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III.MAKINGOPERATIONALTHEPRIORITYMEASURESOFTHEMONTEVIDEO
CONSENSUSONPOPULATIONANDDEVELOPMENT
ChapterA
FULL INTEGRATIONOFPOPULATIONDYNAMICS INTOSUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT
WITHGENDEREQUALITYANDRESPECTFORHUMANRIGHTS
It is impossible to adopt forward-looking policies for improving people’s lives without taking into
account population dynamics, which determine the number of people, where they will live, and the
composition and age structure of future populations. Population is intrinsic to development: it is shaped
by economic, social and environmental forces and in turn it gives shape to future economic, social and
environmental conditions. As the preamble to the Consensus notes, “
population dynamics —growth and
decline, changes in the age structure, urbanization, migration and changing household and family
structures— influence the opportunities for human development, are shaped by the decisions that people
take and are essential for planning economic and social growth as well as for the three pillars of
sustainable development: social, economic and environmental
.”
This first chapter of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development presents three
main topics that characterize the regional vision of development: development that eradicates poverty and
breaks the cycles of exclusion and inequality (PM 1); a human rights approach to development (PM 2);
and development that is sustainable (PMs 5 and 6). There is an insistence throughout all the chapters of
theConsensus that this development is intrinsically linked topopulation dynamics.
In addition to delineating the regional vision of development, chapter A also underlines the
importance of integrating population issues into public policies and planning in order to achieve the
development goals mentioned above. The Consensus calls for establishing an institutional structure to
address population and development issues in a comprehensive and sustainable manner. The central task
here is to ensure full integration of the population dynamics into the planning of sustainable development,
sectoral policies, and public policies and programmes (PM 4). Themainstreaming of population dynamics
into sustainable development planning is a central focus of population and development activities.
Consequently, it must involve various institutions of government responsible, for example, for the areas
of health, education, pensions, gender and planning. This broad range of public agencies involved in
population and development issues underscores the need to designate a coordination body within
government (PM 3) to ensure integrated treatment of population and development topics.
The Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development echoes the calls made at the
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994. Chapter A of the Consensus
reflects the follow-up to the three main goals of chapter III of ICPD on “Interlinkages between
population, sustainable economic growth and sustainable development”: Goal 3.4 on integration of
population concerns in development and planning strategies; Goal 3.16 on population and development
policies and programmes aimed at achieving poverty eradication, sustained economic growth in the
context of sustainable development and sustainable patterns of consumption and production; and Goal
3.28 on population, environmental and poverty eradication factors are integrated in sustainable
development policies, plans and programmes and the reduction of both unsustainable consumption and
production patterns.
