EC/developing countries: aid for population policies and programmes in developing countries

In its amended proposal, the Commission was able to accept 26 of the 40 amendments approved by Parliament at first reading, in full or in part. These included: - inclusion of references to the results of the World Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994); - stressing the right of individuals to decide on the number and spacing of their children (denouncing any violation of human rights in the form of compulsory abortion, compulsory sterilization, any form of sexual violence or abuse, etc.); - stressing women's right to choose with regard to family planning; - gradual integration of population issues into the various aspects of the Community's development cooperation policy; - including reproductive health care in projects eligible for aid (perinatal care, family planning, prevention of STD and AIDS, etc.) and family planning policy (including information on safe and legal contraception methods); - including the NGOs and associations representing local populations among the beneficiaries of aid; - putting women in the forefront of the implementation and evaluation of projects; - implementing initiatives on the basis of dialogue with the national regional and local authorities concerned, to take account of the economic, social and cultural background of the sections of the population concerned; - providing for a financial contribution from the local partners in respect of operating costs; - providing for information on and coordination of Community measures with operations financed by other bilateral or multilateral providers of funds; - reviewing the regulation after five years. The Commission did not accept the amendments on: - amending the procedure for implementing cooperation measures; - an increase in the EC financial contribution from ECU 300 m in the years up to 2000; - opening the Commission's meeting on general guidelines to Parliament and the Council; - an across-the-board ban on funding for abortions (the Commission thought that funding could be provided under this budget item for the health care needed to reduce deaths resulting from abortions carried out in poor conditions or abnormal pregnancies). �