. Encourage growth in jobs to provide alternatives to despondency that leads to drug dependency.  Put stronger pressure on drug crime. A new class of socially dysfunctional people has been created by widespread drug use by childbearing women and young children.... Encourage women to participate in government and community development.

• Short overview
• Suggested Actions
• Indicators
• Detailed discussion on this challenge in the book "2001 State of the Future"