World Development Report 1984

8 The policy agenda
"Population policy" is the province of govern- change the signals that otherwise induce high ferment.
By choosing how many resources and how tility. Effective policy requires action by many minmuch
political authority to invest in a policy, a gov- istries, and thus an interministerial approach to
ernment determines the policy's effectiveness. In setting policy and monitoring its results. And it
its broadest sense, population policy is concerned requires clear direction and support from the most
with population distribution as well as with popu- senior levels of government.
lation growth. This chapter discusses population Family planning programs and other socioecopolicy
to reduce population growth. In the area of nomic policies that can reduce fertility are often
fertility reduction, inaction is itself a choice which pursued by governments to achieve overall develhas
implications for both future policy and the opment objectives, irrespective of their effect on
room for maneuver that a government will later fertility. What distinguishes countries with a popuhave.
Religious and cultural conditions cannot be lation policy from those without one is an explicit
ignored in designing an effective policy to reduce demographic objective and the institutional mechfertility;
actions culturally and politically accept- anisms to translate that objective into effective
able in one country might be rejected in others. But policy.
religious and cultural characteristics do not rule
out effective action. In every part of the developing Policy steps
world during the past decade some governments
have made significant progress in developing a Table 8.1 summarizes the current state of populapolicy
to reduce population growth. tion policy in twenty-six developing countries with
Choosing from policy options is a matter for local 15 million people or more. In the table, an x shows
decision. But foreign aid for population programs those countries which have already taken a particcan
help developing countries meet their popula- ular policy step. Countries are listed by region,
tion policy objectives and can increase the impact and within regions in order of their 1982 family
of aid in other parts of the economy. This chapter planning "index," explained in Chapter 6.
examines the elements of an effective population Developing a population policy takes time.
policy, the main policy issues in each region of the Countries in which the policy to reduce population
developing world, and how aid donors can com- growth is recent tend to have taken fewer of the
plement the efforts of developing countries. policy steps listed in the table. Others-China,
India, Korea, and Sri Lanka, for instance-have
Population policy had longstanding policies and tend to have taken
more steps. But there are important exceptions.
A population policy to lower fertility needs to be Countries such as Indonesia and Mexico have
distinguished from public support for family plan- developed strong programs in a short period. In
ning services. Family planning support has wider contrast, programs in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and
social goals than fertility reduction but more lim- Pakistan have made little progress for more than a
ited population goals than overall population pol- decade. Progress can also be reversed. In five
icy. Family planning programs provide informa- countries not shown in the table-Chile, Costa
tion and services to help people achieve their own Rica, Fiji, Jamaica, and Panama-family planning
fertility objectives. By contrast, population policy indices have declined by as much as half in the
involves explicit demographic goals. It employs a past decade. In some countries population policy
wide range of policies, direct and indirect, to aims to increase population growth (see Box 8.1).
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