The 1984 Kilimanjaro Programme of Action on ‎Population: the birth of a mountain

Ahmed Bahri, Independent Consultant
Wilma Goppel

Reconvening in 2007 the Fifth Population Conference in Arusha, ‎i. e the same venue where the Kilimanjaro Programme of Action ‎was adopted in 1984. This has been a historic achievement for ‎African Demographers and, more so, for Tanzania and the ‎African Continent as a whole. As the Coordinator of the African ‎Team who conceived, prepared and conducted this Conference, ‎which successfully equipped Africa, for the first time, with ‎a Common Position on Population issues, I am submitting a ‎paper describing the circumstances, the context, the ‎activities, the issues on the table, as they related then to ‎the problems of economic and social development in Africa, and ‎the cooperation of all parties, mainly the Government and ‎People of Tanzania. This achievement did not go without ‎difficulties and problems. That made this event more ‎interesting to remember and to appreciate.‎ ‎ ‎