116. Telegram 3969 From the Embassy in Romania to the Department of State, August 31, 1974, 1605Z.1 2
TELEGRAM
Departmentof State
BUCHAREST 3969
P R 311605Z AUG 74
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9991
INFO USUN NY 443
USMISSION GENEVA
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
AMEMBASSY SAIGON
SECTION 1 OF 3 BUCHAREST 3969
E.O. 11652: GDS
TAGS: OCON UNWPC SPOP
SUBJECT: WORLD POPULATION CONFERENCE - WRAP-UP
SUMMARY: UNITED NATIONS FIRST INTER-GOVERNMENTAL WORLD POPULATION CONFERENCE CONCLUDED ITS TWO WEEK MEETING IN BUCHAREST ON SCHEDULE, AFTERNOON AUGUST 30, AFTER ADOPTING ITS CENTERPIECE DOCUMENT, A WORLD POPULATION PLAN OF ACTION, IN PLENARY SESSION WITHOUT VOTE AND BY ACCLAMATION. END SUMMARY
1. ACCOMPLISHMENTS - ALL BASIC US OBJECTIVES WERE ACHIEVED AND US ACCOMPLISHMENTS WERE MANY.
(A) ACTUAL HOLDING OF WORLD POPULATION CONFERENCE OF GOVERNMENTS ON THIS SUBJECT ITSELF IS ACCOMPLISHMENT;
(B) ADOPTING BY ACCLAMATION OF MEANINGFUL WPPA WAS “ACCOMPLISHMENT OF GREAT MAGNITUDE” AND “A TRIUMPH FOR THE PROCESS OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION UNDER THE UN”. (CLOSING STATEMENT BY HEAD US DEL, HEW SECRETARY WEINBERGER.)
(C) MAINTAINED IN WPPA, OVER PERSISTENT MINORITY OPPOSITION, QUANTITATIVE POPULATION GOALS WITH A 1985 TIME-FRAME FOR ACCOMPLISHMENT
(D) CONSIDERABLY STRENGTHENED LANGUAGE IN WPPA ON STATUS OF WOMEN;
(E) NO NEW INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS OR FUNDS OR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SAME CAME OUT OF CONFERENCE;
(F) REQUESTS AND NEED FOR INCREASED FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNFPA WERE GENERAL IN TONE AND WERE NOT DIRECTED TOWARDS US.
(G) ROLE OF EXISTING UNFPA WAS CONSIDERABLY STRENGTHENED AND POSITIVE UNSCARRED IMAGE RETAINED;
(H) POLITICAL ISSUES (PRG AND GRUNK) WERE KEPT UNDER CONTROL AND NEVER CAME BEFORE PLENARY FOR ACTION; AND
(I) SUCCEEDED IN INTER-RELATING CONCERNS OF POPULATION CONFERENCE WITH UP-COMING UN WORLD CONFERENCE ON FOOD (NOVEMBER IN ROME), WOMEN (JUNE 1975 IN BOGOTA) AND URBAN PROBLEMS (JUNE 1976 IN VANCOUVER).
2. PLENARY SPEECHES - SOCIALIST THEORIES ON RELATIONSHIP OF POPULATION FACTORS TO DEVELOPMENT DOMINATED TONE OF PLENARY SESSIONS IN FIRST DAYS OF DEBATES. DESPITE POLITICAL DISPARITIES, THEY FORCEFULLY EXPRESSED THEIR BASIC IDOLOGICAL POSITION, I.E., ATTEMPTS TO REDUCE POPULATION GROWTH PRIOR TO FUNDAMENTAL RESTRUCTURING OF SOCIETY AND SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WERE TOTALLY FUTILE. SUBSTANTIVELY, STATEMENTS OF LDC’S WITH SOCIALIST VIEWPOINTS CONCENTRATED HEAVILY ON SUPPLY SIDE OF SUPPLY-DEMAND EQUATION. THESE GOVERNMENTS PRIMARILY FAVOR GROWTH OF PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY AND STILL REGARD CONSUMPTION AS A SECONDARY CONCERN. TOWARD END OF PLENARY DEBATES, AIR BECAME LESS CHARGED BECAUSE OF NUMBER OF BALANCING STATEMENTS WHICH EFFECTIVELY FOCUSED ON POPULATION PLANNING AND BECAUSE OF SOMEWHAT FLAGGING INTEREST OF DELEGATES IN PLENARY ITSELF.
