The MOU was jointly signed virtually by Mr. Adnene Ben Haj Aissa, Executive Director on behalf of Partners in Population and Development (PPD) and Her Excellency Ms. Haifa Abu Ghazala, Undersecretary General and President of the Social Affairs Department on behalf of the League of Arab States. The landmark MOU opened a new horizon of collaboration and partnership among the member countries of the League of Arab States (LAS) and the member countries of Partners in Population and Development (PPD) under the aegis of the newly created Arab Council on Population and Development at national and regional level. Under the MOU both the organizations will undertake exchange visits, sharing, exchange and transfer of knowledge and expertise, attending and contributing to the events organized by both the organizations, arrange consultation of common issues faced by the Arab States and PPD Member States, implementing joint projects and programs. The official collaboration will be kick-off through the joint activities to be launched regionally and internationally in 2021.

Tunisia, one of the active members of the League of Arab States, has been unanimously elected as the new Chair of the second session of the Arab Council on Population and Development. The existing PPD Treasurer of Tunisia and the Secretary-elected for the next Executive Session from 2021-2023, Prof. Dr. Habib Ghedira will be the Chair of the Arab Council representing the Government of Tunisia.

The Ministerial Session was addressed by a range of internationally acclaimed and outstanding leaders in health, population and development.

Following the brief Introductory Welcome Remarks made by PPD Executive Director Mr. Ben Haj Aissa Adnene, the session was moderated by H.E. Ms. Lindiwe Zulu, MP, Hon. South African Minister of Social Development. Minister Zulu began moderation of the Session after delivering her own statement reiterating South Africa’s Commitment to the Nairobi Commitments and 2030 Agenda including the Three Zeros. The Opening Remarks was delivered by H.E. Dr. Yu Xuejun, Vice Minister, National Health Commission, representing PPD Chair Dr. Lin Bin, Hon. Secretary General and Vice Chairwoman of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The Opening Remarks was followed by a very inspirational statement made by the Vice President and PPD Board Member of the Republic of The Gambia H.E. Dr. Issatou Touray. The highly encouraging Keynote Address was delivered by none other than the United Nations Undersecretary General and UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem.

The Keynote Speech was followed by the statements delivered by very highly respected global leaders and Ministers such as H.E. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Vice-Chair, PPD Board and Honorable Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; Prof. Dr. Habib Ghedira, President, Director-General and Treasurer of PPD Board, National Board for Family and Population, Ministry of Health, Government of Tunisia; Ms. Gabriela Rodríguez Ramírez, PPD Board and Executive Committee Member and Secretary-General, Consejo Nacional de Población (CONAPO, Mexico), Dr. Mohamed A. Sheikh, Hon. PPD Board Member and Director General of National Council for Population and Development (NCPD), Government of Kenya.

The Ministerial Session and the Conference was concluded with the adoption of the Call for Action constituted reflecting the most salient features emerged from the outcomes of the deliberations made at all the Conference Sessions. On behalf of the Drafting Committee, Dr. Hu Hongtao, Senior Advisor to PPD presented the Call for Action. The Session was chaired by H. E. Dr. Faisal Sultan, The Federal Minister of the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination of the Government of Pakistan. Minister Dr. Faisal Sultan concluded the Conference by delivering his Closing Remarks making and pleading for the reinvigorated commitments to the accelerated implementation of the Nairobi Commitments, 2030 Agenda and Three Zeros within the framework of South-South Cooperation.

The Session started with the Welcome Remarks delivered by the UN Secretary General’s Youth Envoy Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake. The enlightening Keynote Address made by H.E. Ms. Lindiwe Zulu MP, Secretary of PPD Board and Hon. Minister of Social Development of the Republic of South Africa ensued outstanding panel presentations by the internationally acclaimed youth leaders as High-level Panelists. The youth leaders include Ms Michele Belfor, Youth Activist of Suriname, Mr. Aktaruzzaman Khan Kabir, Director General, Directorate of Youth Development, Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bangladesh, Mr. Weng Xuanchen of the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Mr. Ramanou Djawad of UNFPA, Benin – Tech4Youth.

The most insightful views and thoughts that the distinguished youth panelists expressed in respect of their engagement and contribution to the policy and decision making including the program development and implementation towards achievements of the ICPD Goals and SDG 2030 Agenda, most particularly attaining the Nairobi Commitments, were remarkably amazing. It was truly a wake-up call for the global leaders to engage and harness the potentials of today’s youths and future leaders in the ongoing development endeavours to ensure smooth succession of leadership towards continued improvement of the lives of the people of the world. The full-blown report on the Session will be made available soon reflecting salient features of the Session.

