[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 142 (Tuesday, October 4, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  PRIME MINISTER BHUTTO'S CAIRO SPEECH

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, earlier this month, while in Cairo for the 
third global conference on population and development, Pakistani Prime 
Minister Benazir Bhutto gave a highly publicized address to the 
delegates. In that address, Prime Minister Bhutto tackled some tough, 
controversial issues, which were at the forefront of the debate during 
the conference, and which will have a tremendous impact on 
international development and population growth in the coming decades.
  While I cannot say that I agree with everything that Prime Minister 
Bhutto said in the address, I do think that she made a pivotal 
contribution to the conference's proceedings. I would therefore ask 
unanimous consent that the text of her speech be inserted into the 
Record at the conclusion of my remarks.
  I would also like to take a moment to express my personal regard for 
Prime Minister Bhutto. I have known her since the days when the 
military dictators of Pakistan kept her under house arrest, because she 
and her family represented a popular, democratic alternative to martial 
rule. I admired her tenacity and courage as a political prisoner then, 
much as I admire her ability and sense of purpose as Prime Minister 
now.
  In her address to the conference, Prime Minister Bhutto brings a 
special perspective to the issues. As she said in her own words, she 
can speak ``as a woman, as a mother, as a wife,'' but also ``as the 
democratically elected Prime Minister of a great Moslem nation--the 
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.'' It is, in my view, significant that 
Prime Minister Bhutto spoke candidly and directly in a forum that many 
of her Moslem colleagues avoided. As I suggested a moment ago, I think 
the Prime Minister played a crucial role in bringing the issues at the 
conference into sharp focus, and I commend her address to my 
colleagues.
  There being no objection, the speech was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

     Address by Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan

       Mr. President, Secretary General, Distinguished Delegates, 
     Ladies and Gentlemen, I come before you as a woman; as a 
     mother; as a wife. I come before you as the democratically 
     elected Prime Minister of a great Muslim nation--the Islamic 
     Republic of Pakistan. I come before you as the leader of the 
     ninth largest population on earth, Ladies and Gentlemen.
       We stand at the cross roads of history. The choices that we 
     make today will affect the future of mankind. Out of the 
     debris of the second world war arose the impulse of 
     reconstruct the world. Large communities of people exercised 
     their right of self-determination by establishing nation-
     states of their own.
       The challenge of economic development led, in several 
     instances, to group-formation where states subordinated their 
     individual destiny to collective initiatives. It seemed for a 
     while that these collective efforts would determine the 
     political architecture of the future. The events of the last 
     few years have, however, made us aware of the growing 
     complexity and contradictions of the human situation. The end 
     of the Cold War, should have freed immense resources for 
     development.
       Unfortunately, it led to the re-emergence of sub-regional 
     tensions and conflicts. In extreme cases, there was a break-
     up of nation-states.
       Sadly, instead of coming nearer, the objective of a 
     concerted global action to address common problems of 
     mankind, seems lost in the twilight. The problem of 
     population stabilization faced by us today cannot be divorced 
     from our yesterdays. Ironically enough, population has risen 
     fastest in areas which were weakened most by the unfortunate 
     experience of colonial domination. The third world 
     communities have scarce resources spread thinly over a vast 
     stretch of pressing human needs. We are unable to tackle 
     questions of population growth on a scale commensurate with 
     the demographic challenge.
       Since demographic pressure, together with migration from 
     disadvantaged areas to affluent states, are urgent problems, 
     transcending national frontiers, it is imperative that in the 
     field of population control, global strategies and national 
     plans work in unison. Perhaps that is a dream. But we all 
     have a right to dream.
       Ladies and gentlemen I dream of a Pakistan, of an Asia, of 
     a world where every pregnancy is planned, and every child 
     conceived is nurtured, loved, educated and supported. I dream 
     of a Pakistan, of an Asia, of a world not undermined by 
     ethnic divisions brought upon by population growth, 
     starvation, crime and anarchy. I dream of a Pakistan, of an 
     Asia, of a world, where we can commit our social resources to 
     the development of human life and not to its destruction.
