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PAKISTAN:

Amb. Jamsheed Marker said that the decisions at Cairo should be action-oriented and innovative, reflecting the evolution of the population debate from the Bucharest and Mexico Conferences. Population programmes must be fully integrated with other aspects of socio- economic development. Pakistan believes that a short list of principles drafted on the basis of existing consensus language would provide an appropriate framework for the Plan of Action. The principles should include recognition of the sovereign right of each country to establish its own population policies and programmes. The final document should include a chapter on the protection of vulnerable groups, particularly women and children, in times of disaster, civil unrest and war. In addition, the "development obstacles" that affect a country's ability to achieve balanced growth should be stressed.