Chancellor KOHL recently called on the Germans
to increase their birthrate. These days, it seems, most
government leaders are hoping for growth in their own
populations, although a law as in China and India are
seeking to limit such growth.
On the occasion of the Bucharest Conference on Global
Population in 1974, the Delegates elected to the Peoples'
Congress put out the following statement, still relevant
today :
As DELEGATES of the PEOPLES
CONGRESS, elected directly and democratically by a
trans-national electorate, spread over 110
countries
We state
That at the moment, the Bucarest
United Nations conference about the population issues was
held, hundred of thousands of inhabitants of the planet
were dying from hunger
We state
That the representatives of the
majority of the governments, forgetting that the human
species is threatened by uncontrolled population growth,
still insist on maintaining national sovereignty decision
freedom concerning this issue
We state
That the Nations States consider
the increase of their population as a supreme wealth
which confers military and political power
We state
That a nation state will only
admit the necessity of practising birth control when it
seems that its own prosperity is threatened
We conclude
That competition between Nations
States leads to an increase of the absolute number of
underprivileged people on earth
We declare
As a consequence: that the
problem can only be solved by:
- In the rich countries, the
decrease of waste
- In the poor countries, the
increase of living standards
especially a just and efficient
WORLD INSTITUTION that will be able to stabilize the
population growth by proposing measures which will serve
the whole of humanity and not only a few of its member :
Governments, political or religious leaders or economic
oligarchies