ASSESSMENT OF ICPD-POA

Malaysia has undertaken periodic reviews to assess the achievement of ICPD goals and objectives. Malaysia participated in the Global Survey Beyond 2014 conducted by the UNFPA in 2012. The National Population and Family Development Board (NPFDB) conducted the Second Population Strategic Plan Study in 2010 and an assessment of the implementation of ICPD-POA in 2005. The Federation of Reproductive Health Associations Malaysia has conducted a number of reviews such as ICPD+5 in 1999, ICPD Ten years On in 2005 and ICPD+15 in 2009.

ACHIEVEMENTS 

Malaysia has achieved most of the goals of the ICPD-POA. Key enabling factors such as political stability, efficient civil service, harmonious social environment, unity and strength in diversity, educated and trained workforce, abundant natural resources and effective partnership with stakeholders and NGOs contributed to the success.

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994 was a landmark in the population and development field. At this conference 179 countries, including Malaysia, adopted a 20-year program of action known as the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD-POA). The overriding objective is to raise the quality of life and individual wellbeing, and to promote human development by recognizing the complexity of the interrelationships between population and development.

POVERTY REDUCTION AND EDUCATION 

Poverty eradication programmes have been highly effective in reducing the incidence of poverty from 8.7 percent in 1994 to 1.7 percent in 2012. Primary education is nearly universal, and the enrolment rate in secondary schools has increased from 70.86 percent in 1993 to 85.4 percent in 2013. More than 68 percent of 41,573 student in-take for first degrees for the 2013/2014 academic year in public universities are women. 

GENDER EQUALITY

The participation rate of women in the labour force has increased from 44.7 percent in 1995 to 52.4 percent in 2013 and is on track to achieving 55 percent participation rate by the year 2015. In the professional field, the percentage of women professionals too has increased from 7.5 percent in 2005 to 14.8 percent in 2012.

With more educated women entering the workforce and holding key positions in the public and private sectors, Malaysia is now moving towards achieving the policy of at least 30 percent women in decision making positions.

HEALTH 

MORTALITY AND LIFE EXPECTANCY 

Owing to the excellent health system Malaysia has one of the lowest mortality rates, 4.6 deaths per thousand population in 2012, among developing countries. The maternal mortality ratio in 1990 was 44 maternal deaths per hundred thousand live births and the rate fell substantially to reach 26 in 2012. In tandem with this, the infant mortality rate has declined from 13.1 per thousand live births in 1990 to 6.3 in 2012. The average life expectancy is about 74 years in 2013: 72.6 years for males and 77.2 years for females.

HIV 

In Malaysia, the number of reported HIV cases has declined steadily. However, there has been a rise in HIV cases attributed to heterosexual intercourse and this phenomenon is prevalent among the younger cohort. To address new challenges, Malaysia formulated the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on HIV and AIDS 2011-2015. The NSP incorporates a multi-sectoral strategy that takes into account young people’s vulnerability and provides the delivery of free first line treatment for all patients at Government hospitals and clinics, provision of sexual reproductive health (SRH) education and services, and encourages voluntary HIV testing and counselling. 

CERVICAL CANCER

 In 2012, Malaysia introduced a national human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme. Under this programme, girls aged 13 years old who are in schools are given free vaccination. For girls aged 18 years old who missed the vaccination, a programme for this ‘catch-up’ group is implemented by the NPFDB. Since its inception in July 2012 up to June 2014, 197,196 girls in the ‘catch-up’ group have benefitted from this initiative.

ADOLESCENT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH 

The introduction of the National Policy on Reproductive Health and Social Education and its Action Plan in November 2009 has paved the way for increased access to reproductive health education, information and services for adolescents. A major milestone under this policy is the integration of Reproductive Health and Social Education into the National Service Training curriculum in 2011 which benefits around 100,000 school leavers each year.

In addition, the National Adolescent Health Policy (2001) and its Plan of Action (2006-2020) were formulated to empower adolescents with the appropriate knowledge and assertive skills to enable them to practise healthy behaviour and lifestyles. 

To improve access to reproductive health information and services for youths, the NPFDB established youth-friendly centres known as kafe@TEEN in 2005. Its concept and strategies have proven to be viable and acceptable, and with assistance from the UNFPA, an up-scaling exercise was carried out from 2008 to 2012. Currently, there are 12 kafe@TEEN centres nationwide, with more than 743,000 youth participation. Mobile kafe@TEEN was established as an outreach programme that reaches out to more than 30,000 young people every year.

FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

 In view of the changes in the Malaysian family structure and needs, the National Family Policy (NFP) was launched in 2011. This policy, spearheaded by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, seeks to prioritise a family perspective in all socio-economic development efforts. Under this policy, the 1Malaysia Family First (1MF1st) movement was launched in 2012 with the participation of the public, private and people. In addition, the Government, in 2012, declared November as National Family Month. The Government has also declared that any private company that organises family activities for their employees will be given tax exemption for the expenditure. Marriage and family development programmes and services have been implemented throughout the country.

CHALLENGES AND POLICY ISSUES BEYOND 2014 

The current state of the world’s population is one of unprecedented diversity and change, reflected in new patterns of fertility, mortality, migration, urbanization and ageing. The continuation and consequences of these population trends will present both opportunities and challenges for the formulation and implementation of the post-2014 development agenda. Malaysia continues to implement policies and programmes to address emerging issues and challenges, such as fertility decline and population ageing, which will have profound effects on the nation’s population size and composition. 

Malaysia’s total fertility rate has been declining quite rapidly from 4.0 in the early eighties to a replacement level fertility of 2.1 in 2012. The challenge now and beyond 2014 is to slow down the fertility decline and to address emerging issues concerning older persons. Malaysia has, in the last five years, introduced incentives to slow down the decline such as increasing maternity leave from 60 days to 90 days; advocating flexible working hours; child care facilities at the work place; child-care subsidy for working mothers; reproductive health services for families; and encouraging husband’s involvement in child-rearing. Along with these measures, the NFP aims to ensure that legislations, services, programmes and facilities are family-friendly. 

The National Policy for the Elderly and its Plan of Action were reviewed in 2011 to acknowledge older persons as citizens with varied background and experiences, have the rights to enjoy a comfortable and respected life and contribute to the development of the nation. This is the Government’s commitment to empower individuals, families and communities to provide friendly services to older persons effectively and efficiently and to ensure an enabling and supportive environment for their well-being.

*Excerpts from Malaysia’s country statement at the 47th Session of the UN Commission on Population and Development, 7-11 April 2014, New York 

Download : PopInfo Issue 2 2014