by Y. Diene, Senegal, May 1997
THEME = ECONOMY
In line with the priority programme of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) for social and economic recovery, West African Members of Parliament are deeply committed on the global front, to the study of population, the subject of Agreements drawn up in Cairo and in Beijing.
The imbalance observed in Africa at the present time between population growth and economic growth, is indeed rather worrying. Population policies developed in the last few years, using persuasive and coercive methods, have not succeeded in controlling demographic growth.
Senegal's National Assembly, in its "Population and Development" network, organized a symposium last March, involving 10 countries in this particular sub-region: Benin, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Mauritania, Cape Verde, Guinea, Guinea- Bissau and Senegal. With the support of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and the Human Resources Development project (HRDP)/World Bank, West African parliamentarians are committed to reviving this initiative, which often has clashed with the weight of traditions, social attitudes to fertility or the place of women in society.
Concerns everywhere revolve around the widespread poverty, found in both town and countryside, and the steep rise in population growth, which is not matched by economic and social development. At present, only 20% of households have access to proper housing, and the demand for housing cannot be met (5% of requirements). Access to drinking water is a major concern, and there are serious discrepancies between urban and rural areas: only 20% of rural households have access to a tap or a borehole. Availability of electricity and communication networks (radio, telephone, television) is also very limited. For this reason, the Senegalese Parliament has raised the alarm, and put forward "Population and Legislation in West Africa", as the symposium's theme. In this region, the inhabitants suffer from poverty, insecurity and family instability. But it is noticeable that demographic policies vary in their application from one country to another.
There are similarities in demographic data: Mauritania has seen its population rise from 1.9 million in 1988 to 2.3 million in 1996; while in Gambia the population has tripled in 20 years to reach 800,000 inhabitants. Senegal has experienced a rise in population of 2.9% per year, to reach 2.3 million in 1996; and an urbanization rate of 3.8% per year. The forecast is therefore for population figures of nearly 16 million in 2015.
The present rate of demographic growth across the continent is 3% per year. The population of West Africa, which is growing excessively, has risen from 20 million in 1960 to 40 million inhabitants in 1988, of which 45% are young people below the age of 15. Some projections forecast a population of 100 million in 2020, as the result of rapid growth, with excessive birth rate (7 children per woman on average). The West African parliamentarians are committed to revising some legislative texts, and updating family law once more, in order to reduce the number of children per woman to 3, between now and 2015.
The parliamentarians present at the symposium, noted the urgent need to integrate the "population" variable into the legal framework of each State. They also adopted recommendations and resolutions intended to clean up the legal environment in their respective countries, the main one being the establishment of a concept framework for population issues: the Coordination of Parliamentary networks for population (CRPP). Its task will be to encourage Parliaments of the sub-region, to put the legal and institutional resources of the State at the service of an effective demographic policy.
This framework is intended to be "a tool for harmonizing legislation, while at the same time, acting as a forum for expounding ideas, encouraging initiatives in population matters and ensuring their coordination", explained Sheikh Abdul Khadre Cissokho, Speaker of Senegal's National Assembly of Senegal, and chairman of the CRPP. The latter was mandated to contact those French-speaking countries of the region which were absent from the symposium (Mali and Burkina Faso). Likewise to contact English- speaking countries in the sub-region (Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone), with the intention of expanding the CRPP and encouraging inter-parliamentary collaboration, by means of study trips and an exchange of experiences.
Already by 1974, the Senegalese Family Welfare Association (ASBEF) had been set up as a state-approved non-governmental organization (NGO). This association is a pioneer in providing information and in raising awareness of population problems, in an urban as well as rural context. In 1988, the government adopted its declaration on population policy, based on the twin principle of the responsibility of individuals, as spouse or as parent with respect to procreation, and the right of individuals to have access to objective information and education. A family education project was set up in 1990, with the intention of forming a new type of Senegalese citizen. An education team drew up a multi- dimensional, multi-disciplinary programme, covering four main areas, population and family, population and environment, population and health, population and emigration.
1992 saw Senegal hosting first the 3rd African Conference on Population, and then the Preparatory African Conference for the Beijing Conference on Women. These two meetings qualified it to lead the African delegation to the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994, and the 4th International Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.
This first interparliamentary symposium intends to encourage legislative and regulatory measures, through the work of the CRPP. The policies aimed at controlling demographic growth must be expanded, to take in the struggle against the scourges of drugs, poverty and environmental pollution.
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