Doc. 9405

8 April 2002

Demographic change and sustainable development

Recommendation 1515 (2001)

Reply from the Committee of Ministers

adopted at the 790^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (26 March 2002)

1.       The Committee of Ministers took note with interest of Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1515 (2001) on demographic change and sustainable development.

2.       The Committee of Ministers shares the Assembly’s view that demographic change and sustainable development are closely linked to the health issues raised in paragraph 1 of the recommendation. It also recognises that compliance with the objectives set in the Programme of Action adopted by the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994 is a desirable goal that will improve reproductive health.

3.       Recommendation 1515 (2001) provides excellent guidelines for future work in this area. The Committee of Ministers wishes to draw attention to the responsibilities of two committees in particular which might, in forthcoming activity programmes, play a part in responding to the concerns expressed in paragraph 8 of the recommendation, as well as in pursuing the Council of Europe’s participation in the ICPD monitoring and assessment process, in co-operation with other intergovernmental organisations and institutions in Europe.

4.       It refers in this connection to the European Population Committee (CAHP), whose general terms of reference are to study and analyse the main demographic trends in Europe and their interaction with social cohesion policies, particularly in areas such as the family, fertility, health and mortality.

5.       The Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the Assembly that future terms of reference established by the CAHP in relation to its research activities will include a specific reference to the Programme of Action of the ICPD. Work undertaken along those lines should facilitate the monitoring of progress made in the relevant issues dealt with by the Programme.

6.       A number of activities programmed by the CAHP already take account of the Assembly’s proposals, such as launching, in 2002, a study of the reproductive health of young Europeans, and also drawing up a study of interaction between education campaigns and programmes and reproductive health, to appear in the draft programme of activities for 2003. Such study would aim at identifying effective teaching methods to promote reproductive health. Furthermore, it would seem important to make the results of this work known to concerned committees, such as the European Health Committee (CDSP), and bodies of the Council of Europe with a view to creating synergies between the various fields of activities of the Organisation.

7.       In reply to paragraph 8.ii of the recommendation, which concerns the preparation of a recommendation to governments on the right to free choice in matters of sexuality and reproduction, the Committee of Ministers wishes to mention the very detailed work done in this area between 1995 and 1998 by the second committee to which reference should be made, and referred to by the Assembly, namely the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG).

8.       At that time a draft recommendation was prepared by the CDEG on the basis of the work done by the multidisciplinary Group of Specialists on the right to free choice in matters of reproduction and lifestyles (EG-S-RP) and was submitted for an opinion to other Council of Europe committees. The consultations carried out showed that the concept of “right to free choice in matters of sexuality and reproduction”, which was the core of the project, remained open to discussion in legal terms. The substantial differences in legislation and practice between the member states with regard, for example, to abortion and sex education made it impossible to reach a compromise solution acceptable to all the member states.

9.       Work on the subject was accordingly incorporated as far as possible into the CDEG’s other activities, such as trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation, the position of women in post-conflict situations and the promotion of the basic rights of young women.

10.       The questions raised and measures advocated by the Assembly in its recommendation reveal the multidisciplinary nature of the issue. The Committee of Ministers is pursuing its discussion of the advisability of reconsidering the preparation of a draft recommendation on the right to free choice in matters of reproduction, especially as part of a more intensive use of the mainstreaming approach to equality between women and men involving other steering committees concerned with these issues in the work on the subject.

11.       It also recognises the importance of developing some further joint projects on reproduction and gender equality in the area of population and health. Such projects could be geared in particular to meeting the needs of adolescents, notably to contribute to their education and awareness and thus foster behavioural changes and improvements in reproductive health.

12.       The preparation of a comparative study on legislation and practice relating to the genital mutilation of women and girls in the member states could be envisaged as part of the Council of Europe’s activities aimed at countering violence against women. The Committee of Ministers considers that a study of this kind could inspire new legislative measures by the member states to promote the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.