50th Anniversary of Celade

Honourable Jose Viera Gallo, of the Ministry of the Presidency of Chile;
Distinguished Executive Secretary of CEPAL and my good friend, Mr. Jose Luis Machinea; 
Secretary-General of SEGIB, Mr. Enrique Iglesias;
President of the Special Committee on Population and Development of CEPAL, Mr. Alvaro Portillo;
President of the Latin American Association of Population, Ms. Dora Celton;
Director of CELADE and also good friend of UNFPA , Mr. Dirk Jaspers

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Introduction

It is a great honour to join you for the 50th anniversary of CELADE/CEPAL, the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Center. I would like to express our appreciation to the Executive Secretary of CEPAL for his continuous and unfaltering support to CELADE, based on his deep understanding and commitment to demography as an input into development.

I bring to you the greetings and respect of my colleagues from New York and around the world. I carry on behalf of all my colleagues, UNFPA Representatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, a special expression of appreciation for CELADE´s support to the countries in which we work.

In the past half century since CELADE was founded, the world has undergone dramatic demographic changes. So too has the Latin America and Caribbean region.

The global population has increased from 2.5 billion people to 6.7 billion people. And in this region, the population has more than tripled since 1950 from 168 million to 572 million people today.

At the same time, this region has witnessed a dramatic decline in fertility, from an average of 5 children per family in the 1970s to 2 children per family today.  But within this larger trend, we see that adolescent fertility remains high, which points to the need for greater information and services for sexual and reproductive health for the region’s young people. They need a comprehensive package of information, services and livelihood schemes so that their needs are addressed in an integrated approach and so that their rights are protected and realized.

With the overall decline in fertility, has come a decline in mortality and a steady increase in life expectancy. Today the average person in Latin America and the Caribbean can expect to live to the age of 73 years, and the United Nations projects life expectancy will further increase to nearly 80 years by 2050.  This testifies to the ageing of the population, an unprecedented demographic shift that it taking place on a global scale.

When we look at this region, we also see economic growth during the past six years, following a decade of stagnation, complemented by a continuing high degree of inequality, which presents a threat to social cohesion and stability.

We are also witnessing increasing migration among the countries of the region and with other regions. Migration is both a challenge and an opportunity and we need together to find ways to make the challenges opportunities as well.

For the past 50 years, the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Center has documented these trends and has led the way forward.

CELADE and UNFPA: a strategic partnership

For the last five decades, CELADE has made a substantial contribution to the development of regional and national capacities in the area of population and development.

CELADE’s key to success has been the combination of three interlinked activities:

• Research;
• Training and technical assistance; and
• The commitment and skills of its staff.

CELADE has been a pioneer in developing knowledge, disseminating new methodologies, and studying the process of demographic transition in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Thanks to its flexibility, leadership and the quality of its staff, CELADE is recognized for having “put population issues on Latin America’s intellectual map”.

The leading role of CELADE goes beyond Latin America and the Caribbean, to the global level, where it has pioneered methodological advances. It is also worth noting that CELADE’s staff has occupied leadership positions in the International Union for the Scientific Study of the Population (IUSSP).

Nearly 50 years ago, CELADE developed the very first fertility survey in Latin America, conducted in 1959, in collaboration with the University of Chile. Later, the first comparative research projects on fertility surveys in urban and rural areas, conducted by CELADE, led to a worldwide comparative research implemented by the World Fertility Survey Programme. CELADE has also contributed to the development of innovative surveys in the areas of demographic dynamics, migration, urbanization and other topics.

As countries increased their capacities to deal with basic data collection and demographic estimations, CELADE increased its support to better understanding the linkages between population and development. The more recent work of CELADE—in the areas of population poverty and inequality; population and human rights; and vulnerable populations, included poor, indigenous and older persons; shows the capacity of this institution to innovate in tackling emerging issues. With partnership with UNFPA, CELADE has contributed to the important work done by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in the areas of social development and social protection.

