EU Presidency Statement - Population and development

Thank you Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the associated countries Cyprus, Malta, Turkey as well as the EFTA countries, members of the EEA Iceland and Norway align themselves with this statement.

The European Union would like to thank the Secretariat for all the arrangements and reports during this session. We would also like to thank you, Mr. Atoh for your leadership in all our deliberations. The European Union would also like to thank you, Mr. Golini for chairing the informal working-group. The discussions have been very constructive and useful. The complex linkages between population, environment and development have been further clarified.

The activities of the Population Division, including its research, technical co-operation and information activities - just to mention a few tasks carried out by the Population Division - are valuable, critical and important. They contribute, indeed to enhance the understanding how population issues relate and interact with development.

The European Union welcomes the initiative by the Population Division to make, as we understand it, all its reports available on its web-site. We would also like to underline the importance that POPIN is given all support it needs to continue and develop its activities.

The European Union would like to encourage the Population Division to continue to work closely with governments, research communities and other partners to refine and further develop its methodologies. The European Union believes that it would be useful to have a continuous dialogue between demographers, national statistical offices and the Population Division concerning country assumptions underlying population projections. Improved co-ordination and timely feedback with statistical offices are desirable, especially for countries with elaborate statistical systems.

Mr. Chairman,

The ICPD Programme of Action and its follow-up conference is the basis for the work of the Population Division. Since its work has far-reaching implications for the long-term planning of development activities, the European Union would like to urge the Division to further strengthen its collaboration with other bodies, UNFPA and other relevant funds and programmes of the United Nations system. In this way, the European Union trusts that population related matters will continue to be fully considered throughout the work of the United Nations system.

Again, the European Union would like to thank the Secretariat for a well-organised and useful session of the Commission. We are making progress. Our achievements this week are promising to further the implementation of the Programme of Action and to maintain high visibility of population issues on the development agenda. The European Union is looking forward to next year's session on reproductive rights and reproductive health, with special reference to HIV and AIDS.

Thank you.

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