ISLAMABAD - Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed at the sixth meeting of the Parliamentary Forum on Population (PFP) said, “Population is the center stage of all national development and national security is not possible without human security. Political parties must leverage on the existing cross-party consensus on attaining sustainable population growth in Pakistan and advocate for the inclusion of critical areas of health and family planning in their party manifestos.”
Population Council, with support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), arranged the meeting in Islamabad to call upon national and provincial parliamentary leaders for political support on important population and development issues. The Parliamentary Forum on Population is a cross-party platform to raise parliamentary awareness of population and development, sustain cross-party political commitment and advocate for population stabilisation.
In her welcome remarks, Dr. Zeba Sathar, Country Director of Population Council highlighted key areas of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) action plan on reducing population growth and urged parliamentarians to advocate for increased and more effective financial resources at the federal and provincial levels to improve family planning programs. She further added prioritising population planning through legislation is an effective policy approach to bend the population curve.
Dr. Bakhtior Kadirov, Country Representative a.i. UNFPA said that the parliamentarians’ role is pivotal in moving the population welfare agenda forward. He presented the highlights of UNFPA’s Pakistan country programme that strategises assisting the federal and provincial governments on partnership building, policy advocacy, and improved governance in reducing unmet need for family planning, reducing preventable maternal deaths, and gender-based violence.
Presenting the action plan for Parliamentary Year on Population, Zmarak Khan, Balochistan Food Minister said members of the Parliamentary Forum on Population must initiate parliamentary debates on population, review the implementation status of the CCI decisions at the district and provincial levels to improve family planning programmes, advocate for enhancing finances and leverage media’s role to highlight population issues.
Population is the center stage of all national development, says Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed
Members present endorsed the action plan for 2022 as the parliamentary year of the population with emphasis on greater financing for reproductive health, enhancing access to family planning services for poor and marginalised women through voucher schemes, and promoting the new national narrative on the population that calls for striking a balance in family size and between population size and resources.
The meeting featured a panel discussion on the role of legislators in centering population and development on the political agenda. Moderating the panel dialogue, Mr. Mahmood Jan, Deputy Speaker, KP Assembly said Pakistan could learn from successful family planning programmes of neighbouring and regional countries. He said parliamentarians must make massive efforts for sustained political commitment to expand access to family planning services through increased investment, strong legislation, and awareness and advocacy on population services.
Member Balochistan Assembly Mr. Sanaullah Baloch said that the government must focus on alternate political strategies to de-link population size with the three Rs: Representation, Resources, and Revenue.
MNA Romina Alam stressed advocating for reducing the alarming population growth by highlighting its cross-sectoral impact on other areas of life particularly water emergencies and food insecurity.
Mr. Javaid Manwa, Finance Minister, Gilgit-Baltistan stressed that government must focus on stronger and more effective legislative and administrative measures to reduce high fertility rates, particularly in less developed areas of Gilgit-Baltistan.
MNA Dr. Nisar Cheema reiterated ulemas engagement to promote birth spacing in their teaching. He also stressed effectively utilising the lady health workers programme and revitalising male health workers to enhance population welfare services.
Population Council, with support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), arranged the meeting in Islamabad to call upon national and provincial parliamentary leaders for political support on important population and development issues. The Parliamentary Forum on Population is a cross-party platform to raise parliamentary awareness of population and development, sustain cross-party political commitment and advocate for population stabilisation.
In her welcome remarks, Dr. Zeba Sathar, Country Director of Population Council highlighted key areas of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) action plan on reducing population growth and urged parliamentarians to advocate for increased and more effective financial resources at the federal and provincial levels to improve family planning programs. She further added prioritising population planning through legislation is an effective policy approach to bend the population curve.
Dr. Bakhtior Kadirov, Country Representative a.i. UNFPA said that the parliamentarians’ role is pivotal in moving the population welfare agenda forward. He presented the highlights of UNFPA’s Pakistan country programme that strategises assisting the federal and provincial governments on partnership building, policy advocacy, and improved governance in reducing unmet need for family planning, reducing preventable maternal deaths, and gender-based violence.
Presenting the action plan for Parliamentary Year on Population, Zmarak Khan, Balochistan Food Minister said members of the Parliamentary Forum on Population must initiate parliamentary debates on population, review the implementation status of the CCI decisions at the district and provincial levels to improve family planning programmes, advocate for enhancing finances and leverage media’s role to highlight population issues.
Population is the center stage of all national development, says Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed
Members present endorsed the action plan for 2022 as the parliamentary year of the population with emphasis on greater financing for reproductive health, enhancing access to family planning services for poor and marginalised women through voucher schemes, and promoting the new national narrative on the population that calls for striking a balance in family size and between population size and resources.
The meeting featured a panel discussion on the role of legislators in centering population and development on the political agenda. Moderating the panel dialogue, Mr. Mahmood Jan, Deputy Speaker, KP Assembly said Pakistan could learn from successful family planning programmes of neighbouring and regional countries. He said parliamentarians must make massive efforts for sustained political commitment to expand access to family planning services through increased investment, strong legislation, and awareness and advocacy on population services.
Member Balochistan Assembly Mr. Sanaullah Baloch said that the government must focus on alternate political strategies to de-link population size with the three Rs: Representation, Resources, and Revenue.
MNA Romina Alam stressed advocating for reducing the alarming population growth by highlighting its cross-sectoral impact on other areas of life particularly water emergencies and food insecurity.
Mr. Javaid Manwa, Finance Minister, Gilgit-Baltistan stressed that government must focus on stronger and more effective legislative and administrative measures to reduce high fertility rates, particularly in less developed areas of Gilgit-Baltistan.
MNA Dr. Nisar Cheema reiterated ulemas engagement to promote birth spacing in their teaching. He also stressed effectively utilising the lady health workers programme and revitalising male health workers to enhance population welfare services.