Forum of African and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development / FAAPPD
Final Report
Special Arab Parliamentarians Conference on Population and Development
10 - 12 June 2004
Cairo - Egypt
Conclusion ( Principles & Recommendations)
Preamble:
This meeting is held in “Kenana Land” looking forward to enhancing attitudes and regards toward the Arab youth, the future hope of a promising nation.
The submitted papers included active aspects related to the reality of youth, their needs and rights. The conferee emphasized on the importance of supporting the attitude of the Arab youth and helping them through awareness and cultural programs which aim to help them get out of extremism and closeness dilemma which impressed the aggressive violence on the so many innocents in Reyad and Casablanca .
The participants also expressed their condemnation of the extreme Zionist massive destruction toward the women and youth of Palestine that harvested tens of innocents and assassinated leaders and eradicated all opportunities for a productive work and respectful living of the citizens which leads to exceeding poverty red line for so many Palestinians.
The participants also call the International community to put an end for the state of violence against the Palestinians and to guarantee the least human rights in the occupied territories.
The assemblers see in the continuation of the Zionist occupation of the Arab territories in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon creates a complicated obstacle in the way of development and the luxury of the people in the area, which exhausted the Development allowances to face self-defense, land and mankind liberation requirements to open wide the doors in the way of the Arab states to participate in the developmental efforts, not only in the Arab domain, but in all over the world also.
Stressing the unity of attitudes and amity between the Participants in the meeting.
The committee the following principals on which the recommendations will be executed:
Introduction:
Efforts were effectuated since the end of Cairo meeting on the Population which was held in 1994. Call for the meeting action plan and clarifying its content and to call the governmental and non-governmental institutions to deal with this meeting in openness and a positive way.
In this way , many meetings and conferences were held , which is considered not the suitable time to discuss ,but we only mention in order to emphasize on the emanated recommendations that were not executed in the way the faithful nationalists were looking forward to.
That’s why the committee selected some of these recommendations that respond to the participants’ suggestions in the conference to stress them and call to carry out these recommendations into application.
These Recommendations are:
First:
“Declaration of Al-Rabat for youth and reproductive health” emanated by chairpersons of the councils’ meetings / the National committees of the population in 2001 , which was associated in the wide and clear adoption of by the Arab ministers of health council emanated from its twenty-sixth session for 2002. They considered this a response to a great part of the participants’ vision and ambitions in the Cairo conference and their emphasis on the responsibilities of the Arab States League, legislative councils, the specialized international institutions in carrying out these recommendations”.
Second:
Some of the Forum emanated recommendations of the second and third conferences held in Amman and Damascus especially those concerned with women status, information and developing information banks, data bases and Networks.
Third:
Cairo Declaration 2002 issued by chairpersons, meeting / national committees for population which included obvious and deep recommendations related to the women , youth status , reproductive health, and the collective Arab work . in this context the participants stressed that these recommendations require more allowances for the kind of programs concerned with population case and they also urge the UNFPA for a stronger respond.
Fourth:
The participants emphasized on the importance of facilitating the informative requirements in supporting the basic signs concerning the population growth and the other variables.
They also focused on the necessity of adopting the statistics data probated by the national statistic systems. as considered the main source of all the population related aspects, especially in the contradiction of the probated information by a number of the international sources which is used in a way that affect the required progress in mare than one Arab country.
The participants also assured the necessity of supporting the national statistics systems and enhancing its capabilities in order to guarantee the statistics information flow to the responsible people on time about resolutions’ drafting on different levels in every individual state. They also hoped that the Arab States League will work to coordinate the Arab statistics resource and the unity of its indicators concerning population within an Arab statistic system.
The previous recommendations had been adopted by the participants and the importance of executing them was emphasized.
The Parliamentarians committees of the population and development should strengthen the linkage of cooperation with the committees and the national councils for the population in their states and to guarantee the participation of the representatives for the parliamentarians committees in the membership of those committees in order to guarantee the coordination and activation of the parliamentarians supervising role upon the policies programs of the population.
The Arab Parliaments should develop the documentation, information and data basis centers to facilitate registers and marks concerning the population and development.
Enhancing the women role and guaranteeing their rights by abolishing all types of violence and discrimination against Women.
Call the international establishments -especially the UNFPA- to collaborate with the population and development committees in the Arab Parliaments to face the problems of population in the Arab world.
