ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, 14 December — Political will and the necessary resources for conducting censuses among pastoralists and cross-border mobile populations must be put in place. This call was made at a regional consultative meeting of Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Member States and Partner Institutions, which met to discuss the implementation status of the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD).
The two-day meeting, organized by IGAD in collaboration with UNFPA, was opened by Elsadig Abdalla, IGAD Director of Economic Cooperation and Social Development, on behalf of IGAD Executive Secretary Mahboub M. Maalim and resulted in a Call for Action.
The objective of the meeting was to establish a common understanding on the ICPD Programme of Action and on the need for a harmonized regional approach to Population and Development issues in the IGAD Region. It included taking stock of achievements, identifying critical challenges and outlining key priority action points for ICPD beyond 2014 at both regional and national levels in the IGAD region. The meeting also aimed to strengthen partnerships to address unresolved issues in population and development in the region, especially pastoralist and cross-border mobile populations, said Fathia Alwan, Programme Manager of IGAD's Health and Social Development Section.
The delegates were expected to adopt the IGAD ICPD 2013 Report that was prepared and presented to the meeting by the team of consultants who conducted the study and prepared the draft report. The IGAD Member States and Partners represented, developed and agreed on selected actions on Population and Development.
