PSN launches APPG report update

Westminster, London. Parliamentary Hearings on Population: Return of the Population Growth Factor Report published 2007, update launched 14 July 2009

PSN co-hosted the launch event for the 2009 Update of the All Party Parliamentary Report: The Return of the Population Growth Factor: its Impact on the MDGs, in the House of Commons in July 2009.

The event, co-hosted by the Population and Sustainability Network (PSN) and Marie Stopes International (MSI), drew members of the House and  the Lords, press representatives, NGO and other representatives of civil society to mark the release of the Update of the 2007 Report, produced by the PSN, who had also taken on the task of updating the charts.  The new data  in the Update showed a continued significant under-spend on global family planning services and underlined the continuing urgency of the 2007 findings; that "the current rates of population growth will make the MDGs difficult or impossible to achieve".

Christine McCafferty MP, Chair of the APPG PD& RH chaired the event. Richard Ottaway MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Hearings which led to the 2007 report, and Professor Anthony Costello, Director of the UCL Global Health Institute and Chair of the recent Lancet commission on climate change and health delivered compelling key-note speeches.

Costello drew on his own experience of working with maternal and newborn health across South Asia and many parts of Africa, and spoke of the staggering benefits that quality voluntary family planning services can offer to individuals, families and communities.  Additionally, he drew audience's attention to the situation in some of the northern states of India that are experiencing very rapid population growth.  Costello painted a picture that illustrated the enormous challenges that lay ahead for administration and service delivery in States where it is likely that the population wil quadruple in size by 2050.

Family planning expenditure per capita has declined by 50% since the mid 1990s, despite the rising need. Baroness Jenny Tonge, during the lively question and answer session, urged political leaders to turn their attention to this global situation since it would be relatively straightforward  to reverse  the downward trend with suitable political will.

The charts which accompany the report, many of which are updated, are available here.

To read Anthony Costello's presentation, please click here.

To read the Report Update Summary, please click here.

 

Launch of the 2007 Report:  L-R: Viscount Craigavon, Baroness Tonge, Secretary of State Hilary Benn (DFID), Richard Ottaway MP (Chair of Hearings process), Martha Campbell (PSN), Toby Aykroyd(PSN), Christine McCafferty MP (Chair of APPG); in front, Catherine Budget-Meakin (PSN),

Original report (2007) 

The original Report was published in 2007 by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health (APPG).

The Report collated the findings of the series of Hearings at Westminster examining the impact of population growth on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Initially proposed by PSN to the APPG, these Hearings received written evidence from some 50 bodies across the world, including UNFPA, World Bank, World Health Organisation, governments and NGOs.

PSN served on the Steering Group and submitted both written and oral evidence to the APPG for the original Report.

The findings of the Report show unequivocally that unless population growth is effectively addressed, especially in a range of poorer countries in sub Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia, the MDGs will be difficult or impossible to achieve. 

The original report, and other publications by the APPG on Population, Development and Reproductive Health are available here.

Opportunity for Wider Application

It is hoped that these hearings at Westminster can provide a valuable model for wider adoption. PSN is seeking to replicate the Hearings process in other parliamentary and legislative systems - with initial emphasis on the US House of Representatives and Senate and the European Parliament and Commission.

We have already held meetings in Washington and Brussels in 2006 as part of an ongoing programme to promote the process - aimed at securing a higher policy and budgetary profile for the population issue.

Click here for more information