A NOTABLE FEATURE OF MANY LDC STATEMENTS WAS APPRECIATION EXPRESSED FOR VARIOUS TYPES OF UNFPA ASSISTANCE. WELL-TO-DO COUNTRIES WERE URGED TO INCREASE THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO FUND. MANY LDC’S PARTICULARLY FROM AFRICA, CAME TO CONFERENCE WITH PRIMARY INTENTION OF ADVANCING PROVISIONS OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S “DECLARATION ON ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER.” THEIR FAILURE AT THE CONFERENCE TO COME TO GRIPS WITH PROBLEMS GENERATED BY RAPID POPULATION GROWTH IS NOT LIKELY TO AFFECT THEIR DOMESTIC POPULATION POLICIES. MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT TO US DEL WAS THAT INSPITE OF STRONG AND RELEVANT STATEMENT BY SECRETARY GENERAL WALDHEIM ON LINKAGE BETWEEN WORLD’S POVERTY, FOOD SHORTAGE AND GROWING POPULATION PROBLEM, IN SPITE OF AN EQUALLY GOOD STATEMENT BY CARRILLO-FLORES ON THE NEED FOR GOVERNMENTS TO TAKE POLITICAL ACTION, IN SPITE OF ILO STATEMENT INDICATING THAT THE WORLD MUST CREATE BILLION NEW JOBS BETWEEN NOW AND END OF CENTRY, 90 PERCENT OF THEM IN LDC’S AND IN SPITE OF FAO STATEMENT ON PRESENT SERIOUSNESS OF THE WORLD’S FOOD GROWING ABILITY VIS-A-VIS ITS POPULATION, THE PLENARY STATEMENTS BY A GREAT MAJORITY OF COUNTRIES AND ALMOST NO SENSE OF URGENCY.
3 (A). COMMITTEE I - DEVELOPMENT - DESPITE PROCEDURAL CONFUSION AT TIMES, COMMITTEE DISCUSSED, DEVELOPED, REVIEWED, AND ADOPTED NINE DRAFT RESOLUTIONS AND ITS OWN REPORT TO PLENARY. DISCUSSION WAS OCCASIONALLY ANIMATED BUT NO PUBLIC ARGUMENTS DEVELOPED. CHAIRMAN RESLOVED DISAGREEMENTS BY CALLING SHORT RECESSES DURING WHICH COMPROMISE FORMULAS WERE DEVISED. NO VOTES WERE TAKEN; FEW RESERVATIONS WERE ANNOUNCED. TWO TOPICS DOMINATED (1) “RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY PLANNING IN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS” AND (2) “WHY ALL COUNTRIES FAVOR IMPROVED STATUS OF WOMEN”. SOCIALIST VIEW OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGE AS NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITION FOR FERTILITY CHANGE DOMINATED DEBATE OF FIRST TOPIC. BROAD SUPPORT FOR NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER WAS COMMON CORROLARY. OPPOSING VIEW THAT BOTH FAMILY PLANNING AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS ARE NEEDED PRESENTED COMPETENTLY, BUT SILENCE OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN LENT CREDENCE TO VIEW THAT FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN