Indonesia hails Cairo declaration on population<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia hailed yesterday the 20-year action
\nplan to curb world population growth contained in the final
\ndeclaration of the just ended United Nations International
\nConference on Population in Cairo.<\/p>\n
Minister of Population\/Chairman of the National Family
\nPlanning Board (BKKBN) Haryono Suyono, who led the Indonesian
\ndelegation to Cairo, told reporters on his arrival at the
\nSoekarno-Hatta Airport that Indonesia could live with the final
\ndeclaration.<\/p>\n
The Vatican and a number of staunch Moslem and Catholic
\ncountries endorsed the Cairo declaration with some reservations,
\nparticularly over the question of abortion, homosexuality and gay
\nrights.<\/p>\n
Haryono said that overall, the declaration heeded religion,
\nethical values and the cultural diversity existing in the world.<\/p>\n
The strategy to rein in birthrates adopted by the conference
\nis similar to Indonesia's family planning program, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Now that the document has been adopted by all participants,
\nit seems that our family planning program is approved by the
\nworld. This shows that we are on the right track,\" Haryono said.
\n\"If you read the document, you might wonder whether it had been
\nwritten by BKKBN.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia was actively involved in the preparation of the
\ndraft documents before they were taken to Cairo. In Cairo,
\nIndonesia actively lobbied among the various participants.<\/p>\n
Haryono said quality health care and the increased
\nparticipation of men are two main factors in Indonesia's national
\nfamily planning program, and these were duly recognized in the
\nfinal document of the Cairo conference.<\/p>\n
The nine-day gathering, attended by 182 states, ended on
\nTuesday with a partial rejection by the Vatican and reservations
\nfrom some countries following heated debates on the issues of
\nabortion and sex.<\/p>\n
Along with the members of the Organization of Islamic
\nConference, Indonesia succeeded in persuading the conference to
\ndelete abortion as a means of family planning as stated in the
\noriginal draft, Haryono said.<\/p>\n
\"Even though we are receiving financial assistance from the
\nWest for our family planning program, we would not just follow
\nthe way they carry out their birth control strategy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia objected to the use of the term \"other unions\"
\noutside traditional marriage, Haryono said, adding that Indonesia
\nclings to the view that a family should consist of \"a father, a
\nmother and children.\"<\/p>\n
Not explicitly<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that relationships outside marital unions were
\nrecognized in the final document \"although not explicitly\".<\/p>\n
Haryono praised the conference, which put its weight behind
\nthe rights of women and girls.<\/p>\n
The conference targeted cutting the maternal mortality rate by
\n50 percent by 2000.<\/p>\n
Haryono said Indonesia, which has one of the highest maternal
\nmortality rates in Asia, has launched a massive campaign to cut
\nthe death rate from 450 in every 100,000 to 225 in 1998.<\/p>\n
He said that Indonesia got a lot of attention from the other
\nparticipants because it has been so successful in curbing its
\npopulation growth to around 1.6 percent a year from nearly two
\npercent in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n
Haryono said that Indonesia, as leader of the Non-Alignment
\nMovement, also received widespread support when it presented a
\nresolution on ways of stabilizing population growth.<\/p>\n
Seventy-three countries signed the resolution, he said.<\/p>\n
The minister said he also used the conference to discuss
\nbilateral cooperation with other developing countries, including
\nIran and Bangladesh. (sim)<\/p>",
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