Partners in Creating the Future
Jordan Celebrates the World Population Day with the theme “ Investing in young People”
Jordan Celebrates the World Population Day with the theme “ Investing in young People”
Thursday, 10 July 2014

 

 Amman …Jordan joins the world tomorrow in celebrating the World Population Day which coincides on 11 July of each year, and which holds a specific theme..

 “Investing in Young People” is the theme of the World Population Day this year  , which is in line with the concern & mandate of both the Higher Population Council  and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund in Jordan who work jointly –to promote the well-being of the Jordanian youth, and to help include a new goal for young people in the post-2015 development agenda.. 
As investing in young people is investing in the well-being of the future generation; HPC and UNFPA Jordan, through their programs, stress on the importance of focusing on young people for their demographic, social and economic  importance in the societies. UNFPA & HPC will also work to advocate the efforts and policies to promote the young people’s aspirations and needs, as they consist of 59% of the Jordanian population.

On this day, HPC and UNFPAJordan, jointly confirm their commitment to provide full support and work with all concerned parties to achieve and invest in the Demographic Opportunity Policies, focusing on different components such as  reproductive health / family planning, education and higher education, vocational and technical education, leadership and self-employment and job creation; to improve high quality access to educationaland health services, particularly reproductive health, and to promote healthy lifestyles for  young men and women and to ensure that  different youth age groups in various governorates have access to such services. 
HPC and UNFPA Jordan will continue supporting the Government of Jordan in the acceleration of achieving  the Millennium Development Goals focusing on goals 4, 5 and 6, which focus on reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combat HIV/AIDs and other diseases.

On this occasion, the Secretary General of the Higher Population Council Dr. Sawsan Majali highlighted  the important role the youth play in sharing population and development issues within their communities and at the national level, pointing out that HPC has formed a Youth Committee representing Jordanian youth from the Kingdom's three regions, whose mission is to provide new ideas , innovative feedback on population issues to assist in updating programs for the council to work on  from their perspective, and  to help raise the awareness of young people using the appropriate means of communication, including social networking, and to operate as a link between the Council, local communities, authorities and youth organizations in Jordan.

Suad Nabhan, UNFPA Assistant Representative in Jordan said "As we join the world today to mark  the World Population Day, we should remember that all young men and women are capable to invest in themselves, their families, their communities and to promote the well-being of their country on both social and economic levels, provided that they  are given  the right opportunities and skills. 

It is worth mentioning that HPC has begun preparing for the second report of "The State of Jordan's Population Report 2013”, focusing on "self-employment, technical and vocational education, and training", which aims to develop appropriate policies to take advantage of the expected increase in the size of the labor force, and to propose programs to support qualifying  Jordanians to work in & out of the Kingdom.

Given the importance and potential of hiring young people in the future of Jordan, the council, in collaboration with UNFPA(Jordan) and other stakeholders hope to access and invest in  the demographic dividends of the “Demographic Opportunity” which become evident when the working age population (individuals aged 15-64 years) starts to grow significantly higher compared to the growth of dependents, under the age of 15 years and above 64 years.

According to the "Demographic Opportunity Policy Document" prepared and currently being updated by the Council, the number of young people in the age group (18-21 years) will rise between 2012 and 2030, by 28.2%, while ages (22-24 years) will increase by 46.3%, and those in ages (25-29 years) will increase by 42%.

Global estimates however, indicate that from 2015 to 2030,the global economy has to create 670 million jobs to contain the status quo of unemployment and to face the growth in working age population.
 Jordan, according to the Department of Statistics needs to introduce  about 54 thousand jobs annually, which is a modest figure in the considerable increase in the work age population as a result of certain potential demographic scenarios. 

It’s worth mentioning that World Population Day is an annual event, observed on July 11 every year, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the the United Nations in 1989. It was inspired by the public interest in the Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987 approximately the date on which the world's population reached five billion people.