Saturday, December 10, 2022
News and Views from the Global South
Parliamentarians working to meet SDG's
With Planning Aging Population Could Result in a Silver Dividend
An aging population needn’t be a burden, experts told Parliamentarians at a conference co-hosted by UNFPA Asia Pacific Regional Office and the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA).
Poverty Impacts on Efforts to End Child Marriage, say Parliamentarians
Child marriage continues to be a scourge in many African countries – despite legislation and efforts of many, including parliamentarians, to keep girls in school and create brighter futures for them. This was the view of participants in a recent webinar held under the auspices of the African Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (FPA) and UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO).
Meaningful Dialogue Amplifies Youth Issues, Leads to Change
Young people are often the first to rebuild their communities. However, youths' diverse challenges cannot be addressed without meaningful dialogue, says Klaus Beck, Regional Director of UNFPA APRO ai.
Gender Lens Crucial to Leaving No One Behind (Part 2)
A crucial two-day meeting of Parliamentarians from the Asian, Arab and African regions will put human-rights-based legislative frameworks under the spotlight as the regions work to implement the ICPD Programme of Action.
Gender Lens Crucial to Leaving No One Behind (Part 1)
Parliamentarians' leadership in a post-COVID-19 recovery is crucial to achieving the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agenda. The involvement of lawmakers in ensuring a more equal, just, and sustainable society will come under the spotlight during a two-day inter-regional meeting organized by the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) and the Forum of Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development (FAPPD,) and supported by UNFPA ASRO in early March 2022.
APDA, AFPPD Celebrate Forty Years of Championing Population and Development Agenda
The Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) has been ahead of the international community in addressing population and development issues, says the former Japanese Prime Minister and Chair of APDA Yasuo Fukuda. 
Getting to Better than Normal in a Post-COVID-19 World
Girls in Asia don't want to go back to normal – they want to go "back to better than normal", says Zara Rapoport, a delegate during an online seminar on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender.
Arab Region Counts Cost of Devastating COVID-19 Pandemic
More than eight million people moved onto the poverty line in the Arab region, a conference of Arab and Asian parliamentarians heard. The hybrid conference, held simultaneously in Beirut, Lebanon, and via video conferencing to delegates in Asia and the Arab region, was a follow up on earlier discussions on the regions' ICPD25 Commitments.
Extent of Violence Against Women During Pandemic Exposed
COVID-19 restrictions exposed women and girls to heightened abuse – revealing the conditions in which gender-based violence became the shadow pandemic on the continent, a recent webinar attended by parliamentarians from Africa and Asia heard.
Internationally COVID-19 Extracted a Heavy Toll on Older People
Internationally COVID-19 extracted a heavy toll on older people – raising concerns in the Asia Pacific region where more than half of the world’s ageing population live.
COVID-19 – Possible Human Rights Crisis in Asia as Disparities Expected to Widen
The negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be felt long after the COVID-19 health risk is resolved, a high-level meeting under the auspices of the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA), heard.
Report Shows Sri Lanka has Escalation of Violence During COVID-19 Lockdown
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the escalation of violence against women and children in Sri Lanka.
Philippines’ Senior Citizens Vulnerabilities Increase Because of COVID-19 Lockdown
In the Philippines, May has long been a month of joy when farmers harvest their rice crop and celebrate the Pahiyas harvest festival. But this year, the mood was somber. The food production and supply system also affected, thanks to the coronavirus lockdown, and the economy frozen. As a result, millions of Filipinos, especially senior citizens, are now looking at an uncertain future.
Global Impact of New Corona Virus and Population Issues
The new coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to wreak havoc across the world, as the number of infections and deaths rapidly rise. It has the potential to infect anybody regardless of age or gender. There are grave concerns that the economic fallout from COVID-19 may be comparable to that of the Great Depression. According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, there are 2,064,668 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 137,124 deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19). In Japan as of noon April 15, there were 8,100 cases of COVID-19 , 119 deaths, and 901 patients discharged from hospitals.
Djibouti Intensifies Awareness-raising Efforts Against FGM
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still widely practised in the African country of Djibouti. Despite efforts by the government and development agencies to curb this practice, culture, tradition and religion continue to slow down progress.
India and Japan’s MPs Act Quickly to Implement Sexual and Reproductive Health Plans after ICPD25
Parliamentarians from India and Japan have hit the ground running by acting soon after the recent Nairobi Summit on International Conference on Population Development (ICPD25).
Empower Young People to Sustain Our Planet, and Let Peace and Prosperity Thrive
Q: At ICPD25 we heard that women and girls are still waiting for the unmet promises to be met? DO you think this time around there is a commitment to ensure that these promises are met? The Nairobi Summit is about the Future of Humanity and Human Prosperity.
Art Helping Women to Highlight Gender-based Violence at ICPD25
While women find it hard to talk about their painful experiences, some have found a way of expressing themselves through art. Women, trained as artists, from Nairobi’s informal settlements Kibera and Kangemi, have produced a beautiful quilt that tells stories about their daily challenges.
This Time Around ICPD25 Commitments Will Be Met Says UNFPA …
The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA Ethiopia country representative, Bettina Maas speaks to IPS at the ICPD25 Nairobi Summit and she says she is optimistic that this time around that the three critical commitments; bringing preventable maternal deaths, gender based violence and harmful practices, as well as unmet need for family planning to zero will be realized.
Young People at ICPD25: ‘ We Have the Right to Sexual and Reproductive Rights’
Every day in developing countries it is estimated that 20,000 girls under the age of 18 give birth. This amounts to 7.3 million births a year.
World Youth Call to Governments to Ban All Hindrances to LGBTQI Communities
Governments across the world must ban all state-implemented harmful practices against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) community delegates at the ICPD25 tells IPS.Next Page »
Parliamentarians Adressing Population and Development Issues to Meet the SDGs
IPS Inter Press Service actively supports parliamentarians as they represent cultures and values of respective countries and constitute a link between governments and its citizens in democratic countries. Given the nature of population issues, parliamentarians have an important role to play in finding solutions for them that are essential for achieving sustainable development. Compulsion is strictly out of the question in the handling of population matters, and any measures to tackle a particular population issue must be undertaken by individuals voluntarily with their full understanding.
The Asian Population and Development Association APDA has been supporting the work of different nations’ parliamentarians on the issues of population and development. In the more than three decades since APDA was founded, it has held Asian Parliamentarians’ Meetings on Population and Development (APDA Meetings) throughout Asia with the aim of developing solutions for population and development issues on that continent, which accounts for 60% of the world’s population. APDA has provided support to platforms that aim to spur understanding and exchanges between parliamentarians from Japan and Asian nations in relation to population and development issues. In addition, APDA is currently focusing its work on inter-regional cooperation, particularly between the African, Arab and Asian regions, while cooperating with other regions.
The world is increasingly changing and interconnected and poses important challenges to global issues of energy, food, human security, poverty, and the environment. The world population is still on the rise and is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and surpass 10 billion by 2100. The population of Africa, with the fastest growth rate in the world, was one billion in 2011 but is expected to more than triple to 3.6 billion in 2100. On the other hand, developed countries are concerned about the issues of rapidly aging populations and fewer children.
From one end of the spectrum to the other, population issues are becoming more and more diverse, posing a range of economic and social challenges. In dealing with the increasing burdens these demographic conditions bring to our societies, a sustainable approach to how we live in dignity and in harmony with the Earth’s carrying capacity is needed, and finding solutions to stabilize populations is a vital step in this endeavor.
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