The contribution to training is unparalleled. In fact, most of the population experts in the region have been trained by CELADE. This generation of demographers and population experts became a critical mass for the improvement of demographic data and research in Latin American and Caribbean countries. And it led to self-reliance in the areas of human resources development and institutional capacities in many countries, which in turn led to national ownership of successful population policies and programs. Actually worldwide demographers, as we have known them, are becoming an ageing population that is becoming extinct. CELADE and institutions like it have an intellectual and developmental responsibility in ensuring the emergence of yet another young generation of demographers who are professionally equipped and updated and who mobilize data for development and information for the achievement of human rights, including the right to development, social, economic and cultural rights.

CELADE has in the past and continues to provide important support to population and housing censuses in the region. The development of the software, REDATAM, with UNFPA support, has fostered the dissemination of census data to the public and a democratization process of public information. UNFPA has also supported CELADE in the use of REDATAM in other regions, such as Africa and Asia.

A major contribution of CELADE and UNFPA has been the facilitation of knowledge sharing on population issues among governments, as well as policy dialogue for the promotion of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). This support has been given in close collaboration with UNFPA countries offices. We have worked closely in the elaboration of the Guide for Population Situational Analysis, which is increasingly being used by many countries in the region as the starting point for policy dialogue at the national level

Along the years, UNFPA and CELADE have developed a fruitful and strategic partnership, focused both on joint regional activities and national interventions. 

 Today UNFPA pays tribute to the achievements you have registered during the past half-century. We acknowledge the expertise and high professional standing of CELADE in the international field of population and development. And we believe you have much experience and expertise to continue to share, including through enhanced South-South cooperation.

The new international context for the population and development agenda

This is particularly relevant in today’s environment, in which there is an increasing need and demand to link population dynamics to development outcomes. Concerted efforts towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals have renewed interest in data for development to establish baselines, measure progress, identify gaps, take corrective action, and also to hold governments accountable.

My colleagues and I in UNFPA are pleased to enjoy a strong partnership with CELADE in this area.

We know that the work in population and development remains central to poverty reduction, especially in the poorest countries with rapid population growth. Unmet need for family planning in the poorest populations accounts for a large part of this demographic growth.

Future challenges

As we look to the future, the challenge is to ensure that countries take into account the linkages between population issues and poverty reduction and the importance of investing in reproductive health, gender equality and young people.

Today emerging population issues such as changing age structures, urban growth and migration and their consequences are often excluded in poverty reduction and development plans. Therefore we must continue to work together to make sure that population and demographic analysis is fully integrated into policymaking and programming. Greater efforts are also needed to strengthen weak data systems, which continue to impede effective planning for development in many countries.

This situation will have to be addressed through greater investment in censuses, household surveys and the development of good administrative records. This is needed not only for policy development but also for monitoring progress on the achievement of the MDGs and ICPD goals.

I am pleased to report that support for national capacity development is at the core of UNFPA’s new strategic plan and regional programme for the next four years from 2008 through 2011. For UNFPA, capacity development is the foundation for creating sustainable change in the policy environment, institutions, human knowledge and skills that enable national development.

In this strategic plan, our Executive Board has taken the decision to support UNFPA´s vision for a different way of delivering technical assistance and building national capacity. We have committed ourselves to working with regional, subregional and national centers of knowledge and expertise so that they can deliver technical assistance to countries as an integral part of UNFPA´s knowledge and technical networks.

We will work with institutions not only in the area of demography but also family planning, gender equality, public health, youth networks and others to acquire the knowledge of ICPD and thus be called upon for technical assistance. Our emphasis is not on individual capacity building but on institutional capacity building so that ICPD is housed in these institutions. By going this way, we are expanding the base from which countries can seek technical support. Certainly South-South cooperation would be another objective of such networks and alliances.

In closing, I would like, once again, to congratulate the leadership and staff of CELADE as you celebrate the institution’s 50th anniversary. Your contribution to development in the region during the past half-century deserves praise and commendation. And I would like to take this opportunity to pledge continued UNFPA support so that we may work together during the next 50 years to meet new and emerging challenges. Certainly CELADE will continue to be one critical member of our technical assistance networks and we look forward to further developing this partnership.

Thank you.