Princess Basma attends launch of Arab Council for Population and Development

AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma, goodwill ambassador for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), on Monday attended a ceremony to launch the Arab Council for Population and Development (ACPD) in Amman.

The council was instigated by the Higher Population Council (HPC) and the Arab League in response to a Jordanian recommendation during the 18th meeting of chairs of national councils and committees in the Arab world, which Amman hosted in 2017, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The council, which was launched in cooperation with the UNFPA, aims at unifying Arab efforts in supporting population and development issues, offering technical assistance to member countries to “keep pace” with regional and international developments and helping Arab national councils to draw population strategies that conform to national needs.

Princess Basma stressed that the council will play a vital role in proposing solutions and recommendations to the main development challenges facing the Arab region in light of the increasing demands of Arabs to create jobs for youth, enhance human rights, realise gender equality and empower women.

In her role as a UNFPA goodwill ambassador, the princess welcomed cooperation with the Arab League and the ACPD to boost the “pivotal efforts” that the Arab world can exert to address regional challenges resulting from armed conflicts and their devastating impacts on various categories of the population.

HPC Secretary General Abla Amawi referred to the continued influence of Middle Eastern crises on the Arab region’s efforts towards development, in addition to high unemployment rates and low quality of educational output and its inconformity with the labour market. 

UNFPA Regional Director Luay Shabaneh voiced the fund’s commitment to supporting Arab countries in continuing legislation and laws and enhancing programmes that aim at eliminating all forms of gender-based violence.