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The electronic preparation of this document has been done by the
Population Information Network(POPIN) of the United Nations Population
Division in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme
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 AS WRITTEN


WCC'S INTERVENTION AT THE UN WORLD CONFERENCE

ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT

CAIRO 5-13 SEPTEMBER 1994

Mr. President,

 The World Council of Churches is grateful to the members of the
Preparatory Committee and the Secretary General for having provided a
comprehensive agenda for a global approach to some of the most urgent
questions confronting the world today. With 324 member churches of the
Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox Christian traditions, located in every
region of the world, the World Council of Churches is very much aware
that these questions are not only urgent but also complex. Only an
integrated approach, which does not isolate population from other
indicators of human and environmental well-being, can offer hope for
progress toward a more just, egalitarian and humane society.

 Christian theology and ethics consider issues related to population and
development as questions of justice and injustice, and thus intimately
related to power and powerlessness. The debate cannot be responsibly
engaged without recognizing how it is shaped by the imbalance of power,
and its effects on poor people, people of color and women. This is
especially pronounced in situations which migrants face. A Christian
response to issues regarding population and development will advocate
for substantial social reforms, among them more equitable distribution
of land and income, better opportunities for education and employment,
elimination of discrimination based on race or gender and substantial
improvements in access to affordable housing, food and health care.
Participation of all the people in determining policies is critical to
such social reforms.

 The WCC is concerned that the present debate tends to link population
with an idea of development that presupposes sustained economic growth.
Indeed, we would contend that it is better to place the issues of
population in the context of improving the quality of life. Quality of
life is enhanced when people can attain their full potential, when the
full spectrum of human rights is respected, when people are subjects
rather than objects of policies, when they can make choices in life, and
most of all, when basic and spiritual needs are fulfilled.

 The WCC has affirmed the versatility and endurance of the family under
pressure from rapid changes in society. The family as the basic social
unit prepares individuals for changing social conditions. WCC
acknowledges that a great variety of patterns of family life exist,
ranging from the traditional extended family through smaller family
units to the nuclear family and the single-parent family. There is no
single normative model of what a family should be.

 Mr. President, much of the religious discourse and the debate leading
up to this World Conference has been focused on the difficult ethical,
theological and doctrinal issues related to human sexuality and
especially on family planning, contraception and abortion. Among the
churches within the fellowship of the World Council there is a wide
spectrum of approaches to these issues. While respecting these
differences, we are seeking to encourage and maintain an open,

constructive dialogue on them, both among ourselves and with other
churches and people of other faiths.

 Though there is a variety of positions among member churches of WCC,
many of them assert the right of families to practice fertility
regulation by various methods. We do not accept the use of abortion as a
family planning method. However, among WCC member churches there are
some who hold that debates regarding abortion which do not recognize the
concrete realities of women's lives that shape the context in which
abortion decisions must be made are not credible. A growing number
recognizes that the unjust treatment and systemic exploitation of women
make legal recourse to safe, voluntary abortion a moral necessity.
Dogmatic assertions which affirm the sanctity of life but ignore the
context in which conception takes place fail to bring that assertion to
bear on the real circumstances of life.

 Mr. President, several specific problems which women in so-called Third
World nations and poor women in many industrialized nations are facing
need urgently to be corrected. Among these are:

     * vertically- imposed family planning programmes with statistical
targets and various incentives;

     * use of controversial forms of contraception, which poses threats
to the integrity an health of women;

     * social, traditional and cultural practices and constraints which
perpetuate the subjugation of women.

 These problems disproportionately affect certain groups of women, e.g.
black, Indigenous and poor women.

 We hope, that this conference will stimulate more just, effective and
humane approaches which ensure the quality of life of women, men and
children everywhere.

 This cause is worthy of our best efforts.

 Thank you, Mr. President.
