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November, 2011
International
Conference on “Population Dynamics,
Climate Change and sustainable Development”:
Pretoria,
South Africa —
The
government of South Africa and Partners
in Population and Development organized
the International Conference on “Population
Dynamics, Climate Change and sustainable
Development”. H. E. Ms. Bathabile
Olive Dlamini Member, PPD Board and
Honourable Minister for Social Development,
Government of the Republic of South
Africa inaugurated the conference
in the presence ministers from PPD
Member States, parliamentarians, policy-makers,
heads of leading international organizations,
NGOs and the member of civil-society.
H.
E. Ms. Bathabile Olive Dlamini delivering
her opening speech
In her opening remarks H. E. Ms. Bathabile
Olive Dlamini put emphasis on the
review of the implementation of the
Population Policy. She added, “It
proves that each country must carry
out the ICPD Programme of Action according
to its own unique situation. Population
is a global issue. It is therefore
important that we strengthen national,
regional and international cooperation
in speeding up shared solutions to
our shared population challenges.”
Chair
of the PPD Board H.E Ghulam Nabi Azad
emphasized that the route to a climate
sustainable human population, to a
certain extent, lies in the removal
of barriers to use of family planning
and the rights-based population policies
envisioned by the International Conference
on Population and Development (ICPD)
participants in Cairo in 1994. “Empirical
evidence indicates that population
dynamics will play a key role in efforts
to mitigate and adapt to the effects
of changes in the climate system.
Universal access to reproductive health
will ultimately contribute to declines
in fertility. These fertility declines
would lead to population levels below
those projected in most greenhouse-gas
emission scenarios developed by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change” Azad said.
Participants
of the International Conference
The
Conference was convened to discuss
the linkages between population dynamics,
climate change and sustainable development,
share existing knowledge and views,
and exchange national experiences
in dealing with the complex and interrelated
issues from a human rights perspective.
The conference was organized around
the following themes:
-
Population Dynamics and Human Rights:
The Implications of Climate Change
- Population,
Environment and Development as Framework
for Climate Change Mitigation and
Adaptation
- Adolescents,
Youths, Women, Displaced and Ageing
Population: Prospects for Sustainable
Development
- Knowledge
Sharing: Integrating Family Planning,
Reproductive Health and Rights and
Climate Change: South-South Cooperation
for Sustainable Development
At
the end of two days of deliberation,
participants adopted Pretoria
Declaration, and committed to
promote and implement it to strengthen
adaptation and mitigation measures
to deal with the adverse consequences
of climate change, and to advance
sustainable development.
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