Yesterday, Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Population held a workshop to review the final vision for updating the National Population and Development Strategy, in preparation for its launch during the World Conference on Population, Health and Development, to be held from September 5 to 8, under the auspices and presence of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
This was in the presence of Dr. Nevin Al-Qabbagh, Minister of Social Solidarity, Dr. Tariq Tawfiq, Deputy Minister of Health and Population for Population Affairs, a number of members of the House of Representatives, and representatives of all concerned parties and international organizations, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund.
Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, said – during the activities of the workshop – that the ultimate goal of updating the strategy is to achieve a decent life for Egyptian families, and improve demographic characteristics in a way that benefits the achievement of a healthy and sound life, which includes physical, psychological and social health.
Abdel Ghaffar said that the update of the National Population Strategy comes as a commitment to the Egyptian state towards the goals of sustainable development and Egypt’s Vision 2030, which is based on justice and social inclusion, participation to achieve sustainable development, improving the quality of life of future generations, and strengthening commitment to national and international charters.
Abdel Ghaffar explained that the measures taken with regard to the population issue differ from one society to another, according to the nature and circumstances of each society, referring to the right of the Egyptian citizen to determine his priorities and choose the appropriate time for marriage, childbearing and recurrence.
Abdel Ghaffar stressed the state’s keenness to protect mothers and children from the risks and causes of death resulting from not following the reproductive health approach, noting that Egyptian women deserve to be protected from being among the 50% of maternal mortality rates, and the Egyptian child deserves to be protected from being among The 20% of infant deaths in the first weeks of birth is due to childbearing at an inappropriate age for the mother.
Results of the Egyptian family health survey
For his part, Dr. Tarek Tawfiq, Deputy Minister of Health and Population, explained that the results of the Egyptian Family Health Survey 2021 showed the necessity of making new interventions and amendments to the five-year plans of the National Population Strategy 2015-2030, in a way that serves children, women, the family and society, and achieves the principles of human rights, as well as Keeping pace with the social and economic changes, especially the international changes that affected the Egyptian society.
Tawfiq praised the fruitful cooperation between all the partner agencies locally and internationally, referring to the cooperation and partnership with the authorities concerned with the population issue to achieve consensus during the preparation of the strategy, as a series of workshops were held with all the different state agencies concerned with the population issue, civil society organizations, the private sector and international bodies. And others to confirm the holistic participatory approach to the strategy and unify concepts and goals.
Dr. Tareq Tawfiq revealed the axes of the strategy’s work, which included ensuring reproductive rights, investing in human energy, strengthening the role of women in society, teaching and learning, and communication and media for development, a chapter on the population and environment axis and the axis of population file governance.
IMG-20230823-WA0014