AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma, goodwill ambassador for the
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), on Wednesday attended a ceremony launching the
National Population Strategy (2021-2030).
اضافة اعلان
The strategy, launched by the Higher Population Council with the support of
UNFPA, complements the council's efforts to identify population priorities and
provide an appropriate and supportive environment for population policies and
issues in Jordan to exploit the demographic window and contribute to the
well-being of citizens.
In remarks,
Princess Basma said that the launch of this strategy comes at a
time when the world is facing two major challenges, namely the COVID-19
pandemic and its impact on development efforts, as well as climate change and
natural disasters resulting from extreme weather conditions. Princess Basma
pointed out that the Earth's population is close to 8 billion, 84 percent of
whom live in developing countries.
The princess said that out of the 232 indicators of the goals of the Global
Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030, 100 are directly or indirectly related
to the environment. She explained that the goals focus on basic priorities,
including controlling population growth to create harmony between population
and resources, reduce pressure on natural resources, change human consumption
patterns, and establish ownership rights for shared natural resources among individuals,
groups and nations.
Princess Basma pointed out that Jordan, as it enters its second centenary,
needs collective and national action, and cooperation with the international
community to face all challenges, indicating that 40 percent of Jordan's
population is under 18 years, and investment in this segment needs a lot of
resources, plans and programs.
Princess Basma added that the success of policies in the health, education,
water, population, environment, food security sectors, and fighting poverty is
the only way to reach the demographic window, i.e. reducing dependency ratios,
increasing the productive age group, and enhancing social protection
opportunities.
In turn, the secretary-general of the Higher Population Council, Abla Amawi, said
in a speech that the strategy adopts a vision that all residents of the Kingdom
enjoy health, social and economic well-being.
The challenges and priorities on which the strategy was based, according
to Amawi, focus on four themes: reproductive and sexual health, a
socio-economic component, women and youth, and migration, refugees and crises.
For her part, director of UNFPA Jordan Office, Inshirah Ahmed, reiterated the fund's
commitment to mainstreaming population dynamics, reproductive health, and
gender issues in culturally-sensitive national development strategies.
She said that the conditions that Jordan is going through due to the refugee
crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, call for more attention to short-term
planning to reduce the increasing pressure on basic services, and long-term
planning to achieve the sustainable development goals.
The strategy is a basic reference document that includes the results, outputs,
and indicators that Jordan aspires to achieve in cooperation with all partners
at the sectorial and national levels.
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