In my travels as secretary of state, I have seen in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean how rapidly increasing populations can make it harder for societies to meet challenges and move forward.

Unsustainable population growth can undermine economic and social progress by overburdening the quality and availability of public services, limiting employment opportunities, and contributing to environmental degradation. It can also contribute to instability, potentially to outflows of migrants, and, when exacerbated by human rights abuses, refugees.

In short, unsustainable population growth undermines our strategic effort to bring nations closer together around common principles of democracy, peace, and the rule of law -- to build a world that is increasingly stable, prosperous, and free.

That is why the Clinton administration favors a comprehensive approach to help countries grow in ways that balance economic progress, social development, and environmental concerns.

This approach also recognizes that women and women's health are at the core of successful development. And it accords with the consensus created at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, and with the collective vision there of a world where women and men are equal partners, children are cherished and healthy, families are strong, and prosperity is broadly shared.

We have had many successes in the four years since Cairo. Access to reproductive health services has been expanded throughout the world, and more women are becoming empowered through increased education and rights. But the challenges we face are also great.

The world's population continues to grow by 80 million people every year. Half a million women continue to die each year from pregnancy-related causes -- 99 per cent of them in developing countries. And millions of people became infected with HIV/AIDS in each of the past four years.

The United States looks toward the five-year review of the ICPD Program of Action as a key opportunity to refocus and redouble efforts in our country and around the world.

Through a series of events between now and the International Forum in February 1999 and beyond, we will be deeply engaged. And we look forward to working with other governments and with international and non-governmental organizations to make sure that the profound shift in thinking on population issues sparked in Cairo continues to make a profound and lasting difference in the lives of men and women across the world.

Global Issues USIA Electronic Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, September 1998