Population policy and role of international organizations: case of sub-Saharan Africa

Keita Ohashi, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Population policy for the reduction of fertility levels has been applied in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1960s after their independence from former European colonies. There is no doubt that international organizations have played a major role in influencing African governments to formulate and implement population policies. Not many studies, however, have been undertaken to evaluate the role of international organizations and its impact. In this study, the role of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a major developing partner to promote family planning programmes (which later shifted to reproductive health programmes after the Cairo Conference in 1994), will be reviewed in terms of theory, ideology and practice together with recent policy trend with the ICPD reviews (ICPD+5, 10, 15). This study also reviews the status and patterns of the fertility transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa in focusing on the recent trend in fertility decline with available DHS data.