ENB:06:09
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SUB-GROUP ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE CAIRO DOCUMENT
At the Tuesday evening session, Colombia, on behalf of the G-77, responded to the various country proposals regarding the structure of the Cairo document. Colombia also stressed that discussions should focus on PC/11 and asked the Secretariat if cost estimates could be provided for each area, as in Agenda 21. The Chair, Tauno K„„ria of Finland, was requested to synthesize the proposals into a Chair's non-paper. The Secretariat suggested that discussions concentrate on structure and process but that substantive discussions should be left for the ICW. The Secretariat also added that it required clear guidance from the group. Colombia responded that the process of drafting should be discussed at a later stage.
At Wednesday's meeting of the sub-group, the Chair introduced his non-paper on the proposed outline of the Cairo document. The outline contained headings for the preamble, the principles, and the choices and responsibilities section with its fourteen chapters. The Chair noted that he was not able to accommodate the views of all delegations, particularly those who had proposed significant re-grouping of the headings in PC/11. The Chair stated that he had opted not to create a separate chapter on the family. Instead, the family issue could be incorporated in a sub-title under Chapter III, Population Growth and Structure. He also suggested that the family issue could be addressed in the principles section. Colombia, on behalf of the G-77, supported the Chair's draft but suggested that Chapter III should be reworked into a chapter on "Family well-being." He also reiterated the idea of formatting the chapters in a manner similar to Agenda 21.
Sweden proposed the reorganization of the chapters as presented in the non-paper into six areas and stressed the need to coordinate input between this sub-group and the ICW. Morocco suggested a sub-heading for women and girls in rural areas and referred to the discussions in the ICW on migration. The UK, later supported by Denmark on behalf of the EC, raised the concern that decisions on the chapter headings could not be made until there was resolution on the principles and the fundamental concerns. Palestine suggested that the sub-heading on migration be changed to include the issue of "forced migration." Malaysia stated that the issue of maternal mortality and morbidity should be given more emphasis. Switzerland said that the sub-headings should take into consideration the discussions in both Plenary and the ICW, and that any restructuring of Chapter III should be done carefully. France hoped that there would be consensus on the guiding principles, otherwise this document would be difficult to implement. He added that the concept of the family as a moving unit must be taken into account. Denmark suggested consolidating the last four chapters into a new heading, "Partnerships in Population." Iran supported Malaysia in its suggestion to change the title of the last chapter to "Community Partnership."
The Chair suggested that he may prepare three documents: a revised Chair's non-paper with a re-working of just the main headings; a Chair's summary of the discussion in this sub-group on the sub-headings; and a paper outlining the general approach to be taken in the organization of each chapter. His suggestion was generally supported by the group. David Payton, of the ICPD Secretariat, reminded the group that they were not negotiating the document for Cairo but rather providing guidance to the Secretariat. He said that the first draft of the document should be ready for review by the 48th Session of the General Assembly and that there would be regular informal consultations during the intersessional period.