FAILURE. SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO NATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS LOUD AND CLEAR FROM SOME QUARTERS. DISCUSSION OF STATUS OF WOMEN LED TO RAPID, UNCONFIDENTIAL CONTROVERTED COMMITMENT TO BROAD RANGE OF ACTIONS TO CORRECT INEQUITIES. RESOLUTIONS LARGELY RECOMMENDED GENERAL DEVELOPMENT MEASURES. THREE THAT MENTION FAMILY PLANNING OR RELATED ACTIONS AND QUALIFIED TO INDICATE SUBORDINATE ROLE OF THIS KIND OF ACTION. MOST RESOLUTIONS EMPHASIZE CONSIDERATION OF POPULATION VARIABLES ONLY IN CONTEXT OF GENERAL DEVELOPMENT EFFORT. ROMANIA’S SWEEPING RESOLUTION “FOR A MORE JUST WORLD” HAS SIGNIFICANCE OUTSIDE OF COMMITTEE MANDATE INASMUCH AS IT SERVED AS A THIRD WORLD RALLYING POINT ON A BROAD RANGE OF GENERAL DEVELOPMENT ISSUES. EMPHASIS ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN TWO RESOLUTIONS MAY BE MOST PRODUCTIVE CONTRIBUTION OF COMMITTEE WORK INASMUCH AS ATTENTION IS THEREBY FOCUSED ON POPULATIONS WITH HIGHEST FERTILITY AND GREATEST CULTURAL RESISTANCE AND INACCESSIBILITY TO FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES.
3(B). COMMITTEE II - ENVIRONMENT - COMMITTEE ADOPTED THREE RESOLUTIONS AND THREE RECOMMENDATIONS AND REFERRED LANGUAGE TO WPPA WORKING GROUP DESIGNED TO STRESS NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS. ALL WERE ACCEPTED AFTER CONSIDERABLE DEBATE BUT NO VOTES AND NO RESERVATIONS. COMMITTEE HEARD ARGUMENTS ON WIDELY DIVERGENT VIEWS NOT PRESENTED IN THE BASIC CONFERENCE DOCUMENTS. COUNTRIES WITH SOCIAL AND PLANNED ECONOMIES AND MANY DEVELOPING NATIONS IN AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA CLAIMED THAT COLONIALISM, IMPERIALISM AND NEO-COLONIALISM WERE TO BLAME FOR POVERTY AND POPULATION PROBLEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. ALL CLAIMED THERE WERE PLENTY OF RESOURCES AND THAT WITH TECHNOLOGY AND NATIONAL PLANNING THERE WILL BE NO RESOURCE SHORTAGES OR PROBLEMS. IN FACT SOME CONTENDED THERE SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT RESOURCES TO SUPPORT A VAST INCREASE IN POPULATION UNDER A NEW ECONOMIC ORDER INVOLVING EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS. US DEL RESPONDED WITH STRONG INTERVENTIONS, GIVING SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF DEGRADATION OF ENVIRONMENT AND FOOD SHORTAGES WHICH COUNTERED VERY EFFECTIVELY THIS POLITICAL TONE AND BROUGHT FOCUS OF ATTENTION BACK TO POPULATION CONCERNS.
