in Kosovo and letohija, it was 24 per 1,000 Lhabitants. The population policy encompassed the right of the individual to decide freely on the size of his or her family, his or her responsibility towards the aommunity and the comrnunity*s responsibility for population growth and for the creation of the economic, social, cultural and educational conditions necessary to aahieve higher living standards, “bumanization” of birth and the harmonization of relations between thy sexes. The representative provided data for 1969 on the number of marriages and divorces in the regions of Yugoslavia. In the whole country, 159,126 marriages had been contracted, of which 22,761 (or She said that the number of divorces per 14.3 per cent) had been dissolved. 1,000 marriages in the regions were as follows: -259.2 in Vojvodina, 221.1 in Slovenia, 185.5 in Croatia, 179.9 in Serbia, 143.6 in Bosna, 102.7 in Montenegro, 60.7 in Hercegovina, 60.0 in Maaedonia and 22.3 in Kosovo and Metohfja. She observed that the number of divorces was higher in the more developed communities while, in the less developed republics, the traditional upbringing of women and their economic dependence on men were the main reasons fort@ lower number of divQ_rces.~~~ .~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~ 356. Zn response to further guestions Prom members, the representative said that msasures were being taken to change regional variationa that adversely --affected the status of women, but theGovernment wanted to maintain those which were not detrimental to women. She said that bilateral agreements had been developed to assist the 1 million Yugoalav migrant workers in Western Europe with regard to their education and possible re-immigration. The representative stated that in a number of cases, asylum and refugee status had been sought mainly by gypsies and Albanians in some Western countries. Yugoslavia was.trying to solve the problem through bilateral contacts with the countries concerned. 359. The members congratulated the Government of Yugoslavia on the preparation of the second periodic report and for the comprehensive presentation of information and data. They gave their full support to the women of Yugoslavia 4n their struggle to preserve the rights they had already achieved, particularly during the current difficulties the country was experiencing. -75-