Federal Population Welfare Minister Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain has said that the government will never tolerate Sardari system and help Baloch masses to get rid of terrorism. He said this while talking to newsmen after a press briefing on a workshop on 'South-South Co-operation and Sustainable Development' here on Tuesday.
Executive Director South-South committee Sangeet Harry Jooseery, Dr Donya Aziz, Parliamentary Secretary MoPW, Shezadu Shiekh, Secretary MoPW also attended the press briefing.
The Minister said that terrorism will never be allowed in Balochistan and strict action will be taken against persons involved in such activities.
He said that the Ministry was fully committed to achieve population stabilisation goals and this commitment could be judged through past and present performance of the Population Welfare Ministry.
"Main objective of the workshop is to generate greater understanding at national level on South-South collaboration that can effectively contribute towards attainment of sustainable development. This collaboration will demonstrate the national commitment of the member states, which will create positive image of PPD in the national and international arena", he said.
The Minister said that the workshop would provide a common platform for the key players in the national development from different sectors to exchange views on South-South collaboration.
Harry Jooseery, Executive Director, South-South committee said that Partners in Population and Development (PPD) is an inter-governmental organisation grouping 21 countries, promoting South-South co-operation to meet the ICPD and Millennium Development Goals.
He said that Pakistan is in the forefront together with PPD in promoting the South-South initiatives adding that South-South committee will promote co-operation among the member countries to meet both the ICPD and MDGs to integrate HIV/AIDS into reproductive health and also to promote family welfare services.
Jooseery said that South Africa, Brazil and Thailand have developed innovative programme addressing adolescents and population welfare services that needs to be shared among countries of South for possible replication.
He said that Pakistan's population ranks sixth after China, India, USA, Indonesia and Brazil and has surpassed Japan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Russia.
It has grown from 150.45 million in 2005 and is expected to reach 202 million in 2020 and it is a cause of concern not only in numbers but also from the sustainable development perspective that implies embarking on development initiatives without compromising the future.
He said that the new initiatives of the government to reduce total fertility rate to 2.1 and population growth rate to 1.3 by 2020 are appreciative.
He said that China through PPD will donate 190,000 sets of IUDs to Pakistan.
PPD also commits to provide a one-year scholarship for the year 2007 to a Pakistani professional who desires to pursue advanced study in demography at Cairo Demographic Center, he added.
Parliamentary Secretary on MoPW Dr Donya Aziz said that the PPD is the only organisation in the world fully dedicated to the promotion of South-South partnership.
She said that the PPD has a unique mandate, which is cemented in the ICPD Programme of Action, adding that governments and NGOs in the member countries are best able to address their own domestic challenges locally.
Donya said that the purpose of the workshop is to provide an overview to enhance the image and better perception of South-South collaboration for effective contribution towards attainment of sustainable development with its main focus to improve reproductive health status in member countries.