3 (C) COMMITTEE III - FAMILY - COMMITTEE ADOPTED, AFTER CONSIDERABLE DEBATE AND MANY AMENDMENTS, SIX RESOLUTIONS OUT OF FOURTEEN SUBMITTED. THIS WAS DONE WITHOUT VOTE. ONLY RESERVATION WAS US ON REFERENCE TO NEW ECONOMIC ORDER IN ONE RESOLUTION. GENERAL DISCUSSION STRESSED RIGHT OF INDIVIDUALS AND COUPLES TO DETERMINE NUMBER AND SPACING OF CHILDREN AND ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE AND MEANS TO MAKE THIS DETERMINATION. IT EMPHASIZED NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY IN FORMULATION OF POPULATION POLICIES, ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPORVEMENT OF ESSENTIAL HEALTH SERVICES, EDUCATION FOR MARRIAGE AND RESPONSIBLLITIES OF PARENTHOOD, EXTENSIVE COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION DEALING WITH ALL ASPECTS OF FAMILY PLANNING, AND ATTAINMENT OF MORE EQUITABLE LIVING CONDITIONS AND BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL PEOPLES. THE ELEVATION OF THE STATUS OF WOMEN AND THEIR FULL PARTICIPATION AND INTEGRATION INTO DEVELOPMENT AND NATIONAL LIFE ON AN EQUAL BASIS WITH MEN WAS CONSIDERED TO BE AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT IN DEVELOPMENT. THERE WAS A CONSENSUS AMONG DELEGATES THAT FAMILY PLANNING ALONE AS A POLICY IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT, AND THAT A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH IS THE KEY TO STEMMING POPULATION GROWTH. ATTENTION WAS ALSO DIRECTED TO RURAL FAMILY AND RURAL POPULATIONS
4. WORKING GROUP ON WPPA - AFTER NINE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF NEGOTIATION AND 47 VOTES, WPPA IS, ON WHOLE, STRONG AND MEANINGFUL DOCUMENT, SUPPORTED BY CONSENSUS DEVELOPED BY CAREFUL CONCILIATION AND BALANCE OF DIVERSE VIEWPOINTS. WHILE EMPHASIS IS ON SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AS ESSENTIAL, EVEN A PREREQUISITE TO FERTILITY DECLINE, SUPPORT FOR FAMILY PLANNING AS BASIC HUMAN AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO CHOOSE FAMILY SIZE, AS A HEALTH MEASURE, AND AS LINK TO STATUS OF WOMEN ALSO STRENGTHENED DESPITE SOME AFRICAN AND HOLY SEE OPPOSITION. ALTHOUGH KEY SUB-PARAGRAPH CALLING FOR EXTENSION OF FAMILY PLANNING KNOWLEDGE AND SERVICES TO ALL COUPLES BY 1985 DEFEATED (PARA 29 (B)), THE CONCEPT OF SOVEREIGN NATIONS SETTING THEIR OWN QUANTITATIVE GOALS AND TRYING THEREBY TO REACH SPECIFIC POPULATION GROWTH RATES BY 1985, WAS RETAINED THROUGH COMPROMISE LANGUAGE (PARAS 16, 17 AND 36 AND 36) DEVELOPED BY US DEL WHICH ULTIMATELY WON STRONG SUPPORT. BACKING OF ECAFE COUNTRIES AND EUROPEAN DEMOGRAPHERS PROVED CURCIAL TO WINNING FINAL VOTES AGAINST HARD-CORE CHINESE AND HOLY SEE EFFORTS TO DELETE REFERENCES TO FAMILY PLANNING AND FERTILITY RELATED GOALS OF POPULATION POLICY. EFFECTIVE DELEGATION CONTACTS BY UNFPA AND IPPF, BOTH ON SITE WITH REGIONAL TEAMS, HELPED KEEP OTHERWISE UNINFORMED DELEGATIONS INFORMED AND ON HAND FOR CRUCIAL VOTES. PRESENT UN STRUCTURE AND ARRANGEMENTS IN POPULATION FIELD PRESERVED IN WPPA BY EFFORTS OF US, UK,CANADA AND FRG IN SPITE OF FRENCH ATTEMPTS TO MOVE POPULATION COMMISSION TO FRONT AND CENTER, AND EGYPT’S EFFORT TO SPECIFY “UN AND UNFPA” TO DEVELOP AN OPERATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEME FOR THE WPPA. BOTH ITEMS INTRODUCED WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE TO INTERESTED PARTIES OR GOVERNMENTS, AND FOUND SUPPORT ONLY FROM SWEDEN WHICH HAD CONSISTENTLY AGREED WITH US NOT TO RAISE INSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS AT WPC. UNFPA’S ROLE IN WPPA WAS CONSIDERABLY STREGTHENED.
