HPC’s board of trustees held a meeting to discuss the achievements of the Council for the second quarter of 2018 as well as updates and progress against its strategic plan. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Dr. Mary Qawar, and attended by ministers and representatives of national stakeholders.
At the meeting, the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation stressed the importance of HPC’s mission in supporting the achievement of the vision of His Majesty the King as articulated in the Letter of Designation to the government, which guides efforts to realize national goals. Her Excellency noted that the government can assess the impact of its work through the improved living conditions of citizens, more equal access to opportunities, social equity and the ability to overcome the economic crisis and achieve economic growth.
Qawar underscored HPC’s achievements in addressing population issues and challenges to create an adequate policy environment that helps to improve the socioeconomic conditions of members of society and facilitate the realization of the demographic dividend.
Her Excellency pointed out that HPC assumes a key role by contributing to the adoption and implementation of demographic policies, making population-related data and information available, making projections on demographic trends, proposing polices, mechanisms and procedures and raising awareness of demographic issues. Qawar noted that pressing ahead with activities and initiatives that support and advocate population-related policies is essential and that cooperation between national institutions and HPC is vital to serve population policies and support the implementation of projects and future plans.
On the other hand, HPC Secretary General, Engineer Maysoon Al Zoubi overviewed HPC’s key achievements in the second quarter of this year against its strategic goals and priorities.
Al Zoubi noted that HPC is following up on the implementation and assessment of the National Reproductive Health/ Family Planning Strategy (2013-2018) and has collaborated with stakeholders to develop a (2018-2020) national action plan for implementing the recommendations of the study conducted on child marriage to limit the marriage of individuals under the age of 18. The plan has been approved for submission to the Cabinet, dissemination and identification of entities responsible for the following up on its implementation. Al Zoubi indicated that HPC, in cooperation with concerned stakeholders, has prepared a position paper on Reproductive Health Services and Rights for Persons With Disabilities in Jordan to help raise awareness and make information available for disabled persons, their families and service providers. The paper has been approved for submission to the Cabinet.
Furthermore, Al Zoubi explained that HPC has signed an MOU with the Ministry of Labor and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement the flexible working hours system in Jordan in an effort to increase women’s participation in the labor market and achieve national socioeconomic goals. Her Excellency indicated that HPC continues to strengthen its partnerships on the regional and international levels with international agencies to enable ongoing performance improvement and development by learning about international experiences in the field and added that HPC has signed an MOU with the Social Research Center at the American University in Cairo to contribute to regional efforts in supporting the equal provision of sexual and reproductive health services. The project will be implemented in five Arab countries, including Jordan. HPC has also signed a funding agreement with Share-Net International and ESCWA.
Al Zoubi explained that the National Plan for Monitoring Progress in Demographic Dividend Policies and the related performance indicators have been drafted and finalized and will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval and dissemination to concerned institutions. Moreover, HPC signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct a training program for demographic dividend liaison officers in “Methods of Measuring Demographic Dividend KPIs”. HPC has also finalized a study and policy brief on the demographic characteristics of Syrians and challenges in the Jordanian labor market. The study will be submitted to the Cabinet following the validation of its findings.
Al zoubi explained that HPC’s programs focus on the youth since they are the center of the demographic dividend. In this context, HPC launched the “Youth of the Demographic Dividend” initiative to raise awareness of young people (ages 18-29) on demographic dividend policies, reinforce the values of social responsibility and national participation, and enable young people to design, promote and seek funding for community-based initiatives on the demographic dividend. HPC recently submitted a research project proposal on “Social Impact of Drug and Psychotropic Substance Addiction”.
