President addresses 15th Annual Population Conference, emphasises need for controlling population
President Mamnoon Hussain has emphasised on developing national consensus for controlling rapidly growing population of Pakistan as the challenge of burgeoning population was not only impacting aspects of individual lives but also the nation’s collective destiny.
The president was addressing the 15th Annual Population Conference titled “50 Years of Pakistan’s Population Program: Setting Strategic Priorities & Program Direction for Vision 2025” organised by Population Association of Pakistan in collaboration with BahriaUniversity.
The president said that there was an urgent need to take effective measures for creating balance between demography and resources keeping in view the reality that the resources are finite.
Addressing the gathering, the president stressed on developing national guidelines that would provide the framework for developing plans to deal with the demographic pressure confronting Pakistan.
The president said that efforts should be directed towards prioritising family planning services and up-gradation of health infrastructure for provision of quality health care services that also include birth spacing family planning services.
The president stated that Pakistan is among the countries having young populations in the world that needed to be provided with ample opportunities for channelizing energies into nation building activities.
The president also called for promoting female education in the country adding that collective human resource development sans education was not possible.
“The young girls and women of our country must be provided with opportunities to participate more in public and economic life so that they can meaningfully contribute toward national development,” stated the president.
The president also said that abundant evidence indicates from East Asia and elsewhere that rapid fertility decline does yield benefits and economic growth. Investments in health and family planning were essential requisites for the demographic dividend to materialize, said the president.
The president appreciated Population Association of Pakistan for organising the event and deliberating upon a topic that was of utmost importance to Pakistan. Shahnaz Wazir Ali President Population Association of Pakistan, Vice Admiral Shahid Iqbal RectorBahriaUniversity and senior officials of President Secretariat were also present on the occasion.