Suchergebnisse

Minorities and the State discusses the plight of two numerically significant religious minority groups: Hindus in Bangladesh and Muslims in West Bengal, India. The political vicissitudes in India and Bangladesh have stirred up questions relating to citizenship, nationality, and identity. In this volume, academics from India, Bangladesh, and Japan examine the formation of minority identity at the time of partition of India in 1947 and in subsequent decades. The articles emphasize the crises and coping strategies, migration, and state- and local-level politics affecting minorities. By utilizing

One of the most important factors contributing to the success of Bangladesh's FP-MCH Program in recent years has been the strong support provided at the policy level by all the governments of Bangladesh since independence. This has given the government confidence and supported the development of a coherent set of policies at the implementation level. However, the success of policies at one stage in the development of a family planning (FP) program carries with it the need for changes in policy to support the program at the next stage. In Bangladesh, if the nation is to attain the demographic goals important to survival, it must adapt its policies to attract larger numbers of users through better service structures, stronger teamwork, and cooperation both within government and between the government and NGOs, and ultimately through higher quality service for clients. The Population Council and URC (Bangladesh) have been collaborating since 1992, and the present report in draft form was instrumental in determining the long-term policy issues now being addressed by the National Steering Committee for Future Challenges in the FP-MCH Program.

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994 was the culmination of months of national and international discussions. The issues had been crafted into a Program of Action, which represented a potential shift in thinking. Delegates left the conference espousing a new paradigm and a broad definition of what people, especially women, should expect from their national health services. Governments were encouraged to recognize that the improved health status of women could only be achieved by a life-cycle approach and that health depended not only on good family planning information and services but on women's empowerment in all spheres—legal, employment, and education. The course had been set to greatly improve the approach of the family planning and maternal and child health programs. ICPD focused on a holistic approach to health that boosted the dynamic process already underway. This report is mainly based on secondary data collected through extensive review of all policy- and program-related documents published prior to and after ICPD.