Education, key to the future.

RIO two years ago, Cairo yesterday, Copenhagen and Beijing next year--this extremely important series of United Nations conferences(*) reflects a growing awareness that the challenges facing our world are universal. These meetings are stages on the long road to the management of our global interdependence.

They can be seen as part of a trend that is leading to a significant shift in thinking about development. Economism, one of the most persistent of this century's reductionisms, is in retreat. Development is increasingly recognized as a process encompassing all aspects of human existence and as a right due to all human beings in their diversity.

A NEW APPROACH

The regulation of population growth is undoubtedly one of the most urgent challenges facing us. But it is only one factor in a complex …