A Jordanian delegation headed by MOPIC acting secretary general, Ziyad Obaidat, attended the three-day Regional Conference on Population and Development: Five Years After the 2013 Cairo Declaration” in the UN headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon.
The Jordanian delegation included the secretary general of the ministry of social development, Dr. Omar Hamza, and HPC secretary general, Dr. Abla Amawi. The delegation presented Jordan’s position paper on the priorities of the ICPD Programme of Action for achieving the 2030 sustainable development goals, by supporting sexual and reproductive health rights as basic human rights, achieving sustainable and equitable development through planning processes which take into account the demographic dividend, responding to the implications of forced and voluntary migrations, enhancing gender equality and empowering women.
The delegation explained that the 1994 International Population and Development Conference was a turning point in the philosophy of population development, establishing the strong link between population, economic growth and sustainable development and allowed for more in-depth and broader perspective on population issues that does not focus only on numbers.
The delegation pointed out that a national coordination meeting attended by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, UNFPA, HPC and other stakeholders was held to discuss the outcomes of the ICPD Programme of Action and the 2013 Cairo Declaration. The delegation stressed that Jordan’s national priorities and position regarding population are generally in line with the ICPD Programme of Action and the 2013 Cairo Declaration and include the formulation of population policies and monitoring their implementation.
The delegation noted that the Jordan Vision 2025 serves as a comprehensive approach that takes into account sustainable development goals and integrates them into national strategies, policies, plans and programs, and links the state’s budget to the executive development plan through strengthened statistical systems, better access to data and the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation system to track sustainable development indicators at the national and governorate level.
During a presentation on the achievements, challenges and recommendations related to the ICPD Programme of Action, the delegation noted that the key challenge in Jordan is that youth population growth rates outstrip economic growth rates, which decreases prospects of employment and limits the economic participation of women despite their high educational qualifications. Another key challenge is the weak sexual and reproductive health services environment for youth and persons with disabilities, as well as the increase in the percentage of females married under the age of 18.
Other challenges highlighted by the delegation included weak public private partnerships, limited access to data and indicators at the national and local levels and the need to ensure balanced and equal development rates across governorates, political stability in the Arab region and the availability of funding for development.
The recommendations presented by the delegation to attain and invest in the demographic dividend included enhancing social protection policies, making data and indicators at the national and governorate levels available, strengthening national capabilities in the field of comprehensive development and population dynamics, revising legislative frameworks to empower women economically, enhancing gender equality and protection against discrimination, gender-based violence, enhancing the supportive policy environment for women, encouraging entrepreneurship, securing funding sources for entrepreneurship projects, supporting micro, small and medium enterprises, utilizing the internal and external migrations in an optimal manner and enhancing the role of the international community in supporting Jordan’s efforts in hosting refugees as well as supporting the UNRWA.
Moreover, the delegation stressed the need to improve the link between educational outputs, the acquisition of skill and the improvement of vocational and technical training and education. It also noted that the provision of reproductive health services should be inclusive and equitable while focusing on adolescents, youth and disabled persons, the most vulnerable cases should be better targeted, differences between regions and economic levels should be minimized, and public private partnerships and good governance should be enhanced.
The conference aims to assess progress and identify gaps in implementing the Cairo Declaration of 2013 across Arab countries while focusing on the commitments, policies and programs in the fields of population and development, and share successful experiences as well as challenges facing countries in securing a platform for peer-to-peer learning.
The conference discussions were guided by a regional report that summarizes the inputs of Arab countries, sheds light on key trends and developments in the region since the 2013 review, and provided the opportunity for participants to demonstrate the integration between the 2013 Cairo Declaration and the 2030 plan, goals and objectives, identify the priorities and emerging issues in the region and allow experts to give presentations and discuss the link between population issues and sustainable development and ways to integrate population issues and dynamics into development planning and improve the monitoring and evaluation of the 2013 Cairo declaration implementation which serves as a tool for measuring the demographic element of the sustainable development plan.
