Egypt to host Int'l Conference on Population and Development

CAIRO, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) — Egypt announced on Monday that it will be hosting the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) from Tuesday to Friday, as stated by the Egyptian government. The new administrative capital will be the venue for the four-day conference, under the patronage of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the statement revealed.

The conference aims to bring together around 8,000 participants from diverse backgrounds in policy-making, research, and humanitarian work to exchange firsthand information and propose strategies to address common challenges related to population, health, and development.

Within the conference, Egypt will also unveil its National Population Strategy and General Health Strategy, according to the government statement.

Amr Hassan, an advisor to the Egyptian health and population minister, explained to Xinhua that the objective of the event is to “renew commitments to solving the population problem.”

Abdel Ghaffar, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, stated that the conference will consist of 65 dialogue sessions covering various topics.

In September 1994, Egypt hosted the groundbreaking ICPD, where representatives from 179 governments worldwide convened to adopt the Programme of Action, which serves as the guiding document for the United Nations Population Fund.

In recent years, Egypt has explored several approaches to manage rapid population growth and efficiently utilize its scarce natural resources, particularly limited freshwater and arable lands, to meet the basic needs of its population, which has now exceeded 105 million.