U.S. BODY CIRCULATES POPULATION DECLARATION New York, March 5th, 1992 (ips/thalif deen) -- the washington-based population institute is spearheading a global campaign to have all nations redouble their support for the u.n. population fund (unfpa). taking the position that rising population is one of the causes of environmental degradation, the president of the institute, werner fornos told ips thursday that a proposed population/environment priority declaration is currently being circulated for signature throughout the world. a total of 67 members of the u.s.congress, 18 nobel laureates and 36 celebrities and performing artists have already endorsed a the declaration which is to be presented to maurice strong, secretary-general of the u.n. conference on environment and development (unced). the declaration, among other things, asserts that "no issue is of greater concern to the world's future than the rapid rise of human population." a non-governmental organisation (ngo) taking an active role in the current preparatory meetings here for the jun. 1-12 'earth summit' in rio de janeiro, brazil, the institute is a grassroots organisation which is seeking a more equitable balance between the world's population, environment and resources. fornos said that current national and international efforts to stem the world's expanding population are totally inadequate. third world ngos have objected to the northern approach to population issues. they have said that population pressures are part of the development crisis, and that the crisis will be addressed, not with measures to curb growth, but by creating economic security and sustainable livelihoods in poor countries. last month, dr. nafis sadik, unfpa executive director, warned that the current world populationestimated at over 5.4 billionhas been rising at the unprecedented rate of 97 million people per year. if unchecked, the global population is expected to reach over 8.5 billion by the year 2025, with about 95 percent of the world's people living in developing nations. unfpa, which is financed with voluntary contributions, is expected to receive an estimated 230 million dollars in 1992, compared with 220.7 million dollars in 1991. at an international forum on population held in amsterdam in 1989, delegates from 79 countries declared that financial resources for population from developed and developing countries, and also from international assistance organisations, must reach about nine billion dollars annually by the year 2000. the proposed declaration also says that the increase in human population and resource consumption are basic causes of environmental degradation and human suffering. "they must become major priorities for national and international action," it says. "our spiralling human numbers can be checked only by a vast acceleration of population assistance to the poorest countries in the world, where 500 million women need and want to limit their number of children but lack either the knowledge, access or means to obtain family planning." "if a sustainable future is to be attained," says the declaration, "the u.s. and all nations of the world must make the issue of curbing human population growth a leading priority of this decade." "failure to curb world population growth will intensify the deterioration of the earth's natural resources and undermine desperately needed economic and social progress," it says. the declaration calls on nations to double their assistance to the unfpa and private organisations dedicated to extending to all couples the basic human right of determining the size and spacing of their families. the signatories include u.s. senators patrick j. leahy of vermont and clairborne pell of rhode island, congresswoman patricia schroeder of colorado, nobel laureates herbert a. simon and linus pauling, actors charlton heston and jack lemmon, and economist and author, john kenneth galbraith. source: en.unced.general, 9 March 1992 Back...