The Technical Session-I named “Implementation of the Nairobi Commitments through South-South Cooperation in the post-COVID-19 Era” held successfully yesterday, Tuesday, 19 November 2020 from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM GMT. PPD Executive Director Mr. Ben Haj Aissa Adnene began the session with his Opening Remarks highlighting the context, purpose and goals of the Conference, and the Session was brilliantly moderated by Mr. Tarek Iziraien of UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), summarizing the key point of each intervention. The Keynote Presentation of the Session was made by Dr. Mobingue NGOM, UNFPA Regional Director for West and Central Africa highlighting the paramount importance of South-South Cooperation for achieving the unfinished ICPD Goals and SDG Agenda 2030. The Session was addressed by world’s leading public health experts as such as Dr. Gabriela Rodriguez Ramirez, PPD Board Member and Secretary General of the National Population Council (CONAPO) of Mexico, Prof. Rizal Damanik, PPD PCC and Director for Training, Research and International Collaboration of BKKBN-Indonesia and Dr. Laticia Appiah, PPD Board Member and Executive Director of the National Population Council (NPC) of Ghana. The presenters enlightened the participants with their unparalleled expertise, wisdom and vision on the strategies and policy directions for achieving the Nairobi Commitments and SDG 2030 Agenda globally emphasizing regional specificity and contexts. Comprehensive Report on all the three sessions will be made available after conclusions of the entire Conference.

The Hon. PPD Board Secretary commenced her brief statement by thanking Dr. Natalia Kanem for leading the process and H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, Former President of Tanzania, Co-Chair of the High-Level Commission (HLC).

She committed the Government of South Africa through her Ministry as well as the Department of Social Development (DSD) to make the utmost contribution to the activities of the Commission and strongly emphasized that South Africa would appreciate if the Commission make deeper focus for promoting South-South Cooperation (SSC) for accelerated implementation of Nairobi Commitments, specially empowerment of women, gender equity and equality, sexual and reproductive health, youth and demographic dividend. She added that developing countries can learn a lot from each other as they face similar challenges and reiterated that the mechanism of South-South Cooperation (SSC) as led by PPD should be strengthened to accelerate achievement of Nairobi Commitments. She added that the South African President, as the current Chair of African Union, is promoting the demographic dividend as the youths are the potential forces for changes in the future.

She concluded her statement by saying that the ongoing Pandemic proved the fragility of our systems indicating inadequate health systems, structural inequalities and environmental degradation.

Following the Opening Remarks made by PPD Executive Director, Mr. Adnene Ben Haj Aissa, in which he focused on main achievements of the organization during the first semester of 2020 under the difficult circumstances of the COVID 19 pandemic and the planned activities that PPD will conduct during the second half of the current year, Mr. Nitish Chandra Sarkar of Bangladesh, Ms. Zhang Yang of China, Mr. Jacques Van Zuydam of South Africa, Dr. SK Sikder (Representing Ms. Vandana Gurnani) of India, Ms. Irma Ardiana (Representing Mr. Nofrijal) of Indonesia, Dr. Sanjo Faniran of Nigeria, and Dr. Munyarazi Murwira of Zimbabwe spoke on various issues particularly highlighting the forthcoming Board Meeting and Inter-Ministerial Conference of PPD. The PCCs also shared the COVID-19 situations of their countries and the measures undertaken by their Governments to combat the Pandemic. Followed by the individual statement by the above-mentioned PCCs, all the PCCs very spontaneously took part in the in-depth discussions including their country situations and measures undertaken by their respective Governments to bring their countries out of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The PCCs took the opportunity of this wonderful platform also to exchange the bilateral and multilateral issues of their common concern.

Since the 25th Board Meeting is expected to elect the new Executive Committee for the 2021-2023 Session, the PCCs also discussed and exchanged opinions on the process of conducting the Election. Mr. Jacques Van Zuydam representing the office of the Secretary of PPD Board explained the process of the election in details to the PCCs.

The PPD Executive Director Mr. Adnene Ben Haj Aissa conveyed condolences on behalf of PPD Chair, Board and Executive Committee Members through a letter addressed to H.E. Mr. Zahid Maleque MP, Hon. incumbent Minister of Health and Family Welfare, and PPD Board and Executive Committee Member.

PPD gratefully recall his manifold contributions to the smooth operation of the Secretariat from Dhaka during his tenure as the PPD Board and Executive Committee Member and his supreme leadership and support to South-South Cooperation.

Zimbabwe President H.E. Mr. Emmerson Mnangagwa sent a letter to CMT, thanking Chinese Government and Chinese experts for their firm support and sharing its experience and practices in fighting against COVID-19 on 20^th May.

On behalf of President and the Government, H.E. Mr. Obadiah Moyo, Board and Executive Committee Member of PPD, and Honourable Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Government of Zimbabwe read out the full text of the letter of thanks signed by President H.E. Mr. Mnangagwa at a press conference on 22^nd May.