       That dream is far from the reality we endure. We are a 
     planet in crisis, a planet out of control, a planet moving 
     towards catastrophe. The question before us at this 
     conference is whether we have the will, the energy, the 
     strength to do something about it. I say we do. We must.
       What we need is a global partnership for improving the 
     human condition.
       We must concentrate on that which unites us. We should not 
     examine issues that divide us. Our document should seek to 
     promote the objective of planned parenthood of population, of 
     population control. This conference must not be viewed by the 
     teaming masses of the world as a universal social charter 
     seeking to impose adultery, abortion, sex education and other 
     such matters on individuals, societies and religions which 
     have their own social ethos. By convening this conference, 
     the international community is reannouncing its resolve that 
     problems of a global nature will be solved through global 
     efforts.
       Governments can do a great deal to improve the quality of 
     life in our society. But there is much that governments 
     cannot do. Governments do not educate our children. Parents 
     educate children. More often mothers educate children. 
     Governments do not teach values to our children. Parents 
     teach values to our children. More often mothers teach values 
     to children. Governments do not socialize youngsters into 
     responsible citizens. Parents are the primary socializing 
     agents in society. In most societies, that job belongs to the 
     mother.
       How do we tackle population growth in a country like 
     Pakistan? We tackle it by tackling infant mortality. By 
     providing villages with electrification. By raising an army 
     of women, 33,000 strong, to educate our mothers, sisters and 
     daughters in child welfare and population control. By setting 
     up a bank run by women for women, to help women achieve 
     economic independence. And, with economic independence, have 
     the wherewithal to make independent choices. I am what I am 
     today because of a beloved father who left me independent 
     means, to make independent decisions, free of male prejudice 
     in my society, or even in my family.
       As chief executive of one of the nine largest populated 
     countries in the world, I and the Government are faced with 
     the awesome task of providing for homes, schools, hospitals, 
     sewerage, drainage, food, gas, electricity, employment and 
     infrastructure.
       In Pakistan, in a period of 30 years--from 1951 to 1981--
     our population rose by 50 million. At present it is 126 
     million. By the year 2020, our population may be 213 million. 
     In 1960 one acre of land sustained one person. Today one acre 
     of land sustains 2\1/2\ people. Pakistan cannot progress, if 
     it cannot check its rapid population growth.
       Check if we must, for it is not the destiny of the people 
     of Pakistan to live in squalor and poverty condemned to a 
     future of hunger and horror. That is why, along with the 
     33,000 lady health workers and the women's bank, the 
     government has appointed 12,000 community motivaters across 
     the country. To educate and motivate our people to a higher 
     standard of living through planned families, spaced families, 
     families that can be nurtured.
       In our first budget, we demonstrated our commitment to 
     human resource development. We increased social sector 
     spending by 33%. And by the year 2000, we intend to take 
     Pakistan's educational expenditure from 2.19% where we found 
     it to 3% of our GNP. This is no easy task for a country with 
     a difficult IMF structural program. With a ban on economic 
     and military assistance from the only super power in the 
     world. With 2.4 million Afghan refugees forgotten by the 
     world. With more Kashmiri refugees coming in needing 
     protection.
       But we are determined to do it. For we have a commitment to 
     our people. A commitment based on principles. Such a 
     commitment demands that we take decisions which are right, 
     which are not always popular. Leaders are elected to lead 
     nations. Leaders are not elected to let a vocal narrow-minded 
     minority dictate an agenda of backwardness. We are committed 
     to an agenda for change.
       An agenda to take our mothers and our infants into the 21st 
     century with the hope of a better future. A future free from 
     diseases that rack and ruin. A future free from polio, from 
     goiter, from blindness caused by deficiency in vitamin A. 
