Question

Describe relationship between population and development

Answer 1

The United Nations (UN) Population Division has done scientific research on population/development relationships free of ideological influence, even though it is guided and supervised by a highly political parent body. The documentation prepared by the Secretariat, which adheres firmly to an objective evaluation of facts, contrasts with the discussions of governmental representatives, which generally have an ideological orientation. The question of population's role in development has been politicized since the earliest Commission sessions, and particularly in the Bucharest and Mexico City world population conferences. All research done by the Division must therefore be undertaken in the context of economic, social, and cultural factors. The Division's past work has served to initiate university research throughout the world, dealing with subjects like the socioeconomic aspects of aging; interrelations between population, resources, the environment, and development; and the determinants and consequences of population trends. The Division's work reflects an evolution in UN thinking about population, from an approach devoted mainly to developed country concerns to one devoted mainly to developing countries. The UN technical assistance effort was hampered at first by a lack of knowledge and methodolgy on the part of the experts, and later by the technical assistance staff palcement in the Department of Technical Cooperation for Development, separated from the staff conducting population and development research. Even now, knowledge of the population factor impact on development is scanty, 2 of the barriers being the imperfect understanding of the development process and the longer time scale of demographic compared with devleopment analysis. Limited analysis focusing on key areas has been successful. Progress has been made in understanding the interrelationships between population, resources, the environment, and development. Moderate views are replacing apocalyptic views. The effects of population growth should be considered taking national situations into account.