Forum of African and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development / FAAPPD
Final Report
Fourth Conference for the Population and Development Committees in the Arab States members in the forum
3 - 5 December 2003
Rabat - Morocco
At an invitation from the forum secretary, The fourth Arab parliamentarian meeting on the population & Development in al-Rabat the capital of Morocco during 5-3/12/2003. The preparative committee of the meeting presided by the fourth successor of the Lower House of Morocco and the membership of their excellencies , the resident representative of the UNFPA in Al-Rabat and the director of the Moroccan association for the family planning work together to adjust the final arrangements of the meeting.
The committee is formed of H.E. Tawfeeq Eseran, the director of the CSTs of the Arab for the Arab States in Amman Prof Abed Al-Munim Abu-Nuwar and Mr. Hani El-Farhan the Regional director of the General Secretariat of the Forum. The committee held several sessions in Amman for setting the major plan , work sheets, agenda, and the administrative and logistic support.
The meeting aims to participate in improving the level of life for citizens in the Arab world through executing the action program of the population and development conference held in Cairo in 1994 and also executing the preview program after five years of the conference. Execution of the international initiatives within the social domain including the goals of the third millennium.
Arab Parliamentarians from 15 countries arrived Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco to participate in the 4th Arab
Parliamentarians meeting on Population and Development. Over 57 Parliamentarian women and men are takin part in this important meeting which is hosted by the Parliament of Morocco and organized by the Forum for Arab and African Parliamentarians (FAAPPD) concerned with Population And Development, and jointly funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Government of Japan and the Arab Regional Office of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. The meeting is the 4th in a series of important meetings that took place in Amman, Tunis, Damascus and Cairo. It follows the general direction of the Ottawa Parliamentarians Conference. The 4th Meeting aims at realizing the following Goal:
To have contributed to improving the quality of life in the region through implementing the ICPD/POA and ICPD+5 goals as well as other social global initiatives, including MDGs, specifically for ensuring universal high RH care and advancement of gender equity, empowerment of the youth and women; and gender equality.
The Outcome (or Purpose) of this meeting is:
The Outcome of the Regional parliamentarians conferences, and specifically the 4th conference in Morocco in December of 2003, is to enlist the commitment and actions of the parliamentarians, governments, inter-governmental and other regional bodies, to promote an enabling environment for achieving the above-mentioned Goal, including committing resources in support of population and development programmes and enacting new and favorable supporting legislation, as well as to engage in active partnership with the NGOs, academia and the private sector for policy formulation, implementation, review/follow-up and assessment.
The Expected Results or Outputs of the 4th Conference are:
1. Parliamentarians reinforce their commitment to facilitate effective implementation of the ICPD and ICPD+5 POA, and more specifically to eliminate limiting/hindering factors that affected the smooth implementation of the population and development programmes in their countries as reflected in the ICPD+10 responses as well as to support their governments commit appropriate resources (2/3 from national resources and 1/3 from international resources);
2. Shedding the light on Youth issues in the Arab World and articulation of the mechanisms and processes that allow meeting the Youth aspirations, potentials, and needs, particularly in the areas of health, including reproductive health, rights as well as ensuring their active participation in civil and political national life. The Parliamentarians are expected to endorse the Rabat declaration on youth Reproductive Health that was approved by the Health Ministers Council of the League of the Arab States.
3. Renewing and strengthening the commitment to Gender Equity, equality and empowerment of women in the Arab World on the basis of the of the POA of the ICPD/ICPD+5, the Women conference and the MDGs, including the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and all forms of gender-based violence.
4. Strengthening further the effective team planning and efforts of the members of the committees of the Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development in the analysis, review and enactment of legislations in support of Population and Development, as well as the knowledge sharing on these issues; and
5. Strengthening of the Forum for the Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development within the FAAPPD and the Global Forum. The report of the FAAPPD Secretary-General should be based on the analysis of the responses to FAAPPD questionnaire, the FAAPPD by-laws for endorsement, transparency, membership and accountability issues. Also Fund-raising strategy.
Seven papers are to be presented and discussed by the Arab Parliamentarians during this three-day meeting. These papers were based on the analysis of official data as well as on research. They are:
1. Report by H.E. the Secretary-General of the Forum of Arab and African Parliamentarians on Population and development;
2. The state of the Population in the Arab Countries;
3. Population and Poverty with emphasis on unemployment, internal migration, international migration, feminization of poverty—case of Morocco;
4. Report of the Regional Meeting on international Migration by the League of the Arab States;
5. Youth/Adolescents Reproductive Rights and reproductive and sexual health in the Arab World. Emphasis is on the Rights to information, self-determination (the right to choose) and quality/affordable/acceptable/ accessible services, maternal mortality and morbidity, obstetric emergency care, etc…
6. Review and assessment of the situation of Arab Women in the last five years; and
7. Review and assessment of the achievements of the implementation of ICPD/ICPD+5.
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PARTICIPANTS ( Countries and Organizations )
Arab States League
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- FAAPPD Representatives
- Upper house of parliament
Syrian Arab Republic
Palestine
Republic of Lebanon
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Arab Republic of Egypt
Sultanate of Oman
Republic of Yemen
Kingdom of Morocco
Republic of Tunisia
Republic of Djibouti
Republic of Mauritania
Republic of Sudan
United Arab Emirates
Kingdom of Bahrain
Algeria Republic
Libya
International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Arab Parliaments Federation - Damascus
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