A/CONF.171/13 English Page 111 Chapter XVI* FOLLOW-UP TO THE CONFERENCE A. Activities at the national level Basis for action 16.1. The significance of the International Conference on Population and Development will depend on the willingness of Governments, local communities, the non-governmental sector, the international community and all other concerned organizations and individuals to turn the recommendations of the Conference into action. This commitment will be of particular importance at the national and individual levels. Such a willingness to truly integrate population concerns into all aspects of economic and social activity and their interrelationships will greatly assist in the achievement of an improved quality of life for all individuals as well as for future generations. All efforts must be pursued towards sustained economic growth within the context of sustainable development. 16.2. The extensive and varied preparatory processes at the international, regional, subregional, national and local levels have constituted an important contribution to the formulation of the present Programme of Action. Considerable institutional development has taken place in many countries in order to steer the national preparatory process; greater awareness of population issues has been fostered through public information and education campaigns, and national reports have been prepared for the Conference. The great majority of countries participating in the Conference responded to an invitation to prepare comprehensive national population reports. The complementarity of those reports to others commissioned by recent international conferences and initiatives relating to environmental, economic and social development is noteworthy and encouraging. The importance of building on these activities in the follow-up to the Conference is fully acknowledged. 16.3. The main functions related to Conference follow-up include policy guidance, including building strong political support at all levels for population and development; resource mobilization; coordination and mutual accountability of efforts to implement the Programme of Action; problem solving and sharing of experience within and between countries; and monitoring and reporting of progress in the implementation of the Programme of Action. Each of these functions requires concerted and coordinated follow-up at the national and international levels, and must fully involve all relevant individuals and * The Holy See expressed a general reservation on this chapter. reservation is to be interpreted in terms of the statement made by the representative of the Holy See at the 14th plenary meeting, on 13 September 1994. The /...