Call the General Secretariat of the Forum to organize meetings for the Arab parliaments and the young parliamentarians for the sake of discussion and exchanging experiences and dealing with the latest issues concerning the population, development, environment and the role of women and youth.
Highlighting the role of media in achieving the social change, national guidance and serving the population policies concerning youth and women cases.
The conference should invite representatives for the national councils of the population; international governmental and non-governmental institutions especially in collecting data, constructing and developing and data basis, banks, communication, networks and enabling enable them of using the developed programs and matrixes.
Narrowing the gender gap in achieving equity in the Arab women education, employment, economic and political participation by focusing on developing her skills, information, artistic and professional abilities by benefiting from methods and programs of reproductive health besides facilitating the most possible institutional environment for the Arab women to enable her to perform different roles in the society.
Adolescence and youth -inside and outside- schools should obtain the information concerning wholesome and reproductive health in an appropriate language, in addition to services and opportunities to participate in planning for the policies and programs that concern them and also drafting responsible and certain options and resolutions concerning their needs.
Making every effort to facilitate getting services of the reproductive health by 2015.
Encouraging volunteer work and the civil community organizations and the private sector to collaborate their efforts supported by the government in order to achieve best results.
Guarantee the continuous support for the collective Arab work in the population domain by which the Arab League can activate its roles in the collective and effective Arab participation in supporting the population policies in the Arab States concerned with following –up the execution of the Amman second declaration and the action program of the international conference for population.
1) Second meeting for the population committees and the population and development in the Arab African meeting 2001.
2) Third meeting for the forum in Damascus 2002.
To concentrate efforts to settle effectuate, and widely adapting knowledge, communication and information technique and also participate in producing its sources to enlarge the capability and success of the population activities especially in collecting data domain , establishing and developing banks , data basis , net works and enabling them to use and develop matrixes.
Call the Arab States to increase financial support for the UNFPA to guarantee the presence and execution of its programs.
GENARAL RECOMMENDATIONS
First: Recommendations concerning work methodology and preparations related to arrangements for suggested meetings in the future. The participants recommended the necessity to settle a specific methodology for suggested meetings as follow:
Assign and high light discussion of one or two subjects during the period of the conference.
Due to the participants delegations papers , these papers should be sent in advance to the general secretariat of the forum before any conference to enable the secretariat to brief the components of these papers on time.
The recommendations should be practical and applicable. The Secretariat of the forum should put forth analysis and evaluation to the achieved items and should also locate the reasons of incomplete items.
Considering the forum system into application in order to linkage relations between members from one side and activating the forum efforts on the other side.
Emphasizing on the recommendations ratified in Damascus meeting concerning necessity of the commitment of the states to pay the joining fees and annual subscriptions before the Fourth conference which is intended before the end of this year.
1) Cairo declaration – Chairpersons of councils / national committees for population.
Second: Partnership and cooperation to execute Cairo conference action program, recommendations and ambitions of the suggested conferences.
The participants emphasize that the Cairo conference program and the report of the follow-up conference – five years beyond Cairo’s- both concentrate on the responsibilities of the ministries and concerned institutions in every state in addition to the private and civil sector beside other sectors of the civil community in executing their contents.
The participants also demanded these parties for more coordination, cooperation and collaboration through executing the population programs and collaborating efforts in order to achieve the best and fastest hopeful results by applying the programs’ methods in the Arab world in general.
Third: Partnership, activating and supporting the role of the civil sector. Amman’s declaration on the population 1993 and the fifteenth chapter of the Cairo program for 1994.
The declaration launched by the non-governmental institution held in Holland 1999. The report of the United Nations General Assembly which discussed the achieved progress in executing the Cairo action program identified by (ICPD+S).
All the importance of the partnership with the civil sector in executing action programs, insist on the importance of supporting and enhancing the abilities and institutional construction to accomplish all required commitments.
The participants emphasized on this guidance and also focus on the importance of the civil sector in carrying out the requirements of the Cairo conference action program and the following conferences.They also demand the consultative and parliament’s councils and the UN organizations and the Arab sponsors to support the civil sector to enable it to continue and respond to the requirements and needs of their societies.
