During the 1975-77 period of Emergency Rule, India's political leadership made family planning one of its highest priorities. The results of its efforts included over 8 million reported sterilizations, several hundred deaths, the harrassment of millions, the family planning program's collapse, and the disgrace of the leaders responsible. Top-level political commitment, the Indian experience indicates, is no automatic solution to the difficulties of family planning programs. Inadequately constrained, political will applied to family planning can create problems as severe as those it is meant to solve.
Founded in 1975, Population and Development Review seeks to advance knowledge of the interrelationships between population and socioeconomic development and provides a forum for discussion of related issues of public policy. Combining readability with scholarship, the journal draws on high-level social science expertise-in economics, anthropology, sociology, and political science-to offer challenging ideas, provocative analysis, and critical insights. Each issue includes a lively collection of book reviews and an archives section that brings to light historical writings with a resonance for contemporary population debate. Supplements to the journal also are available.
The Population Council conducts research to address critical health and development issues. Our work allows couples to plan their families and chart their futures. We help people avoid HIV infection and access life-saving HIV services. And we empower girls to protect themselves and have a say in their own lives.
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