Readout of the Manila Proposal

HON . CHIEKO NOHNO (JAPAN) :

As I have been appointed by Mr. Hirose of APDA. I would like to read the Manila Proposal in Japanese.

This Manila Proposal has been compiled by the APDA Secretariat in view of discussions that took place at the Asian Parliamentarians Meeting on Population and Development in l 994 and 1 995, International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in l 994, the International Meeting of Parliamentarians on Social Development and Population in Copenhagen in 1995, the Indochina Women's Conference, the AFPPD Women's Committee Meeting, which was held last year in Manila, and the International Meeting of Parliamentarians on Gender, Population and Development in Tokyo.

The Secretariat Draft of Manila Proposal has been created as a result of discussions among more than 400 parliamentarians from 250 countries that was conducted over a total period of 3 months. Therefore, I trust that there will not be many objections regarding the content of the proposal itself. It being a draft, however, there are naturally expressions that need to be modified and items that need to be added. For this reason, I will simply read the Secretariat Draft for now and will not conduct any discussion at this point .

After having you listen to this draft, I would like to ask the Drafting Committee prepare the final draft. If you would like to express your opinions, please attend the Drafting Committee which will meet for 2 hours from 8 :30 this evening. Dr. Mboi of Indonesia has already checked the English wording and made some suggestions for the Secretariat Draft .

As time is limited, I request that you take this opportunity to fully discuss this matter. APDA and PLCPD will serve as the secretariat for this meeting.

I'll just read this Proposal.