Quality Education
Poverty and pro-poor policies for Pacific island countries
The Governments and people of the Pacific are faced with what many perceive to be difficult choices between traditions and modernity, affecting customs and culture, lifestyles and the many facets of daily life. Inevitably development and progress mean change. Information, education and travel all introduce new concepts into society, and change threatens traditional values.
Living arrangements of older persons in east java, Indonesia
As in many other Asian countries, norms regarding family life in East Java have changed and will continue to change with the forces of globalization. Family structures used to be the pillars for the support of children and older persons. However, the declining fertility, rising mobility and rising female labour force are changing as are norms regarding the family. Therefore, the question arises as to who and how will the society finance the care of its elderly?
Impacts of bio-social factors on morbidity among children aged under-5 in Bangladesh
Stretching over 147,570 square kilometres of land and with a population exceeding 131 million, Bangladesh is the world’s ninth most populous country. It is also one of the most densely populated (834 persons per sq. km.) (BBS, 2001). Over-population and poverty are pervasive in Bangladesh and causing hazards such as morbidity. Children aged under five years, whom are naturally innocent, vulnerable and dependent on their parents often suffer from viral and infectious diseases. The future of a nation is linked to the well-being of its children, which depends to a large extent on children’s health status. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence of morbidity among children aged under-5 (0-59 months) in Bangladesh and to determine the factors causing such morbidity.
Spousal abuse and infant and child mortality in India
Violence against women continues to be a global epidemic that kills, tortures and maims physically, psychologically, sexually and economically. It is one of the most pervasive forms of human rights violations, denying women and girls’ equality, security, dignity, self-worth and right to enjoy fundamental freedoms. Violence against women is present in every country, cutting across boundaries of culture, class, education, income, ethnicity and age. The evidence of the magnitude of the problem of domestic violence in developing countries is growing fast. In recent years, there has been a greater understanding of the problem of domestic violence, which is one of the forms of violence against women, its causes and consequences, and an international consensus has developed on the need to handle this sensitive issue in an appropriate fashion.
The demographic impact of the HIV/AIDs epidemic in Papua New Guinea, 1990-2030
The first case of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in Papua New Guinea was detected in the capital in 1987. After a relatively short period during which the epidemic was concentrated in certain “high-risk” groups, the disease spread throughout the country and by 2005 had become a “generalized epidemic” - with a 1 per cent HIV prevalence rate among adults aged 15-49. The most recent (2007) estimates suggest that the adult prevalence rate has risen to 1.6 per cent, confirming that the epidemic is continuing to grow rapidly (NACS, 2007).
The effects of intergenerational support on the changes in cognitive functioning of the rural elderly in China
A major issue in all societies, especially those that are ageing, is the extent to which the elderly can live independently. Cognitive functioning is a crucial factor in the degree of independence of the elderly, while cognitive impairment can predict the loss of functions and even death. There is a close and direct relationship between social support and cognitive functioning, and social support-preventable cognitive impairment (Bassuk and Berkman, 1999). A recent cross-sectional study demonstrated that intergenerational support improved the cognitive functioning of the elderly in rural China (Wang, Li and Zhang, 2005). However, within the context of high levels of migration of working-age adults from rural to urban areas of China, multivariate analysis of longitudinal data on changes in the cognitive functioning of the elderly is required. This article presents an analysis of selected data from a 3-wave longitudinal survey conducted from 2001 to 2006 among 997 parents aged 60 and older living in rural Anhui Province, China, showing that intergenerational transfers, especially financial transfers, have a significant influence on the changes in the cognitive functioning of the elderly. As such, the findings bring a new dimension to the current scientific discussion on the impacts of changing traditional patterns of intergenerational support for elderly persons in China.
Is fertility behaviour changing in Pakistan? Evidence from rural Punjab and the North-West frontier province, 1997 and 2004
Pakistan has lagged behind other nations with regard to several indicators of development, including primary school enrolment, infant and maternal mortality rates, and the availability of basic infrastructure (Easterly, 2003). The nation’s fertility transition experience has also differed from that of other countries. Until the early 1990s, the total fertility rate in Pakistan remained above six births per woman, even as total fertility in less developed countries as a whole had declined from 6.0 to 3.8 between 1960 and 1990 (United Nations, 2007). A “stubborn resistance to change” in fertility behaviour (Sathar and Casterline, 1998, p. 773) was attributed to a historically ineffective national population programme (Hakim, 2001; Robinson, Shah and Shah, 1981). Low levels of education, restricted household and social roles for women, conservative views about family planning and underinvestment in rural development were also thought to hinder the impetus to limit family size (Sathar and Casterline, 1998; Shah and Cleland, 1993).
Household type and poor older persons in India
Asia-Pacific high-level forum declaration on population and development: Fifteen years after Cairo
Fifteen years ago, the world came together at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo and agreed by consensus on a 20-year Programme of Action that integrated a comprehensive range of population, development and human rights issues, necessary for ensuring that each person lives a healthy and dignified life.