Fourth: Youth issues
In addition to the previous and special recommendations, for adopting all articles of Rabat declaration on the youth. The participants emphasized on the youth needs in the Arab world as exceeding the reproductive health issues and the prevention of the fatal disease to be less worried about their future and destiny due to the dangerous problems they have. The participants stressed the following:
1) The necessity of serious and fast work in facilitating the best and most available ways for enabling youth proceeding their higher education.
2) To urge the Arab legislative and parliaments councils to collaborate for the sake of achieving the programs and projects that allow job opportunities for the youth especially jobless university graduates who solved this problem by immigrating outside their states and exposed themselves to culturally shocked.
3) Call the chairpersons and civil institutions and the establishments of the private sector to encourage preparing for Arab meetings for youth which will help to foster their beliefs in themselves, their values, cultures and vision.
4) To call chairpersons , parents and educational establishments to foster the spirit of responsibility for youth and to involve and participate them in different levels of responsibilities especially the political ones, which require preview by the legislatives and parliaments councils on the election law concerning age of electors beside other aspects which gives the chance- to each person in his or her state- for actual and effective participation in carrying public and private responsibilities .
Fifth: Elderly Issues
Studies and papers submitted in the meeting emphasized the increase of the elderly slice in the Arab World that’s why the conference recommended the following:
1) The importance of reviewing policies concerning elderly legislating that guarantee health insurance at a least cost , beside supporting the civilian efforts in achieving family security.
2) Endeavor to include the basic information and educational programs about elderly and urging generations to adopt the principal of union in solidarity and strengthen family relations.
3) Call the multimedia establishments to be charged with awareness and consciousness in this subject and to shift from- pity entry- into investment of these elderly energies and rich experiences and to exploit these characteristics in serving their family and community.
Sixth: special recommendation on Circumcision
Circumcision is considered dangerous hygienic phenomena. The participants demand for concentrated, well studied, awareness, and educational campaigns to demolish these practices. This kind of campaigns should be supported by legislations that reflect a comprehensive agreement in opinion to freewill stop this act.
Seventh: Recommendations on execution mechanism
The participants emphasized that these meeting acquired a special importance in facilitating interlocution and closeness but might lead to reversing the endeavored goals if they do not unite with the execution mechanisms.
Whereas the participants do appreciate the efforts of the participating establishments in the conference, they demand the:
The Arab States League.
The Arab Legislative and Parliaments Councils in the Forum or those who did not join the Forum yet
The international union for Family Planning, especially the Arab World Division
Civil community organizations
Media
Women and youth Institutions
Everybody works for the sake of the national and fair cases
Each of the above parties should be committed, contend and responsible in adopting the appropriate mechanism for setting these recommendations into execution and to relate them to the General Secretariat of the Forum, also informing all the participants –in advance- with them .
This action will reflect optimism, activeness and dynamicity in proceeding the creative work in The population cases.
Special Recommendation
1- Special recommendation on Iraq:
The conferee expressed their sorry for the absence of the representatives of the Iraqi parliament representatives and also the absence of the other civil institutions in Iraq.
They also expressed their worry for the exceptional bad situations in Iraq which is creating an obstacle on the Iraqi membership in the Arab States league, the United Nation Organizations and the other regional establishments.
The assemblies adjured the Iraqi peoples initially and the all the other Arab states who are concerned about the situations in Iraq for an instant and serious actions in order to guarantee the Iraqi national security and unity and the right to choose their representatives and grant the Iraqi peoples to the opportunity of a natural life after all the miseries they lived and still living.
2 - Special Recommendations concerning the events in Mauritania:
The participants listened with much concern to the interposition of Ms. Maryam Bent Ahmad Aysheh, the regional executive committee director / division of the Arab world, in the international union for family planning
Ms. Mariam apologized for her delay to join the meeting because of the painful events occurred in Mauritania, which will result in the increase of poverty and citizens’ difficulties in addition to the bad influence left on the constitutional and democratic life besides then interior settlement Mauritania is suffering since the eighties.
The assemblies also condemned the revolutionary trial in Mauritania. This condemnation is a result of their beliefs and conventions that any interior conflict in any Arab country will badly and massively influence the development efforts and also convulse the security.
This in turns will weaken the individual and collective efforts in facing these challenges in the Arab world.
The assemblies also pay regards and complements to the Arab nation in Mauritania insisting on the importance of Mauritania’s interior unity and keeping up their values, they also call this nation to consider democracy the approach into a political change clear from violence which contradicts with Peoples of Mauritanians culture and tradition.