5. POLITICAL ISSUES - WE CONSIDER IT ONE OF REAL SUCCESSES OF CONFERENCE FROM US POINT OF VIEW THAT MATTER OF PRG NEVER CAME TO PLENARY AS AN ACTION ITEM. DAILY BATTLES DID TAKE PLACE, BUT ALWAYS BEHIND SCENES AND AT CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE WHERE ISSUE PRG AND GRUNK WAS DEFEATED 5 TO 4. CONSIDERABLE CREDIT TO THIS SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME MUST BE GIVEN TO ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT. ALTHOUGH THEY HAD MADE REPEATED EFFORTS PRIOR TO OPENING OF CONFERENCE TO WORK OUT COMPROMISE SOLUTION WHICH WOULD ALLOW PRG TO ATTEND, WHEN THIS FAILED THEY LENT THEIR CONSIDERABLE WEIGHT TO SUPPORTING OUR CONTENTION THAT PRG SHOULD NOT BE PRESENT AND MATTER SHOULD NOT DISRUPT MAIN WORK OF CONFERENCE ITSELF. THIS OBJECTIVE WAS ACHIEVED. ON IMPORTANT FACTOR WHICH HELPED ACHIEVE THIS RESULT AND LIMIT DAMAGE ON NEW ECONOMIC POLICY ISSUE WAS THAT FOR VAST MAJORITY OF DELEGATES THIS WAS THEIR FIRST UN CONFERENCE. THEY WERE NOT FAMILIAR WITH UN GROUND RULES AND NOT INTERESTED IN POLITICAL ISSUES SUCH AS PRG, GRUNK OR NEW ECONOMIC ORDER.
6. NEW ECONOMIC POLICY - ANOTHER MAJOR BATTLE WAGED BEHIND SCENES HAD TO DO WITH ALGERIANS AND OTHERS CONSTANTLY SEEKING TO INSERT REFERENCES IN CONFERENCE DOCUMENTATION TO OUTCOME OF 6TH SPECIAL SESSION OF GA. EXTREMELY LANGUAGE WAS EVENTUALLY REJECTED IN ALL CASES. THERE ARE THREE REFERENCES IN WPPA: (1) PARA 1 WHICH REFERS TO ADOPTION OF PROGRAM OF ACTION BY 6TH SPECIAL SESSION, (B) PARA 13 WHICH REFERS IN PASSING TO SPIRIT OF NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER (LOWER CASE), AND (C) PARA 68 WHICH SAYS THAT PROGRAM OF ACTION SHOULD LEAD TO REDUCTION IN WIDENING GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR. US VOTED AGAINST REFERENCES MENTIONED (A) AND (C) AND LOST BY OVERWHELMING MAJORITY. IN ADDITION, THERE IS A REFERENCE IN COMMITTEE III’S RESOLUTION ON FAMILY AND DEVELOPMENT WHICH REAFFIRMS NEED TO PROMOTE AT WORLD LEVEL A NEW ECONOMIC ORDER (LOWER CASE) IN ACCORDANCE WITH FINAL DECISION ADOPTED AT 6TH SPECIAL SESSION. THERE IS A PARAGRAPH IN REPORT OF THIRD COMMITTEE IN WHICH US FORMALLY RESERVED ON THIS LANGUAGE. SECRETARY WEINBERGER, IN HIS CLOSING STATEMENT TO THE PLENARY, ALSO SAID “RESERVATIONS EXPRESSED AT TIME OF ADOPTION BY 6TH SPECIAL SESSION STILL REMAIN VALID TODAY”.
