'Demographic transition: SL most advanced' - Former Japanese PM

Rasika SOMARATHNA

Sri Lanka has become the most advanced in demographic transition in South Asia and also is one of the first countries in the region to address the population issue and simultaneously promote social development, such as improving the national literacy rate, former Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda MP said yesterday.

He was addressing the 27th Asian Parliamentarians' Meeting on Population and Development organized by the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) of which he is the chairperson. The two day forum attended by Parliamentarians from 23 countries was opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Mount Lavinia hotel yesterday.

Speaking further on the subject, MP Fukuda said that in contrast there were countries where there has not been much progress in demographic transition, and where the rapid population increase remains a concern. "After 32 years since the last Colombo meeting, the world population has increased from 4.5 billion to 7 billion. During this time, many Asian countries have exerted their efforts to move ahead in demographic transition. However, there are big differences in the state of progress, thus Asian population issues are becoming evermore diverse" he added.

Speaking on the global impacts of an ever increasing population the former Japanese PM said that there was no bright future for a society that continues to increase its population, given the earth's finite resources.

"Also there is no other peaceful way to stabilize the population other than succeeding in demographic transition." he added.

While stressing that addressing population issues was decisively important as a foundation on which to build the future, Fukuda said that as an elected representative of the people, he had a few propositions.

First, he said, that there should be a clear vision on how to achieve sustainable development. "In this regards we should understand that the issue of population is inseparable from such resource issues as food, security, the environment, energy and waste," he added.

Secondly, Fukuda said, all should need to reaffirm that without resolving population issues there cannot be sustainable development.

To achieve that, we must bring to mind our Cairo agreement and ensure universal access to reproductive health services, he added.

Thirdly Fukuda said that the world must find ways to harmonize economic growth with sustainable development. "This requires the development of new alternative energy sources that do not cause environmental degradation or do not have resource constraints, as well as the development and dissemination of energy-saving and resource saving technologies" "There is a pressing need for the training of human resources to be engaged in research and development in this field. Moreover, it is imperative that gains from economic development are not concentrated into a few select hands, but rather reach every person in the world" he added

He urged fellow parliamentarians to share experiences and come out with suggestions in meeting future challenges during the two day forum.

The APDA chairperson also told the gathering that the activities of International Parliamentarians' on population and development started in Colombo in 1979 with the first International Conference of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (ICPPD).

In addition to being the APDA chairperson MP Fukuda is also the Chair of Japan Parliamentarians Federation for Population (JPFP) and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD).