Special Focus
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Fall/Winter 2014, Vol. XXVI No.3-4 Table of Contents SPECIAL FOCUS: 1 SPECIAL FOCUS Family Planning Policy: a case study of FAMILY PLANNING POLICY: China and India A CASE STUDY OF CHINA AND INDIA 5 HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT The Implementation of Incineration for Waste Reduction Environmental Links to Breast Cancer Tackling the Fresh Water Crisis: a shared responsibility 12 FOOD FOR THOUGHT Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns 14 MORE FOOD FOR THOUGHT Implementing Renewable Sources of Energy in Developing Countries 16 DID YOU KNOW? Carbon Emissions: how the world’s worst offenders are making a change Granite Walls of Grand Central Station 17 GOOD NEWS Increase of Tiger Population in Nepal Approved Leukemia Drug: makes waves in cancer research KWIBUKA 20: remember. reunite. renew. Children are Finally Eating their: fruits and vegetables Panthera Programme Makes Strides to: save indigenous lives in ghana SOURCE: www.Census.Gov, 2012 19 MORE DID YOU KNOW? World Food Supply at Risk CHINA AND INDIA POPULATION GROWTH 19 VOICES 2026: CHINA GROWTH PEAKS AND INDIA OVERTAKES AS 23rd International Conference on LARGEST POPULATION IN THE WORLD Health and Enviroment: GLOBAL PARTNERS FOR GOBAL SOLUTIONS UN DPI/NGO Conference The linkages between contraception, climate change and human popula- UN General Assembly 69th Session tion with the environment are increasingly surfacing. From an era when such UN Climate Change Summit 2014 NY Climate Week discussions were disregarded during negotiations, they are now being met NERC Worshops in Environmental Science at Oxford University with interest. Finding evidence in reports, speeches and articles, synergies Nelson Mandela International Day 2014 between human health, population growth and the environment is gradually 22 POINT OF VIEW: approaching the status of a political priority. This article presents a compara- Investing in Internships: paid vs. unpaid tive analysis on the family planning policies adopted by the two most densely populated countries in the world - India and China. Offering policy recom- Education brings choices. mendations and highlighting the key role family planning plays in resource Choices bring power. management, the article critically investigates the ‘One-Child’ policy of China World Ecology Report and the National Population Program adopted by India. is printed on recycled paper. POPULATION POLICY ANALYSIS India: National Population Policy China: Successive five-year plans in India have provided the frame- Family Planning Policy work and funding for the development of the national Introduced in 1979 to alleviate social, economic and envi- healthcare system. In 1951, India was the first country in the ronmental problems in the People’s Republic of China, the world to introduce a family planning program. Subsequent- Family Planning Policy -- colloquially known as the ‘one child ly, the second and third five-year plans placed emphasis on policy’ -- is responsible for averting 200 million births be- establishing rural birth-control clinics, making birth control tween 1979-2009 . China, under the leadership of Chairman methods (apart from ‘the pill’) and sterilization available, Mao Zedong, witnessed a population growth of 400 mil- and promoting the use of IUDs and condoms. Despite all lion between the years 1949-76. Such escalation stemmed these efforts the population growth rate stood at 2.2% . from Mao’s belief that a large population empowered the country, thus discouraging family planning programs. In 1979, the pace of population growth proved overwhelm- ing, straining the nation’s natural resources and compelling Chinese leaders to mandate a nationwide policy on family planning. The policy dictates families to conceive only a sin- gle child per couple. However, the rule is subject to many exceptions and its implementation varies according to the different locations and regions of the country. In most rural areas, families are allowed to apply for a second child if only their first-born is female or suffers from physical disabilities, mental illness, or intellectual disability. Any additional chil- dren result in heavy fines; monetary penalties and the par- ents are often denied bonuses at their workplace . Furthermore as of 2011, families in which either parent is a single sibling are allowed to have a second child. Foreigners and residents of the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are exempt from the policy. In 2007, ap- proximately 35.9% of China’s population was subject to the ‘one-child’ restriction. While there has been concern about the policy’s human rights violations and its indirect encour- agement of forced abortions, an imbalanced sex ratio and female infanticide, the Pew Research Centre reported that SOURCE: