This timely, path-breaking report examines the challenges that face all countries, both rich and poor, in the last years of the century. The Independent Commission on Population and Quality of Life, headed by Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, former Prime Minister of Portugal, outlines a radical agenda to confront the economic, human, and environmental crises facing the world today. Throughout the book are powerful personal testimonies from regional hearings of the commission in Africa, Asia, Latin America, USA, Canada, and eastern Europe. (text from the publisher)