Levels and trends in child malnutrition in Bangladesh
Malnutrition is a persistent problem for both children and mother throughout the world. In developing countries malnutrition is an important root of infant and young child mortality, morbidity and reduced life span. It is considered that if malnutrition cannot be reduced and prevented, it will be impossible to achieve many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including the goals on extreme poverty and hungry, primary education, child mortality, and incidence of infectious diseases. The World Summit for Children in 1990 recognized malnutrition as a contributing factor in half of all deaths occurring among young children. The nutrition goals for the decade 1990-2000 include reduction of both moderate and severe protein-energy malnutrition among children under five years of age by one half of the 1990 levels (UNICEF, 1990). However, the reduction of child malnutrition by half in a decade was one of the most ambitious goals set by the various summits convened during the 1990s. As a result, all of the nutrition goals were not successfully achieved during the period 1990-2000. As a step towards building a strong foundation for attaining the internally agreed development goals, including the MDGs, a consistent set of intermediate targets and benchmarks during the course of the decade (2000-2010) were set to help the unmet goals (UNICEF, 2003; United Nations, 2001). One of the most important goals regarding nutrition during the period 2000-2010 was the one on reducing child malnutrition among children aged under five by at least one third of the 2000 levels, with special attention paid to children under two years of age—especially reduction of stunted and underweighted children by at least one third during the period 2000-2010 (UNICEF, 2002).
The global economic crisis and its likely impact on population activities
The global economic crisis of 2008-2009 calls to mind the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1999. Are there any lessons from that crisis that one ought to keep in mind as one considers the likely impact of the present crisis on the social sector in general and on reproductive health in particular?
The inaccessibility and utilization of antenatal health-care services in Balkh Province of Afghanistan
More than 500,000 maternal deaths occur worldwide every year, of which a quarter to a third of all deaths is the result of pregnancy-related complications (WHO, 2000). The regional variation in reproductive health outcome is also very wide as about 99 per cent of maternal deaths occur in developing countries. A woman living in Africa faces 200 times greater risk of dying from complications related to pregnancy than a woman living in an industrialized country (WHO, 2000).
Population ageing in the Pacific islands: Emerging trends and future challenges
At the beginning of the twentieth century, most Pacific islands were still recovering from the high death rates that followed from the introduction of new diseases into the region in the eighteenth and nineteenth century and therefore had low rates of population growth. Some countries did not recover from high mortality until the 1930s, and colonial authorities were content with increasing fertility as it signalled a return to population health. However, fertility rates accelerated for several decades until by the 1970s the total fertility rate (TFR) had reached 7 children per woman or even higher in some countries/areas. Rapid social change and increasing government support for family planning resulted in the TFR falling steadily over several decades so that by the beginning of the twenty-first century several countries had TFRs below 3.
Gender and remittance flows in Viet Nam during economic transformation
Remittances are growing in importance in our globalizing world and, consequently, they are receiving greater attention from researchers. At the microeconomic level, researchers tend to use household surveys to examine why people send remittances, how the characteristics of remittance recipients compare to those of non-recipients, how remittances impact poverty and the income distribution, if remittances are spent for consumption or investment purposes, and in order to access the role of remittances as an insurance mechanism. However, an issue that has received less attention is the role of gender in remittance decisions, from the perspective of both senders and receivers. In Viet Nam, the doi moi economic reforms that began in 1986 have led to large-scale economic transformation in the country, and gender has emerged as an important distinction for understanding how economic growth benefits society and the various subgroups of the population (Long and others, 2000). Viet Nam represents a case of transition from the traditional patriarchal social structure of Confucianism, to a structure of formal equality under socialism, and currently, with further changes taking place, to a market economy. Using the Viet Nam Living Standards Surveys (VLSSs) for 1992-1993 and 1997-1998, which include information about remittance flows at the individual level, attempts are made to shed some light on the role of gender in remittance decisions in Viet Nam during the period of rapid economic transformation.
Towards gender equality in Asia and the Pacific: Response, progress and challenges
The Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference (Fifth APPC) held in Bangkok in December, 2002 recognized that one of the major challenges in linking population to development was related to gender equality - a persistent struggle to equalize opportunities between men and women.
Migration and Asia: Reflections on continuities and change
Empowerment of women and its impact on population
Economic activity in post retirement life in India
Economic independence, family support and perceived health status of the elderly: Recent evidence from India
The sharp dip in fertility rates in recent years, combined with falling mortality rates over the last four decades, is leading to an increase in the absolute and relative size of the elderly population in developing countries (Rajan, Sarma and Mishra, 2003). It has been observed that the speed of population ageing is very fast in some countries of South and South-East Asia (Population Reference Bureau, 2006). As a result, issues related to ageing are becoming important in those countries (Liebig and Rajan, 2003).