The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Planning, Muhammad Ali Tamim, announced today, Wednesday, the start of the coordination meeting of the Arab Council for Population and Development to exchange experiences, knowledge and expertise among the Arab member states in cooperation with the League of Arab States, which is hosted by the capital Baghdad for two days under the slogan ( Towards sustainable population planning and development: Mesopotamia, a platform for knowledge exchange.
In his speech inaugurating the meeting, the minister stressed the importance of Iraq hosting this important event, represented by meeting with Arab brothers to exchange experiences and expertise between countries, which coincides with the launch of the National Document for Population Policy in Iraq, pointing to the importance of developing long-term visions and policies that take into account the transformation of population increases into effective development engines by absorbing all social segments, empowering youth, reducing the disparity between men and women, and supporting vulnerable segments.
For her part, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the League of Arab States, Shuaa Al-Desouki, said in her speech: This meeting came in implementation of the decisions of the Arab Council for Population and Development in its fourth session, which was chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, emphasizing: The importance of the meeting being held in Iraq to discuss population issues and exchange experiences and opinions between Arab countries to benefit from the Iraqi experience and the experiences of Arab countries to implement the population policies.
She noted that the importance of the meeting lies in the launch of the national document for population policies of the Republic of Iraq, which will be seen by the Arab countries in order to benefit from it in the preparation of population plans.
In addition, the Director General of the Department of Human Development at the Ministry of Planning, Dr. Maha Abdul Karim Al-Rawi, said: This meeting aims to exchange knowledge and experiences of countries through a number of axes, including: the methodologies adopted by countries after the Nairobi Summit on Population and Development in follow-up and monitoring to benefit from them in the Iraqi experience, in addition to investing in the population opportunity well. It also included controlling population growth as a way to improve a better life for the Iraqi citizen and society.
The meeting included discussion sessions: the first on the reality of the population in the Arab region, which included: a presentation on population growth in the Arab countries, with a focus on the characteristics of each region, presented by the representative of the United Nations Population Fund, Dr. Mahdi Al-Allaq. In addition to a presentation on the reality and development of the population in Iraq, which was presented by the Head of the Women’s Empowerment Policy Department in the Human Development Department, Mrs. Sahar Faydullah.
As for the second session, it discussed the first item of Resolution No. 17, the methodologies adopted by countries in follow-up and monitoring after the Nairobi Summit on Population and Development 2019, which includes a presentation of the experiences of Somalia, Jordan and Iraq.
The meeting was attended by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning for Technical Affairs, Dr. Maher Hammad Johan, and representatives of Arab countries and the Arab League. In addition to representatives of the United Nations Population Fund. As well as a number of employees of the ministry./ End
Source: National Iraqi News Agency