AFRO-NETS> Population and Reproductive Health Discussion Forum

[Dieter Neuvians MD <neuvians@mweb.co.zw>]

Population and Reproductive Health Discussion Forum
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from the World Bank Institute's Adapting to Change Learning Program 
on Population, Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform:
http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/reprohealth/

Beginning this month, the Adapting to Change Learning Program will 
host an electronic discussion forum via e-mail for the larger commu-
nity of practice interested in current topics and relevant research 
in the fields of population and reproductive health. Each month we 
will post recently published articles on selected issues in popula-
tion and reproductive health and will launch a discussion to be mod-
erated by the author(s). Participants can post questions and comments 
on the articles to which everyone is invited to respond and comment. 
We hope that this discussion forum will contribute to building a com-
mon understanding of new knowledge and recent research on population 
and RH issues. 

The moderated discussion will be held for three weeks. To sign up and 
to access the article and discussion forum, visit our website at 
http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/reprohealth/distance.html or 
http://www.reprohealth.org/distance.html

We look forward to a lively and exciting discussion and sharing of 
ideas!

April?s e-discussion focuses on population and poverty with Tom 
Merrick?s recent article ?Population and Poverty: New Views on an Old 
Controversy? in the March issue of International Family Planning Per-
spectives published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, that is also 
available on their website at: 
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2804102.html 


A synopsis of the paper is below.

?Population and Poverty: New Views on an Old Controversy? 
by Tom Merrick, March 2002, International Family Planning Perspec-
tives, Vol. 28, No. 1.

Demographers and economists have been examining the role played by 
rapid population growth in explaining the differences between devel-
oping countries that are reducing poverty and those that are not. 
Such efforts may help to identify the policies and program interven-
tions that are most likely to reduce the numbers of people worldwide 
who are living in extreme poverty. There are two major contrasting 
views about the relationship between population growth and poverty: 
that high fertility causes poverty and low fertility is the key to 
reducing poverty; and that economic policies are the main determi-
nants of poverty reduction. The author asserts that neither fertility 
decline alone nor present models of economic development will neces-
sarily reduce poverty in developing counties. Rather, a combination 
of slower population growth, economic development and reduced gender 
inequality is needed to achieve that goal.

Please sign up for the Population and RH discussion forum! We encour-
age you to visit and take part in the discussion by e-mail. If you 
are unable to sign up via our website, you may sign up by e-mail by 
contacting 
Ms. Elizabeth Szollosi
mailto:eszollosi@worldbank.org

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