United Nations technical and financial assistance to population programmes and related statistical activities in Africa : trends and implications

Abstract

United Nations technical ad financial assistance to population programmes in Africa received significantly greater support with the establishment of the United Nations Fund for Population activities (UNFPA - now United Nations Population Fund), in 1969. The population programmes in most African countries were not well developed and United Nations assistance was relatively limited before the 1974 World Population Conference in Bucharest, and its "World Population Plan of Action" recommended that population issues be addressed in a larger context of economic and social development. Following Bucharest, UNFPA provided a more substantial financial assistance to population programmes in Africa. The International Population Conference in Mexico in 1984 reaffirmed the need for international technical assistance in population to African countries. This paper reviews the technical and financial assistance of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Development (UNDESD; ex-UNDTCD) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to population programmes in African countries since the Second African Population Conference (APC.2), 1984.