     These are the battles that we must fight, not only as a 
     nation but as a global community. These are the battles on 
     which history--and our people--will judge us. These are the 
     battles to which the mosque and the church must contribute, 
     along with governments and NGO's and families. Empowerment of 
     women is one part of this battle.
       Today women pilots fly planes in Pakistan, women serve as 
     judges in the superior judiciary, women work in police 
     stations, women work in our civil service, our foreign 
     service and our media. Our working women uphold the Islamic 
     principles that all individuals are equal in the eyes of God. 
     By empowering our women, we work for our goal of population 
     stabilization and, with it, promotion of human dignity. But 
     the march of mankind to higher heights is a universal and 
     collective concern.
       Regrettably, the conference's document contains serious 
     flaws in striking at the heart of a great many cultural 
     values, in the north and in the south, in the mosque and in 
     the church. In Pakistan our response will doubtless be shaped 
     by our belief in the eternal teachings of Islam. Islam is a 
     dynamic religion committed to human progress. It makes no 
     unfair demands of its followers. The Holy Quran says: ``Allah 
     wishes you ease, and wishes not hardship for you.'' Again the 
     Holy Book says: ``He has chosen you, and has not laid on you 
     any hardship in religion.''
       The followers of Islam have no conceptual difficulty in 
     addressing questions of regulating population in light of 
     available resources. The only constraint is that the process 
     must be consistent with abiding moral principles. Islam lays 
     a great deal of stress on the sanctity of life. The Holy Book 
     tells us: ``Kill not your children on a plea of want. We 
     provide sustenance for them and for you.''
       Islam, therefore, except in exceptional circumstances 
     rejects abortion as a method of population control. There is 
     little compromise on Islam's emphasis on the family unit. The 
     traditional family is the basic unity on which any society 
     rests. It is the anchor on which the individual relies as he 
     embarks upon the Journey of Life.
       Islam aims at harmonious lives built upon a bedrock of 
     conjugal fidelity and parental responsibility. Many suspect 
     that the disintegration of the traditional family has 
     contributed to moral decay. Let me state, categorically, Mr. 
     Chairman, that the traditional family is the union sanctified 
     by marriage. Muslims, with their overriding commitment to 
     knowledge, would have no difficulty with dissemination of 
     information about reproductive health, so long as its 
     modalities remain compatible with their religious and 
     spiritual heritage. Lack of an adequate infrastructure of 
     services and not ideology, constitutes our basic problems.
       The major objective of the population policy of the newly 
     elected democratic government is a commitment to improve the 
     quality of life of the people through provision of family 
     planning and health services.
       Mr. Chairman, we refuse to be daunted by the immensity of 
     the task. But the goals set by this conference would become 
     realistic only with the whole-hearted cooperation amongst the 
     nations of the world. Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda and Kashmir are 
     but a few examples of nation-states under siege. The rise of 
     so-called fundamentalism in some of our societies, and the 
     emergence of neo-fascism, in some western communities, are 
     symptoms of a deeper malaise. I believe the nation-states 
     might just have failed to meet their people's expectations 
     within their own limited national resources of ideological 
     framework. If so, the malady is probably none other than a 
     retreat from the ideals of the founding fathers of the United 
     Nations.
       We can, perhaps, still restore mankind to vibrant health by 
     returning to those ideals of Global Cooperation.
       Given the background, I hope that the delegates 
     participating in this conference will act in wisdom, and with 
     vision to promote population stabilization. Pakistan's 
     delegation will work constructively for the finalization of a 
     document enjoying the widest consensus.
       Ladies and Gentlemen, our destiny does not lie in our 
     stars. It lies within us. Our destiny beckons us. Let us have 
     the strength to grasp it. Thank you President Mubarak, for 
     hosting this Conference on such an important global concern. 
     And thank you Mr. Secretary General and Dr. Nafis Sadik for 
     making it possible.

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