Expert group meeting on fertility, changing population trends and development: Challenges and opportunities for the future

Monday, 21 October 2013

9:00 – 10:15

Joint with Expert Group Meeting on Priorities for Improving Survival: ICPD Beyond 2014

1. Opening of the meeting

• John Wilmoth, Director, Population Division

2. Overviews of trends in mortality and fertility since ICPD

• Cheryl Sawyer, Mortality Section, Population Division

• Vladimira Kantorova, Fertility and Family Planning Section, Population Division

10:25 – 11:40

3. Fertility trends in high- and intermediate-fertility countries

• Expert: John Bongaarts, Population Council. How exceptional is the pattern of fertility decline in sub-Saharan Africa and what makes it likely to continue or change?

• Expert: Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue, Cornell University. What challenges and opportunities are faced by high- and intermediate-fertility countries in reaping a "demographic dividend” from fertility decline?

• Moderator: Amson Sibanda, Division for Social Policy and Development/DESA

11:50 – 13:30 

4. Different pathways to low fertility and effective policy approaches to address low fertility 

• Expert: Tomáš Sobotka, Vienna Institute of Demography. Perspective from Europe.

• Expert: Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi, University of Tehran and Australian National University.  Perspective from Asia.

• Expert: Suzana Cavenaghi, National School of Statistics, Brazilian Bureau of Census. Perspective from Latin America.

• Moderator: Ralph Hakkert, UNFPA

14:45 – 16:00 

 5. Young people and the transition to adulthood

What are current challenges to young people’s transitions to adulthood (family formation, human capital and sexual and reproductive health) and policy prospects to address them?

• Expert: Caroline Kabiru, African Population and Health Research Center.  Perspective from a high-fertility context.

• Expert: Francesco Billari, Oxford University. Perspective from a low-fertility context.

• Moderator: Sajeda Amin, Population Council

6. Links between fertility, reproductive rights, women’s empowerment and gender equality

• Expert: Monica Das Gupta, University of Maryland. What are the key policy-relevant ways that women’s empowerment and gender equality have influenced fertility trends and vice versa? What should we expect for the future?

•  Expert: Zoe Matthews, University of Southampton. What are the population-level impacts of enabling people to exercise. their reproductive rights, and the new opportunities and challenges for further progress in the full exercise of reproductive rights?

• Moderator: Patience Stephens, UN-Women

17:30 – 18:00 

7. Closing of day 1 and guidance for day 2

• Moderator: Francesca Perucci, Population Division

Tuesday, 22 October 2013

9:00 – 11:00

Joint with Expert Group Meeting on Priorities for Improving Survival: ICPD Beyond 2014

• Experts: Alberto Palloni, University of Wisconsin, Madison and Monica Das Gupta, University of Maryland.

  Two experts will present their views of the key points arising from the first day of each expert group meeting. Participants will engage in an interactive discussion on the key findings from the meeting, including the prioritization of issues for the global development agenda moving forward and of effective policy responses for shaping future population trends. The discussion will also identify promising future research directions.

• Moderator: John Wilmoth, Population Division

11:15 – 13:00 

2. Interactive discussion: perspectives on how to improve accessibility and utilization of data and evidence by policymakers

• Is getting health and population data and evidence to be used by policymakers more of a supply or demand issue?

• What are the gaps between policymakers' needs and data availability?

• What innovative strategies are there to get data and evidence to be used by policymakers?

• Experts: Kirsty Newman (DFID, by videolink) and Hans Rosling, Gapminder Foundation

• Moderator: Francesca Perucci, Population Division 

Conclusions and future directions

• John Wilmoth, Director, Population Division 

• Monica Das Gupta, University of Maryland. No. 2013/2 - Women’s Empowerment and Fertility: Policy Lessons

• Caroline W. Kabiru, Chimaraoke O. Izugbara, Donatien Béguy, and Estelle M. Sidze, African Population and Health Research Center.  No. 2013/3 - Transitions to Adulthood in a High Fertility Context: the Case of Sub-Saharan Africa

• John Bongaarts, Population Council. No. 2013/4 - How Exceptional is the Pattern of Fertility Decline in Sub-Saharan Africa?

• Suzana Cavenaghi, National School of Statistical Science (ENCE),  Brazilian  National Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Brazil. No. 2013/5 - Fertility Decline and Public Policies to Address Population Rights: Perspective from Latin America

• Zoe Matthews, Sylvia Szabo, University of Southampton, UK and Adriane Martin Hilber, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Switzerland. No. 2013/6 - What are the population-level impacts of enabling people to exercise their reproductive rights?

• Parfait M. Eloundou-Enyegue, Cornell University, United States of America. No. 2013/7 - Harnessing a Demographic Dividend: Challenges and Opportunities in High and Intermediate Fertility Countries

• Tomáš Sobotka, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences and Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital, Austria. No. 2013/8 - Pathways to Low Fertility: European Perspectives

• Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi, Australian National University, Australia; University of Tehran, Iran, and Bhakta Gubhaju, Australian National University, Australia. No. 2014/1 - Different Pathways to Low Fertility in Asia: Consequences and Policy Implications