Components of an international approach to population policy.

TLDR: In this article, the authors consider the national and international conditions under which the development of population policy takes place and the international ideology which makes a contribution to the shaping of the modern world.

Abstract: It is necessary to consider the national and international conditions under which the development of population policy takes place and the international ideology which makes a contribution to the shaping of the modern world. New ideas international norms and standards of conduct have become the key components of an international ideology if not guidelines for concerted international action. The most recent period appears to be the most productive in regard to the international population debate and the formulation of different policies. There have been considerable developments at the international as well as the national level of population policy-making and this has emphasized the role of the U.N. system in international population matters. Population policy is generally understood to be an integral component of national development policy. International solidarity is also considered a principle of population policies to the extent to which it deals with international technical cooperation but the other aspect of solidarity the need for a global look at the problem of population growth and the international consequences of national policies has not yet received official consideration. The scientific foundation of policies relative to development and population is a principle which is lower in priority. From both national and international points of view policies relating to health conditions and mortality reduction appear the least controversial. Low fertility appears to be the common objective of a majority of nations but needing attention is the strange way in which this objective is approached. The rapid internationalization of many aspects of population policy-making must be recognized. A major factor in the internationalization of population policy is the appreciation on the part of new nations that regulation of demographic phenomena benefits both the community and the individual and the recognition by developed nations of their own population policy-making. A significant aspect of internationalization is the role of the U.N. system as a forum for international debate and policy-making as well as its function as an agent of internationally sponsored action. There are numerous forces working against a world wide approach to the solution of population problems and in the context of contradictory conditions fundamental questions of population policy must be solved in the 1970s. It is unfortunate that the long-range policy must depend on short-range considerations but at least the U.N. placed the issue on its 1974 agenda--in spite of its problems.