Govt's strategy to check population growth includes financial inclusion of women: President

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said that the present government's strategy to check population growth also included the financial inclusion of women in main stream economy, and providing them opportunities of jobs and businesses.

"I had told the governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) that under the present government's soft loans scheme, women were also being offered loans up to Rs5 million. Similarly, the poor women are being provided cash assistance through the government's Ehsaas Programme and are being encouraged to open bank accounts to receive the financial assistance," the president expressed these views, while addressing a virtual Dissemination Seminar on Population Analysis.

The president said that Pakistan had adopted a multi-pronged approach to check population growth, and address other issues such as mother child health, malnutrition and stunting growth.

The multi-pronged strategy included women empowerment through financial inclusion besides creating awareness about the importance of gap in birth through various means of communication, and taking on board various segments of the society including Ulema, he added. He said that as frequent pregnancies led to stunted growth of child besides affecting the health of mother there was a need to create awareness among masses about the importance of gap in birth and the use of contraceptives.

The event was attended by parliamentarians, policy-makers, government officials, international organizations, ambassadors and civil society representatives, virtually and in-person. The inaugural session was moderated by Dr Shabnum Sarfraz, Member Social Sector and Devolution from the Ministry of Planning. Renowned national and international demographers and public health experts, who contributed to National Population Situation Analysis (PSA).

Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said that the population control in Pakistan should have gained momentum much earlier due to which Pakistan became fifth most populous country in the region having highest population growth rate. The minister said that one of the key areas of PTI manifesto is to tackle the population growth challenge.

He said that the government is committed to deploy efforts to reduce the population growth rate for the health of mothers, children and families, and the prosperity of Pakistan by reducing the impending burden on its resources. He emphasized that there should be inter-provincial harmony on the subject and provincial goals and targets must be aligned to national goals, so that we adhere to our commitments made for the United Nations SDGs.

Dr Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health, shared his views in his remarks, "Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world. A comprehensive analysis of the population situation was required, in order to provide the basis for an integrated appraisal of Population and Reproductive Health (RH) dynamics, their linkages, and impacts on poverty, inequality and development." He said that new projects related to mother and child health was under preparation for the next PSDP.

Deputy Chairman, Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan shared in his views, "The Government of Pakistan under the leadership of the President of Pakistan is fully committed to ensuring a balance population growth. There is a high demand for family planning in the country, lowering maternal and child mortality is a priority that we are working towards."

He said that Pakistan total fertility rate is 3.5 percent, where un-met need for family planning is 17.3 percent and the contraceptive prevalence rate is 34.2 percent, and the inter-censual population growth rate is 2.4 percent, which is twice the annual growth rate for Southern Asian countries and about double the growth rates for countries such as Bangladesh, India, India, and Iran.

Lina Mousa, representative, UNFPA Pakistan shared in her remarks, "In terms of its depth and scope the PSA covers all aspects related to socio-economic and human development.

It is one of the most extensive PSA which will generate wealth of data providing strategic information for population and development planning and programming in Pakistan, especially at this critical time challenged by COVID-19. Integration of population dimensions into socioeconomic development plans is essential to gain full benefits of the demographic dividend.

I wish to commend the Government of Pakistan for the high-level commitment to population and development, especially, under the visionary and dynamic leadership of H.E. the President. This commitment is very important to achieving national development agenda in the context of SDGs and ICPD 25."

Wendy Gilmor, The Canadian High Commissioner in Pakistan also shared her remarks at the event. "Canada is pleased to help celebrate today the launch of the Population Situation Analysis report as part of the 16 Days of Activism," said Wendy Gilmour, Canadian High Commission to Pakistan. "This important resource provides valuable evidence to all development partners in Pakistan to help ensure their efforts are evidence-based, timely, and relevant."

The second session of the event was a detailed technical discussion by the panel of experts on the overview of PSA, demographic, social and economic aspects, data collection and challenges, population dynamics, and gender equality. The National Population Situation Analysis (PSA) is expected to inform evidence-based programming and focusing its analytical basis on population, and its inter-linkages with development processes particularly in the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.

The PSA exercise is expected to draw on the range of data available as well as provides an analysis of data gaps to be filled. International and national consultants will be involved to undertake a complex analysis of existing data and information using the PSA methodology, which are expected to prepare an inception report, including proposed structure, indicators and areas of interest to be analyzed.

The inception, interim and final PSA reports will be validated through a consultative process with national counterparts and stakeholders and the final version of the report will be endorsed by the respective government institution.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020