Speakers call for reining in population growth

There is an urgent need to create awareness among the masses of the consequences of unsustainable population growth on the socio-economic wellbeing of the people, said Federal Minster for Science and Technology, Shibli Faraz.

He was speaking at the 5th meeting of the Parliamentary Forum on Population (PFP) held on Wednesday.

Population Council with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) organised the meeting in Islamabad. Members of the senate, legislators from the national and provincial assemblies, including Gilgit-Baltistan, from across all major political parties attended the meeting.

The minister, who is also the chairman of the PFP, said “Unsustainable population deprives people of equitable opportunities for accessing health, education, nutrition, gainful employment and leading a prosperous life”.

Legislators from all the key major political parties from both federal and provincial level declared 2022 to be the parliamentary year of population and pledged to work across all assemblies for prioritizing population management as a way for achieving sustainable development.

Country Director of the Population Council Dr Zeba Sathar said that the legislators must play their role in moving legislation in the respective assemblies to support efforts for stabilisation of population growth rate. She said that the new narrative on population that calls for a balance between population and resources must be propagated and used for creating greater awareness among the masses regarding the importance of population planning.

Secretary-General of Parliamentary Forum on Population Senator Mushahid Husain said, “Population and health have taken a center stage post-Covid-19 era and its high time for Pakistan to start population management from grassroots level by integrating population management agenda in local government frameworks across the country.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2021.