7. COUNTRY STANCES - MAJORITY OF GOVERNMENTS MAINTAINED GENERAL POSITIONS TOWARD SUBJECT MATTER OF CONFERENCES WHICH THEY HAD EXPRESSED AT POPULATION COMMISSION AND IN PRE-CONFERENCE MEETINGS. GENERALIZING, ASIAN COUNTRIES WERE MOST AWARE OF POPULATION PROBLEMS, AFRICAN COUNTRIES ARE SLOWLY BECOMING AWARE OF PROBLEM. THEY LEARNED MUCH AT THIS CONFERENCE AND WERE LESS ACCUSATIVE THAN EXPECTED. SOME COUNTRIES IN LATIN AMERICA ARE BEGINNING TO MOVE ON FAMILY PLANNING ISSUES. EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA ARE PUSHING GLOBAL ACTION WHILE EASTERN EUROPE IS PUTTING ITS COLLECTIVE HEAD IN SAND. THERE WERE SOME SURPRISES, HOWEVER. BRAZIL HAS DONE A TURN-AROUND AND ANNOUNCED ITS SUPPORT FOR FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS WHILE ARGENTINA (WITH LOWEST BIRTH RATE IN LATION AMERICA) OVERNIGHT TURNED PRO-NATALIST WITH A VICIOUSNESS AND AGGRESSIVENESS THAT STARTLED EVERYONE. ALGERIA REMAINED BLATANT ON ALL SUBJECTS. INDIA WAS A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT SINCE IT RARELY SPOKE OUT, WAS HURTFUL SEVERAL TIMES WHEN IT DID AND OFTEN VOTED WRONG. IRAN AND PHILIPPINES TOOK MAJOR POSITIVE ROLE AMONG LDC’S JOINED BY BANGLADESH, THAILAND AND INDONESIA. HOLY SEE WAS ONLY ENTITY PRESENT WHICH ANNOUNCED IN PLENARY AFTER PLAN HAD BEEN ADOPTED THAT “WE ARE NOT A PART OF THE CONSENSUS OF THIS CONFERENCE - WE DO NOT COMPROMISE, OUR VIEWS ARE KNOWN AND WE MAINTAIN THEM”. SWEDEN TRIED TO DOMINATE EUROPEANS BUT DID NOT SUCCEED. UK AND CANADA WERE STRONG SUPPORTERS OF US POSITION; FRG ONLY OCCASIONALLY. JAPAN AT LAST SPOKE OUT AT END. CHINA MADE SAME ATTACK ON “SUPER-POWERS” 5-6 TIMES DURING CONFERENCE, TILTING SLIGHTLY AGAINST USSR BY VIRTUE OF SPECIAL MENTION OF “SOCIAL IMPERIALISM” AND “THAT SUPER-POWER WHICH LABELS ITSELF SOCIALIST.” CHINA WAS SOUNDLY DEFEATED ON ITS TWO FORMAL AMENDMENTS AND EXERCISED NO THIRD WORLD LEADERSHIP WHATSOEVER.
8. SECRETARIAT - DURING SECOND WEEK OF CONFERENCE, UN SECRETARIAT SETTLED INTO ROUTINE AND WAS MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE IN COPING WITH MECHANICS AND DOCUMENTATION OF CONFERENCE. CARRILLO-FLORES,SECRETARY GENERAL OF CONFERENCE, REMAINED CONSISTENT, HOWEVER, IN THAT HE AT NO TIME ASSUMED LEADERSHIP ROLE DURING COURSE OF MEETING. HE EVEN REFUSED US DEL’S REQUEST TO GET REPRESENTATIVES FROM THREE COMMITTEES TOGETHER IN EFFORT TO MERGE DRAFT RESOLUTIONS FROM DIFFERENT COMMITTEES WHICH OVERLAPPED AND DUPLICATED EACH OTHER. CARRILLO-FLORES ANNOUNCED HIS “IRREVOCABLE DECISION” TO RESIGNE FROM UN AT END YEAR WHEN HIS DUTIES ARE COMPLETED. HIGH MARKS SHOULD BE GIVEN FOR OUTSTANDING WORK DONE THROUGHOUT CONFERENCE BY RAPHAEL SALAS, HEAD OF UNFPA, AND HIS STAFF, AND ECAFE SECRETARIAT STAFF UNDER LEADERSHIP CARL FRISEN (US). WITHOUT EFFORTS THESE TWO GROUPS, US MOVE TO STIMULATE ASIANS TO ACTION WOULD HAVE BEEN FAR, FAR LESS EFFECTIVE.
