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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 |
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The Ministry of Population Welfare would expand reproductive health services in the rural areas through increased cooperation between ministries, a robust private public partnership and the adoption of ‘Birth Spacing’, as an important health intervention.
Population Welfare Secretary Shaukat Hayat Durrani stated this while inaugurating the 10th Annual Research Conference of Population Association of Pakistan (PAP) here at the COMSTECH headquarters Tuesday.
The conference, which is to continue until March 11, is being organised by the PAP in collaboration with Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi. Its theme is ‘Population, Peace and Development’.
Dr. Shaukat said that the initiative has been taken to create awareness and ensure reproductive health services to every citizen at doorstep.
Saima Ammar of the PAP welcomed the chief guest and participants and gave them an introduction the conference and the association’s goals. She said the PAP founded in the year 2000 held its annual research conference in collaboration with a leading university of the country to encourage and disseminate knowledge of research within the scientific community in Pakistan and an opportunity for policy makers, researchers and development partners to deliberate upon population and related issues that have a bearing on the overall development of the country.
In opening remarks, Dr. Saeed Shafqat, the PAP president, called the conference a landmark event.
Saeeda Asadullah Khan, Vice Chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women University, said it was a great honour for the university to be collaborating with PAP. She said the university had a vision to promote and facilitate studies and research and endeavours to ensure excellence at all levels and in this, its aims mirror those of PAP.
In his keynote address, Dr. Kaiser Bengali, Advisor to the Sindh chief minister, also complimented the association and the important research it had performed in the last ten years. He said that the theme of this year’s PAP conference was important in the context of the challenges faced by Pakistan with its unequal society and alarming population growth. He said there was a deficit in society and economic growth cannot be sustained without a stable population and the demographic structure does not inspire confidence. Bengali also said that peace and development occurs when all sections have a say in society and for this a stable democratic government was imperative, collective decisions and benefits and cost to a society are very important.
Casper Peek, Senior Programme Advisor of UNPA, spoke on rapid urbanisation and its importance on the future growth of Pakistan. He said this ‘Demographic Change’ would require investment in education and creation of employment opportunities. He said Pakistan had a lot to offer the world, but new ideas were required to meet the unique challenges it faced. |
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