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An ongoing journey: review of ICPD + 25 in China

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Abstract

The present review is the first to be conducted since the adoption of UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; it examines the implementation of the PoA/ICPD in China since 1994 and its contributions to the achievement of the SDGs in China in the areas of population and development, gender equality, and health improvement. The review demonstrated that China has made tremendous progress in implementing the principles of the PoA in its national context over the past 25 years since ICPD in Cairo in 1994. Still, the ICPD agenda remains unfinished in some respects and further efforts are required, particularly given the changing situation in China.

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Notes

  1. The official text of the call for “Two Reorientations” is as follows: “The family planning programme in China must make two reorientations in both its guiding ideology and programme approach, i.e., from a narrow focus on family planning alone to closely integrating it with economic and social development, and addressing population issues in a comprehensive manner; and from implementing the programme primarily relying on social constraints to gradually institutionalizing a mechanism to integrate rewards-driven with social constraints along with a coordinated IEC, comprehensive services, and scientific management” (Peng 1995).

  2. The “six elements of quality of care” include providing adequate choice of contraceptive methods, introducing knowledge of contraceptive methods, competent technical skills, good interpersonal relationships, thorough follow-up services, and multifunctional reproductive health services (Bruce 1990).

  3. The first six SFPC pilots on QoC, initiated in 1995, include Nong’an County of Jilin Province, Liaoyang County of Liaoning Province, Jimo City of Shandong Province, Yandu County of Jiangsu Province, Deqing County of Zhejiang Province, and Luwan District of Shanghai. The next five SFPC pilots on QoC experiment, initiated in 1997, include Xuanwu District of Beijing, Heping District of Tianjin, Xuanwu District of Nanjing, Zhuzhou City of Hunan Province, Liuyang County of Hunan Province.

  4. Please refer to a length report on the reform, “Parental Discretion, China Tries Easing Once-Brutal Approach to Family Planning, As Population Growth Slows, The ‘Womb Police’ Yield to Ms. Liu’s Gentler Way. Is a ‘Two-Child’ Policy Next?”, published in the front page of The Wall Street Journal on February 2, 2001 (Chang 2001).

  5. In fact, as a later part of this report explains, the one-child-per-couple policy is only a general description of China's family planning policy, which is factually more complicated than the one-child-per-couple policy in China (see Gu et al. 2007 for details). This report uses this customary statement here.

  6. The World Bank has updated the international poverty line to USD 1.90 a day (in 2011 prices) since 2015. The previous line was USD 1.25 a day in 2005 prices. Poverty headcount ratio at USD 1.90 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than USD 1.90 a day at 2011 international prices.

  7. The “4 Frees” are free anti-virus drugs and exposure to anti-virus treatment for HIV/AIDS patients who are rural residents or urban residents in economic hardship without participation in basic medical insurance; free counseling services and preliminary screening of HIV virus antibody for those voluntarily receiving HIV/AIDS counseling and virus testing; free provision of drugs blocking mother-to-infant transmission and infant test agents to pregnant women affected by HIV/AIDS; and free compulsory education for orphans of HIV/AIDS patients. “1 Care (一关怀)” refers to government care for treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS patients, i.e., including HIV/AIDS patients and their families living in economic hardship in the scope of government subsidies and provide them with living allowances according to relevant social relief policies; and supporting people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS patients to engage in income-generating activities as they are able.

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Acknowledgements

This report is financially supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) (Grant No. 0000138623) in China as part of its collaboration with the China Population and Development Research Centre (CPDRC), but the views expressed herein are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations or any government bodies or institutions. The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to those who have contributed significantly to this report: Mme. Hongyan Liu, Deputy Director-General, Mrs. Mengjun Tang and Mr. Zhixin Wei from the China Population and Development Research Center for their efficient supports; Mr. Hongtao Hu, Prof. Zhenming Xie and Mr. Yunpeng Wei for their valued suggestions. The authors also wish to thank the UNFPA team in China country office—Dr. Babatunde Ahonsi, Representative of UNFPA in China, Ms. Suren Navchaa, Deputy Representative of UNFPA in China, and Dr. Guoping Jia, Programme Specialist for Population and Development in UNFPA in China—for their valuable insights.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Population and Development Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Baochang Gu

  2. School of Labor Economics, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China

    Zhuoyan Mao

  3. School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Mengyun Hu

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  1. Baochang Gu
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  2. Zhuoyan Mao
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Correspondence to Zhuoyan Mao.

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Gu, B., Mao, Z. & Hu, M. An ongoing journey: review of ICPD + 25 in China. China popul. dev. stud. 4, 1–24 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42379-020-00044-8

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