New Delhi, June 24: The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad chaired the 18th Executive Committee meeting of the Partners in Population Development (PPD), held in Dalian, China on June 23 and 24.
 According to PIB communiqué, India has been the chair of the PPD Board for the last three years. PPD is an inter-governmental initiative which was launched in 1994 for the purpose of expanding and improving South-to-South collaboration in the fields of reproductive health, population and development following the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).
 It said the Executive Committee meeting was attended, among others, by Dr. Li Bin, Vice-Chair, PPD and Minister, National Population and Family Planning Commission, People’s Republic of China and Prof. A.F. Ruhal Haque, Member, PPD Board and Minister of Health and Family Welfare, People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
 During the meeting India’s role in expanding South-to-South cooperation was highlighted and appreciated by the members, it added. “The important initiative of getting a management and financial audit conducted in the last year to identify the gaps and challenges in the management, implementation and budgeting processes as well as programmatic areas was welcomed by the Board.” This initiative, it was unanimously agreed, will lead to improvement in working mechanisms and procedures, it added.
 For the first time, the Committee undertook the revision of existing byelaws to meet the changed requirements and reflect the growing role of PPD in population and development dynamics, it added.
 The Committee also gave shape to a new Governance Charter and Administrative & Financial Manuals for streamlining the functioning of the organization, the communiqué said. 
 It was felt that the new governance charter and manuals would guide the PPD to take forward its agenda to a whole new height and further boost south-south cooperation, it added.
 “With the passage of time, PPD has grown considerably both in membership as well as the range and scope of its activities. However, the byelaws and governance framework of PPD were never reviewed or revised to keep pace with its expanded mandate and new and emerging areas.”
 “Besides reviewing the progress made in different spheres of population development, the Executive Committee finalized the broad areas and framework of the Strategic Business Plan for the period 2012-2014. The Executive Committee also finalized the modalities and schedule for construction of its Secretariat building at Dhaka, Bangladesh, for which land was offered by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.” 
 The Executive Committee thanked India for the strong leadership it has provided over the last three years, it added.
 In addition to the joining of three new member countries, the activities of PPD have seen a substantial increase. “A large number of training programmes have been conducted in various countries to build up capacity of the professionals working in the fields of population and reproductive health. India, by itself, has provided 210 scholarships for one-year diploma courses in population health.
 India and China, as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the PPD, have worked together to lay down the road map of reform. Their close cooperation has not only benefited PPD, but has resulted in the deepening of bi-lateral cooperation in the field of health, which has the potential to transform the South-South platform, particularly toward improving accessibility and affordability of healthcare services.”  
 The Executive Committee also discussed and adopted the agenda for the international conference being held at Pretoria, South Africa from October 31 to November 4 on the subject of “Population Dynamics, Climate Change and Sustainable Development”.
 It was unanimously felt that the theme is not only topical, but extremely relevant in view of the several ways in which climate change is set to influence population dynamics and the need to encourage sustainable development for equitable and inclusive growth.
 Over the years PPD’s membership has increased from 10 to 25 developing countries covering more than 57 per cent of total world population.
 The PPD member countries now are: India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Colombia, Mexico, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Uganda, Benin, Senegal, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Nigeria.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:00:00 IST