[ad_1]
By Christabel Addo / Elizabeth Yaa Brobbey,
GNA
Accra, July 11, GNA – Ghana on Thursday,
joined other countries around the world to celebrate World Population Day (WPD),
which draws attention to the urgency and importance of globalization
population issues and reproductive health.
The annual celebrations, which were
established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1987, is considered a
powerful advocacy tool to accelerate mbad education on the world
demographic trends, particularly in the context of sustainable development.
Development Program.
Mr. Mohammed Nii Adjei Sowah, Mayor of
Accra Metropolitan Assembly, during a Durbar in Accra, declared
Celebrations have called the world's attention to the outstanding work of the 1994
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in
Egypt.
He stated that 25 years had pbaded since
historic conference where 179 governments recognized that reproductive health
and gender equality are essential to achieving sustainable development, but
other population problems, including access to badual and reproductive health and
gender equality remains a challenge.
The ICPD Program of Action was a
promise made to young people, with the intention of giving them hope that their rights
rights, needs and requirements would be met.
The overall theme of the celebration of the year
he said, was "International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) to
25: The unfinished business ", while the national theme" Reproductive Health
and gender equality for sustainable development ", was adopted to create
awareness of the need to expand access to these rights.
Mr. Sowah said that although Ghana had succeeded
significant progress after the ICPD, maternal deaths were still high;
many women with unmet needs in family planning, while
the violence was still widespread.
"This is what we consider the unfinished
the ICPD and the reasons for accelerating the promise, "he said.
He said to speed up the promise, there was
the need for family planning to take center stage
speech, calling for universal access to services and supplies, just as
the case of immunization services, ensuring that products are covered
under the national health insurance scheme, while increasing public funding
for contraceptives.
He then called on Parliament to adopt the
Positive Action Bill, aimed at guaranteeing gender equality and women
empowerment, calling men to treat women with respect and giving them space
participate in decision-making from the household level, which
should include maternity decisions.
Dr. Leticia A. Appiah, Executive Director
National Population Council, thanked all stakeholders who supported
implementation of the ICPD Program of Action over the years, and emphasized that the
final results were achievable through sustained engagement and collaboration
comprehensively address the remaining gaps.
She made a comparison with polio
persistent and sustained eradication by countries to achieve their goals
the current impact where, at the present time, only three countries constituted Nigeria,
Pakistan and Afghanistan have had to leave the world to eradicate the disease, saying
"Population problems could also be controlled in the same way."
Mr. Niyi Odjuolape, the country of UNFPA
Representative, said that his holding, with the Governments of Kenya and Denmark,
convene a high-level conference in Nairobi in November this year, in order to
accelerate efforts to achieve the unfulfilled goals of the ICPD.
He called for a commitment of stakeholders to
urgently discuss issues related to unfinished work and raise awareness
that opportunities for women and girls have changed since the ICPD
and highlight the need to fill existing gaps to improve access to
reproductive health services, especially for young people.
Dr. Gladys Norley Ashitey with the
other dignitaries published two papers composed of: the National Review
Population policy and badual and reproductive health policy.
There were also messages of solidarity from
Maries Stopes International, parliamentary caucus on
Population and Development, Ghana AIDS Commission, Christian Council of
Ghana and the Muslim Family Counseling Services, which have engaged respectively
their commitments to resolving the outstanding issues of the ICPD-POA.
GNA
Source link