Mr. Zhu Yimin, leader of CMT submitted a proposal “The Recommendations on COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Zimbabwe” to Health Minister at the press conference. The document was written by CMT experts and given effective methods and measures based on Zimbabwe current epidemic situation.

Minister said the proposal was not only a valuable gift to Zimbabwe, but also a technical document to save lives.

CMT also conducted virtual video links with China medical aid teams in more than 10 neighboring countries to provide guidance and assistance in medical treatment.

It is reported that the team will leave Zimbabwe next week to Equatorial Guinea to assist local fight against the epidemic.

The responses were preceded by brief remarks by Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director, UNFPA, Mr Adnene Ben Haj Aissa, Executive Director of PPD and Ms. Zhang Yang, Director General, International Cooperation of NHC-China. In his intervention, the Executive Director of PPD highlighted the role of Partners in Population and Development in sharing member countries experiences within the framework of South-South Cooperation which is defined by the United Nations, as an expression of solidarity between developing countries. He stated that the fight against COVID-19 would not be won without national unity and global solidarity as demonstrated by the Government and the people of China, showing the best example of how to defeat the virus and by assisting many PPD member and non-member countries with expertise, necessary supplies and equipment for protection and treatment of the coronavirus infections.

He declared that “We are facing an unprecedented global Pandemic engulfing all the countries and territories of the world and encompassing all walks of human life. This has posed serious public health emergency and greatly impeded the volume and efficiency of our fundamental activities as it completely restricted our movement”.

The Executive Director of PPD urged governments, partners and all stakeholders to engage themselves to effectively respond to this Pandemic without compromising their principal mission and commitments related to population policies and SRH programs. He added that relatively lesser response to SRH programs due to the Pandemic will definitely create additional burdens, such as huge unintended pregnancies, domestic and gender based violence and abuse including maternal morbidities and other related problems. He concluded by saying that history showed that confrontation of global catastrophes generated greater resilience and committed that PPD will address more resolutely the problems to catch-up with these additional challenges, once situation becomes favorable.

The participants were so enthusiastically and actively engaged in the session, asked supplementary questions and made significant compliments to the responses provided by the Chinese physicians on the nitty-gritties of the treatment of COVID-19 infected Pregnant Women. The exceptional success of the Webinars encouraged the organizers to think of organizing similar programs on different issues in near future.

The introductory statements were made by H.E. Mr. Li Jiming, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh, H.E. Mr. Zahid Maleque MP, Hon. Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh and Mr. Bel Zhaojian, Deputy Director, Foreign Affairs of Shanghai People’s Government. Professor Dr. Zhang Wenhong made a very comprehensive and in-depth presentation on successful combating and most resolute containment of the Coronavirus Pandemic in China within the shortest possible time. After the presentation, the DGHS, IEDCR, DGMS and NIPSOM team members asked numerous pertinent preventive and treatment-related technical and clinical questions, which were responded by Professor Dr. Zhang Wenhong very systematically. During the presentation and question-answer sessions, Prof. Dr. Zhang Wenhong gave responses and advices on the whole range of preventive, diagnostic, clinical and treatment related actions. He specifically emphasized on the following few actions in the context of Bangladesh still not having huge amount of infections and fatalities.

He said that all the confirmed and suspected cases should be identified by information, symptoms and contract tracing and strictly quarantined and given necessary treatment.  Staying at home is the best way to maintain social distancing, which effectively prevents spread of the infection.  The public/university gyms and exhibition centers could be used as temporary hospitals for mild, asymptomatic and suspected cases. Outpatient Services for normal fever and cold should be setup to separate them from corona patients and avoid hospital-borne coronavirus infections. He preferred Real Time PCR tests and discouraged antibody tests, which has not yet been proven reliable. He emphasized on having enough ventilators and oxygen therapy provisions for critical patients to prevent occurrences of deaths. The invasive ventilation provision should also be available to use when necessary.

Specific suggestions were put forward on the imperatives during preliminary conditions and development of the situation in epidemic proportion in Bangladesh. Detailed answers were given to technical questions related to detection of reagent type, false negative phenomena, operation of temporary hospitals and sample collection etc. He underscored the necessity of improved nutrition during treatment of the patients. Most importantly, he advised not to observe and treat the mild and asymptomatic patients at home or in regular hospitals, rather to hospitalize them in temporary shelters and mobile clinics, which could later be repurposed based on necessity.

Hon. Minister and heads of respective departmental teams greatly appreciated the conference, profusely thanked Chinese Embassy for arranging the program and Prof. Zhang for scholarly presentations, discussions and advices.

The video conference was highly effective and had great significance to help prevention and control of the epidemic in Bangladesh. Proceedings of the 2-hour online conference will be developed, edited and broadcast on China Global Television Network (CGTN) and RTV of Bangladesh.

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