The
Development Planning Unit
Government of the British Virgin Islands

NATIONAL REPORT FOR THE ICPD

FORWARD BY HON. CHIEF MINISTER
On behalf of the Government and the people of the British Virgin Islands with great pleasure and satisfaction I applaud the United Nations particularly its organization charged with the global responsibility of population activities, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). My government is aware of UNFPA's effort in the bringing of population as a critical development component to the forefront of the development agenda for the world community. UNFPA sterling efforts beginning with first the World Population Conference in 1974 (Bucharest), the second World Population Conference in 1984 (Mexico City) and now the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) to be held in 1994 at Cairo have impacted on the population dynamics of the globe and in so doing have contributed positively to the development of mankind.

The level of population dynamics management together with the success achieved by developing countries which were able to adopt some of the recommendation of the World Population Plan of Action (WPPA) are testimony to the significance of population. Population means putting first and in effect making them the object of development. This fits well with the development concepts adopted lately such as Sustainable Development, Changing Productivity Patterns with Social Equity, Social Integration and Integrated Development.

In the BVI, a country where immigrants amount to 47% of the population, our priority population issues are immigration, integrating population concerns and affairs with development, improving the status of women, ensuring that maternal and child health is adequate and improving the well-being of youth. These population related priority issues are designed to facilitate the achievement of our goal of longer, healthier and more productive lives for all residents of the BVI.

This National Report on Population and Development is the British Virgin Islands blueprint for development relative to population issues. It is intended to serve as a comprehensive reference for policies, strategies, plans, programmes and projects related to population and development. In establishing the guidelines for future action, the document outlines the National Plan of Action, to which the Public Sector, the Private Sector, Non-governmental Organizations (NGO's), Grass Root Organizations (GRO's) and the International Donor Financing Community are expected to contribute in meaningful ways.

In closing it would be remiss of me if I did not express our sincerest thanks to the UN and UNFPA for their extraordinary efforts in the field of Population and Development. Once again, on behalf of the people of the BVI, I wish for a most successful Conference while looking forward to implementing its recommendations.

H. Lavity Stoutt
Chief Minister

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Government and people of the British Virgin Islands wishes to acknowledge the United Nations and its many bodies and organizations for the strong and continued development support they has provided for the past three decades. More specifically, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) is acknowledged for its sterling efforts to assist the socioeconomic development of the country. Special thanks must be given to UNFPA for the financial support, technical assistance and advise rendered to facilitate our preparation for and attendance at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. In recognition of the technical assistance provided to undertake an ECLAC/CELADE mission on the population situation and the resources provided to assist with the 1991 Population and Housing Census we sincerely thank UNFPA.

Population activities are included in the mandate of many United Nations organizations and we would especially like to recognize the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for its assistance in the area of maternal and child health care and the general health of the population. Other organizations/bodies such as the UNDP, UNIFEM, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNEP, UNCTAD etc. must be recognized for their contributions towards population issues and development in general. The Government of the United States of Mexico is recognized for its contribution to our participation in the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Conference on Population and Development. The Governments of Curacao and the United States Virgin Islands are to be recognized for their support and co-sponsorship of the resolution necessary to allow our participation in the ICPD at Cairo as a non-independent country and an associate member of ECLAC. In this regard special mention is to be made of the Caribbean and Latin American governments for the steering of this participation resolution through the United Nations system. The chairman of Working Group of Non-Independent Caribbean Countries (NICC), Dr. Carlysle Carbin of the USVI is to be thanked for his sterling efforts in piloting this resolution through the system.

Locally, the Development Planning Unit (DPU) headed by Otto O'Neal, and its staff especially Statistician/Demographer, Raymond Phillips, Statistician, Arthur Bruce and Clerical Officer, Rexella Ollivierre (Ms) are to be recognized for their effort in putting this report together. The National Population Committee (NPC) and Dr. Barbara Boland of the ECLAC/CDCC Demography Unit are to be given thanks for their contribution to this report of extraordinary implications for the integrated development of the British Virgin Islands.

Otto O'Neal
Head
Development Planning Unit

INTRODUCTION
The necessity to import labour to facilitate the rapid economic development of the late 1970's and 1980's indicated to government that there was an urgency in facing the population issues related to immigration without further delay. As the country developed and the population grew, socioeconomic and environmental systems became more complicated to manage because of the absence of integration of policies and strategies. Very limited assistance was available to the BVI to manage its population prior to UNFPA introducing the upcoming International Conference on Population and Development. The regional meetings of ECLAC for the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Conference in Mexico City and other Preparatory Meetings cemented our plans to fully integrate population policies and strategies in the development process. The Cairo Conference on Population and Development comes at a most opportune time for the British Virgin Islands.

This National Report on Population and Development is intended to be the most comprehensive reference reviewing the past, examining the current situation and providing a blueprint for future action. The report follows the annotated outline put forward by the United Nations in terms of its structure but contents in some areas reflect the issues which are more applicable and are priorities for the British Virgin Islands. For example, emphasis is placed on immigration and integration of population issues in the National Development Planning Process. Other issues such as maternal and child health care, human resources development and improving the status of women are all priorities and are dealt with accordingly in the report.

Data and information gathered from the Censuses of 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1991 are used to review the past and current situations. The future structure and other dynamics of the Population are derived from projections undertaken by the Population Unit (PU) of the Population Affairs and Social Statistics (PASS) Division of the Development Planning Unit with technical assistance from the ECLAC/CDCC/CELADE Demography Unit in the ECLAC Caribbean Regional Office, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The current situation describes the Project Cycle Management (PCM) of population programmes, projects and activities covering identification, formulation, evaluation, analysis, implementation, operation and rehabilitation. The blueprint for future action details the resource allocation to population and related activities, the management issues, the human resources and the institutional infrastructure required. In the area of Future Action, projects and activities which are in advanced stages of planning or into early implementation are detailed for completeness of the picture.

It is hoped that this report can contribute positively to the policies, strategies and decisions of the bilateral and multilateral donor financing community and consequently to the integrated development of the British Virgin Islands.

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