http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/indiaatglance.html Provisional population totals at a glance. Census of India 2011, Ministry 76% of the Chinese population supported the policy. of Home Affairs, Government of India Thereafter, the fourth five-year plan, espousing one of the most coercive sterilization programs ever, was initiated by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In 1976, the state of Rajasthan made sterilizations compulsory for men with more than two children. However, despite such efforts the population growth rate increased to only 2.37%. In 1990, major reforms were introduced where method-specific con- traceptive targets were abolished and emphasis shifted to decentralization of planning at the district level and imple- mentation of programs to fulfil unmet needs. In 2000, the National Population Policy (NPP) articulated the new broad- based approach towards population stabilization and set out long-term policy goals. A National Population Commis- SOURCE: https://notevenpast.org/violating-the-rights-of-humans-one- sion was set up under the chairmanship of the Prime Minis- child-policy-in-china-1979/ Government sign in Tangshan Township: "For a prosperous, pow- ter to review, monitor and direct the implementation of the erful nation and a happy family, please practice family planning." NPP and to promote inter-sectorial coordination. World InformationTransfer 2 World Ecology Report Fall-Winter 2014 The National Population Policy of India attempts to incor- protecting resources for future generations. While fam- porate accessible reproductive health care, increased out- ily planning programs have proven to aid development lay for and outreach of education, basic amenities such as in a country by limiting the over-exhaustion of its natural sanitation and clean water, empowerment of women and resources, such policies often encounter a social backlash provision for transport and communication for stabilizing and, therefore, remain relatively marginalized from political populations . China offers a more effective stance in fam- priorities. ily planning in comparison to the current state of affairs in India. However, while both countries adopt varying strate- POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS gies to curb population growth, one can observe a common mission: effective and adequate resource management. China: Alternative Methods IMPACT OF FAMILY PLANNING ON Critics who acknowledge challenges stemming from Chi- ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT na’s population policies suggest alternative, less intrusive methods. They uphold the notion that delayed and spaced Environmental Resource Management: births over an extended period of time would achieve simi- Environmental Resource Management is broadly defined as lar results. the protection of ecosystem services (services that directly benefit mankind). Contrary to popular misbelief that Envi- Principle and Practice ronmental Resource Management is the management of The ‘one-child’ policy has been the subject of much interna- the environment itself, it is rather the interaction and im- tional concern for being in violation of the Universal Dec- pact of human societies on the environment . Through anal- laration of Human Rights. As of 2011, the policy has been ysis of the economic and scientific variables, Environmental relaxed and many exceptions to the rule exist. Non-Han Citi- Resource Management strives to maintain the integrity of zens (minority groups) are permitted to conceive two chil- ecosystems and tries to identify the factors that bridge the dren as also couples who are, themselves, single siblings. gap between the demand for natural resources and their However, the rule is enforced primarily among the rural protection. populations as compared to their urban counterparts. Family Planning and Environmental Resource Management Sex-based birth rate disparity The current international and political discourse on Climate The National Population and Family Planning Commission Change and Sustainable Development highlights the many estimates that there will be 30 million more men than wom- linkages between human settlement and growth on the en- en in 2020 that may lead to social instability and courtship- vironment. ‘Population’ is, indeed, related to but not identi- motivated emigration. The United Nations Fund for Popula- cal with family planning. Family planning is a basic health- tion activities strongly promotes the equality of males and care service aimed at improving the health and welfare of females in the country. women, children, families and communities. Population policies, on the other hand, aim to balance the country’s population size with economic and social development and the availability of natural resources. At the Family Plan- ning Summit of July 2012 a