The announcement came at the conclusion of the three-day International Forum on Population and Development held in Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei Province. The forum, held under the auspices of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) addressed such topics as poverty alleviation; reproductive health and family planning; HIV/AIDS prevention, control and care; adolescent sexual and reproductive health; empowerment of women; and the role of NGOs.

Also on the closing day of the forum, the 21 Partners in Population and Development issued the Yangtze Declaration in honor of the first South-South Collaboration Day.

"The Chinese government has worked proactively to promote and develop its exchanges and cooperation with other member countries of the Partners on the basis of equality, sincerity and mutual respect," said State Councilor Hua Jianmin at the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Partners and of South-South Collaboration Day.

The ICPD Program of Action was adopted by acclamation a decade ago at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, endorsing a new strategy that emphasizes the integral linkages between population and development and focuses on meeting the needs of individuals, rather than on achieving demographic targets. It set goals for balancing population dynamics with economic and social development, resource utilization and environmental protection.

Also at the Cairo conference in 1994, 10 developing countries formed the initial Partners group. China joined them in November 1997, and has since been an active advocate of and participant in south-south cooperation, as well as a beneficiary of such cooperation.

At its eighth annual board meeting last year, the Partners designated September 9 as South-South Collaboration Day.

The Yangtze Declaration emphasizes the need for governments and the international community to demonstrate strong political will and commitment to realizing fully the potential of south-south cooperation; and to helping the most vulnerable, which are experiencing high rates of population growth and extreme levels of poverty.

UN Undersecretary-General Dr. Thoraya Obaid spoke highly of the Yangtze Declaration, saying it has developed strategies for cooperation and better implementation of the ICPD Program of Action and the Millennium Development Goals adopted in September 2000, built on a framework of south-south cooperation.

Dr. Timothee Gandaho, executive of the Partners, said that poverty is always related to the population problem and is still the leading enemy of developing countries.

"I feel very encouraged that the declaration has noted the difficulties of the 50 least-developed countries, which need special attention," said UN Undersecretary-General Anwarul K. Chowdhury.

National Population and Family Planning Commission Minister Zhang Weiqing stated that both the forum and the declaration confirm the importance of the population issue in poverty alleviation and sustained advancement of developing countries.

Noting that the declaration shows firm commitment to the implementation of the ICPD Program of Action and determination to tackle all the challenges, Zhang said the effect of the declaration would be seen clearly in the next 10 years.