Population Action International : Recommendations

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The Security Demographic - Full Report (PDF - 13 Mb)
Summary, Recommendations, and Introduction (PDF - 1 Mb)
Chapter 1 (PDF - 474 Kb)
Chapter 2 (PDF - 2 Mb)
Chapter 3 (PDF - 1 Mb)
Chapter 4 (PDF - 1 Mb)
Chapter 5 (PDF - 2 Mb)
Chapter 6 (PDF - 2 Mb)
Chapter 7 (PDF - 1 Mb)
Appendices (PDF - 114 Kb)
Endnotes (PDF - 72 Kb)

Recommendations

The policies and programs that influence population trends are properly the sphere of health and social service agencies and organizations, and donors of international assistance. Military, diplomatic and intelligence communities nonetheless can play important roles. Transcending partisanship and election cycles, these groups can provide accurate information and guidance to policymakers on population change and the policies that influence it. There may be opportunities for more direct action as well, especially within peacekeeping missions and in the post-conflict environment.

The following recommendations are a starting point in suggesting what those in security-related fields can do to link sound population, health and social policies to a more secure future:

Promote demographic transition, the progress of populations from high to low rates of birth and death.

Help mobilize political will for services that enable women and couples to choose for themselvesthe timing and frequency of pregnancy and childbirth, that promote maternal and infant survival, and that protect reproductive-age adults from hiv and other sexually transmitted infections.
Support international efforts that lengthen and strengthen girls’ education, help improve women’s access to income-generating opportunities, and help promote child survival.
Articulating for policymakers the relationships between population dynamics and armed conflict can help secure funding for programs in family planning, girls’ education, maternal and child healthand hiv/aids prevention and treatment, which together encourage lower birth and death rates in countries still advancing through the demographic transition.

Help make access to reproductive health services easier for refugees, civilians in post-conflict environments, and all military personnel.

While offering services to local civilians and refugees is generally beyond the scope of most operations, military commands should be prepared to lend logistical and organizational support to those charged with offering reproductive health care in post-conflict environments. These organizations include the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (unhcr) in the case of refugees, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and government ministries of health for other populations.
Encourage governments with exemplary hiv/aids prevention and treatment programs in their armed forces to participate in military-to-military and military-to-civilian cooperative activities. Encourage donor governments to allow reproductive health programs to address the problems of military personnel and their families, and increase funding for such cooperation.
Support and implement policies that assure that reproductive health care of a high standard — including comprehensive contraceptive information and services, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, and maternal and child health care — is available to all military personnel under all circumstances. Prioritize hiv prevention among military personnel to reduce prevalence among them and to minimize the risk that they will be a source of further infection.

Support improvements in the legal, educational and economic status of women.

Improvements in women’s status can influence social environments, help change cultural norms, and ultimately speed demographic transition. Where possible, encourage social and political reforms that help girls stay in school, offer women economic opportunities, and reward achievement regardless of gender. Qualified women serving in important and visible diplomatic and military roles also serve as models for changes in attitudes at home and abroad.
Encourage women to work in government and seek political office and to participate in conflict prevention and post-conflict negotiations. Their participation could ultimately lead to shifts in priorities favoring human development over continued strife.
Promote understanding of and sensitivity to the use of violence against women in post-conflict and refugee settings, and work to prevent and discourage such violence. Aside from the moral argument for such a task, violence against women is an instrument in cultural and ethical frameworks that demean women, restrict their status and power, and thus retard progress through the demographic transition.

Make demography part of the analysis.

Include demographic data and projections in area studies, operational environment forecasts, and other security and threat assessments. Consider the security implications of trends in age structure, aids mortality rates and other demographic factors elaborated in this report.
Consider the potential for demographic change and its social and economic implications, and allow for a variety of possible demographic futures—as portrayed, for example, by the United Nations Population Division’s low, medium and high projections.
Encourage the development of demographic and health expertise throughout the military and intelligence communities, and deploy this expertise to inform foreign policy discussions through official testimony and interactions with policymakers, the news media and opinion leaders.