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ROUNDTABLE ON POPULATION AND COMMUNICATION

A roundtable on population and communication, hosted by the Vienna Institute for Development and Cooperation, was held from 2-3 December 1993 in Vienna, Austria. The agenda for the roundtable focused on several main areas of concern: an assessment of current demographic trends and the factors influencing them; the developments in population communication; and case studies on the potential of the media for population issues, including traditional and non-commercial media, TV soaps, songs, interactive radio, drama and film. The roundtable also discussed strategies to strengthen population communications, and explored the role of broadcast policies and international cooperation, the challenge of resource mobilization, questions of marketing and community involvement, and the need for strategic planning and coordination in the fields of information, education and communication.

The roundtable adopted 37 recommendations that are being submitted to the ICPD for its consideration. These recommendations addressed: the importance of population information, education and communication; the need to strengthen partnerships between governments and NGOs in the field of population communications; the need to build institutional capacities in the area of population communications; the role of entertainment programmes; the role of radio and television communication; and the need to emphasize such issues as the prevention of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, safe motherhood and child survival, and family planning in population communications.