9. NGO’S - REPRESENTATIVES OF SOME 300 NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS WERE IN BUCHAREST DURING INTER-GOVERNMENTAL CONFERENCE, ATTENDING NGO TRIBUNE. ELEVEN HUNDRED OTHER PERSONS REGISTERED AT TRIBUNE. OF THIS TOTAL NUMBER, SOME 300 WERE AMERICAN. US DEL ASSIGNED ONE OF ITS MEMBERS FULL-TIME RESPOSIBILITY TO ACT AS LIAISON WITH US NGO’S. TWO FORMAL SESSIONS WERE HELD WITH NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF US DEL PRESENT. AT FIRST MEETING 100 NGO’S ATTENDED WHILE AT SECOND OVER 200 ATTENDED. IN ADDITION TO NUMBER OF INFORMAL CONTACTS BY ALL MEMBERS OF US DEL THROUGHOUT CONFERENCE, INTERESTED US NGO’S WERE ALS O INVITED TO ATTEND DAILY PRESS BRIEFINGS IF THEY SO DESIRED. US DEL ALSO MET WITH US NGO STEERING COMMITTEE TO TALK OF FUTURE NGO SUPPORT FOR POPULATION MATTERS.
10. PRESS - THERE WERE SOME 800 PRESS ACCREDITED TO THE CONFERENCE AND VARIOUS MEMBERS OF US DEL WERE CONSTANTLY REQUESTED TO GIVE INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS. IN GENERAL, PRESS WAS HIGHLY UNINFORMED ABOUT UN CONFERENCES IN GENERAL AND POPULATION IN PARTICULAR. IN EFFORT FOCUS TIME SPENT ON PRESS, SECRETARY WEINBERGER OR GOVERNOR PETERSON HELD PRESS BRIEFINGS DAILY THROUGHOUT ENTIRE CONFERENCE AT 6:30 P.M. AT INTER-CONTINENTAL HOTEL. THESE NORMALLY LASTED ONE HOUR, WERE EXTREMELY WELL ATTENDED AND PROVIDED AN EFFECTIVE CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATIONS WITH PRESS. EMBASSY WAS VERY HELPFUL IN THIS REGARD AND FACILITATED PREPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF US DEL RELEASES.
11. “PLANET” - INTERNATIONAL PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION HELPED ORGANIZE AND DID FINANCE PUBLICATION OF DAILY NEWSPAPER DURING COURSE OF CONFERENCE CALLED “PLANET” - “REPORTING DAILY ON THE WORLD POPULATION CONFERENCE AND POPULATION TRIBUNE”. THIS EIGHT-PAGE NEWSPAPER, PRINTED WITH HELP OF ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT FACILITIES, WAS AN EXTREMELY VALUABLE INSTRUMENT IN KEEPING ALL PERSONS ATTENDING BUCHAREST CONFERENCES INFORMED OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND WAS CATALYST PROVIDING EFFECTIVE INTER-ACTION BETWEEN NGO TRIBUNE AND CONFERENCE ITSELF. US DEL WAS ALREADY PROPOSED TO MR. ROY JACKSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL, FAO, THAT “PLANET” OR SIMILAR PUBLICATION (AS WAS CATE AT STOCKHOLM ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE) BE PART OF UN’S FOOD CONFERENCE IN NOVEMBER IN ROME.
