Experts to Examine European Population Trends and
Policies
European Population Forum 2004, Geneva, 12-14 January
International experts on population and reproductive health will meet at the
Palais des Nations in Geneva from 12-14 January 2004 to examine key issues
in Europe and North America, their causes, consequences and policy responses.
The European Population Forum 2004 will
consider challenges posed by current and emerging demographic trends in the
European region, including countries in transition, and will assess progress
in implementing the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD) Programme of Action and related agreements.
Hosted by the Government of Switzerland and co-organized
by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and UNFPA, the
United Nations Population Fund, the Forum will consider such issues as (see
programme):
-
Support of UNECE countries for ICPD implementation
in developing countries and those with economies in transition, particularly
efforts to ensure universal access to reproductive health services - including
family planning, safe motherhood and HIV/AIDS prevention - by 2015.
- Causes and consequences of low fertility in UNECE countries, particularly
in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, and policy options enabling the
combination of work and family, childbearing and parenting, e.g. those
facilitating access to free or subsidized child care and providing financial
support to families with children.
- Health challenges facing Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and
Central Asia including: high morbidity and mortality, especially among
adult males; the spread of sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS;
adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues; and all forms of gender-based
violence, including trafficking in young women and adolescents.
- Causes of international migration flows, implications of the flows
for both sending and receiving countries, and the integration of immigrant
populations along with policies to manage the flows and foster integration.
Participants will include professionals with a broad range
of expertise in the social, demographic, economic and health fields, from
executive and legislative branches of governments, academia and research institutions,
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and the private sector.
Journalists are invited to the Opening on 12 January,
featuring Walter Fust, Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation; Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director, UNFPA; and Brigita Schmögnerová,
Executive Secretary, UNECE. All three will hold a press conference
on 12 January, at 11 a.m. in Room III.
For accreditation, please contact: The Director, United Nations
Information Service (UNIS), Office C.203/C.207, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva
10, Switzerland. Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 23 13 (or 23 36), Fax. +41 (0) 22 917
00 73.
More information about the Forum, including
the agenda and background papers, is available at www.unece.org/ead/pau/epf.
Further information about population issues, reproductive
health and the ICPD can be found at www.unfpa.org.
Contact:
William A. Ryan, [email protected]
Phone: +1 646 226 6104; or
Miroslav Macura, [email protected]
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 27 64; or
David Winiger, [email protected]
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 16 43
Ref: ECE/GEN/04/P01