Quality Education

Despite occasional efforts to reverse the consensus articulated in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), for almost a decade the recommendations contained in this Programme of Action have provided the guiding framework for expanding and reorienting reproductive health programmes in the Asian and Pacific region. Reproductive health in the above-mentioned Programme is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes” (para. 7.2). Reproductive health services are viewed as a basic right through which women and men can express their reproductive choices.

The rural urban disparities in health outcomes in India are often attributed to urban bias in allocation of resources and location of health-care services. Statistics clearly show that the bed population ratio is higher in urban areas and that those regional inequalities have not seen any significant decline over time (Duggal and others, 1995). This regional imbalance is there in both the public and the private health sector. Further, public spending on health care is also disproportionately higher in urban areas. However, while critiquing the regional bias, it is to be examined whether the urban areas in India, where 22 per cent of the population is residing in slums, has the required number of public health-care facilities. Unlike other urban areas, the matter requires special attention in an urban metropolis in India that is characterized by poor living conditions making the public more vulnerable to diseases, and where poverty levels are likely to be similar, if not worse, than that in rural areas. This could be understood by examining who utilizes those services and for what reasons.

Thailand is by all odds one of the most successful economic and demographic stories in South-east Asia, an area in which other success stories can also be found. The average annual growth of Thailand’s gross national product (GNP) from 1960 to the early 1980s was almost 8 per cent and, during the period 1970 to 1985, the country’s population growth rate fell from over 3 per cent per annum to about 1.5 per cent.

The high population growth in many developing countries is caused by relatively low mortality and continuing high fertility. Under those circumstances, it is difficult to deny that reducing fertility is crucial for curbing rapid population growth. Nonetheless, because the health status of a population has an obvious bearing on mortality, its importance as a variable affecting the quality of the population has also been recognized (United Nations, 1973, p. 107). Therefore, while fertility reduction is an important factor for curbing population growth rates, mortality (or health) control is required for improving the quality of the population.

This study will focus on mortality changes in the ESCAP region over the last two decades, predominantly from 1980-1985 to 2000-2005, but will also compare this experience with that of the three preceding decades, 1950-1955 to 1980-1985, in order to achieve perspective. That perspective will be often confined to the 99 per cent of the ESCAP region’s population that live in Asia, though we will frequently employ figures for the whole of Asia. In contrast to a previous report on the ESCAP area, we will focus on anomalies in mortality change that offer the possibility of improving the mortality experience.

In regards to the demographic-oriented indicators traditionally used to measure the progress made by population programmes, the Asian and Pacific region is viewed as a much heralded success. The current total fertility rate (TFR) of the region is 2.3 and the annual population growth rate is just 1.1 (ESCAP, 2005). There has also been progress in indicators that reflect the more inclusive concept of reproductive health based on supporting individuals to achieve their reproductive health goals. The quality of reproductive health care and services has improved, and reproductive rights, rather than demographic targets, now underlie most reproductive health programmes in the region.

« Rendre aux professeurs leur qualité de héros formidables de la vie parce qu’ils changent les destins des enfants, et ils changent le futur du monde. » Tel est l’objectif ambitieux du film documentaire Profs de l’impossible (titre provisoire), actuellement réalisé par la société de production française Winds. L’idée, soufflée par l’UNESCO qui est partenaire du film, est de donner à voir, à travers plusieurs portraits, des enseignants qui s’investissent au-delà de ce que requiert généralement le métier, et de montrer l’universalisme de leur engagement.

Réussir là où l’école traditionnelle a échoué. C’est le défi que doivent relever chaque jour les enseignants du Centre d’intégration scolaire de Montréal (Canada) qui accueille des élèves aux parcours accidentés. Gagner leur confiance est un préalable à tout apprentissage.

Par leurs campagnes de dénonciation de la violence de genre et des féminicides, comme #NiUnaMenos (« Pas une de moins »), et leur combat pour la légalisation et la dépénalisation de l’avortement, les femmes d’Argentine montent au créneau et transcendent les clivages. À 90 ans, la juriste Nelly Minyersky est une de leurs représentantes les plus actives. Au point d’être baptisée par certains « la reine verte », de la couleur des foulards des partisans d’un avortement libre et sûr, qui défendent une « loi pour ne pas mourir ».