12. TRIBUNE - THE POPULATION TRIBUNE, ORGANIZED BY NGO’S WHO ARE IN CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECOSOC, MET IN PARALLET BUT SEPARATE MEETINGS DURING COURSE OF TWO WEEK WPC. THERE WAS STRONG INTERACTION BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS AT TRIBUNE AND INDIVIDUAL GOVERNMENT DELEGATIONS ATTENDING WPC. TRIBUNE SERVED AS EFFECTIVE SOUNDING BOARD FOR IDEAS WHICH GOVERNMENT’S OFTEN DID NOT EXPLORE AT WPC ITSELF. IT WAS WELL ORGANIZED, WELL ATTENDED AND PROFESSIONAL IN ITS OUTLOOK. IT WAS NOT TAKEN OVER, AS WAS ITS STOCKHOLM COUNTER-PART, BY ANY DISSIDENT ELEMENTS AND MAINTAINED AS BASIC PROFESSIONALISM WHICH WAS CREDIT TO ITS ORGANIZERS. US DEL WAS PROPOSED TO US NGO STEERING COMMITTEE THAT IT CONTACT WORLD FOOD CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT IN ORDER FIND MEANINGFUL ROLE AT ROME CONFERENCE.
13. YOUTH - THE YOUTH CONFERENCE, WHICH MET JUST PRIOR TO WPC IN BUCHAREST, WAS GENEARALLY CONSIDERED BY SOME PARTICIPANTS AND MOST NON-PARTICIPANTS TO HAVE BEEN DISASTER. SOLE DOCUMENT COMING OUT OF YOUTH MEETING (SEE BUCHAREST 3840) WAS REALLY NON-DOCUMENT WITH NO CONSLUSIONS OR RECOMMENDATIONS.
14. US DEL - US DEL WORKED EFFECTIVELY, WITH RAPPORT AND A STRONG TEAM SPIRIT. DAILY MORNING STAFF MEETINGS WERE ESSENTIAL PART OF EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND AFFORED OPPORTUNITY FOR GENERAL GUIDANCE ON POLICY ISSUES. SIZE OF DEL WAS BOUT RIGHT. EXPERTISE LEVEL WAS HIGH AND NEEDED. AT ONE POINT NINE DIFFERENT MEETINGS WERE TAKING PLACE SIMULTANEOUSLY AND FACT THAT US DEL COULD COVER ALL MEANT THAT WE HAD IMPORTANT IMPACT NOT ONLY ON DAY-TO-DAY NEGOTIATIONS BUT ON VERALL OUTCOME OF CONFERENCE.
15. US POSTURE - US DEL RECEIVED NUMEROUS, UNSOLCITED COMMENTS AT END OF CONFERENCE EVEN FROM SUCH CRITICS AS SWEDES, CANADIANS AND NGO’S, THAT US POSTURE AND TIMING AT CONFERENCE WERE “JUST RIGHT”. IN FACT US DEL WAS “SUBTLE, NOT BLATANT”, AND DID TAKE QUIET LEADERSHIP ROLE, PARTICULARLY IN WPPA WORKING GROUP. WE WERE NOT AFRAID OF A VOTE (ALMOST 50 TAKEN IN WORKING GROUP BUT NONE IN PLENARY) AND DID NOT GROUSE OVER OCCASIONAL DEFEATS. ORIGINAL STRATEGY OF URGING GOALS AND TARGETS WAS EFFECTIVE SINCE THIS MADE IT POSSIBLE TO COMPROMISE DOWNWARD AND TO HAVE SOLID WPPA LEFT.
16. CONCLUSION - US DEL UNANIMOUSLY PLEASED WITH FINAL RESULT. WISH ALSO EXPRESS WARM APPRECIATION FOR FINE SUPPORT GIVEN TO DELEGATION BY WHOLE EMBASSY STAFF.
BARNES
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files, D740242–0932. Confidential; Priority. Repeated to USUN, the Mission to the U.N. in Geneva, Moscow, and Saigon. Forwarded to all diplomatic posts as Airgram A–8189 on October 29 (ibid., P740116–2194). ↩
- The telegram summarized the accomplishments of the World Population Conference.↩