New York: UN Expert Group Meeting on Demographic Transition
Event Date: 13 - 14 Oct 2016
Event Location: New York

AFIDEP’s Executive Director, Dr. Eliya Zulu, will be participating at an expert group meeting organised by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The meeting which will take place between 13th and 14th October, 2016 in New York will focus on “Changing population age structure and sustainable development.” The objective of the meeting is to keenly examine new evidence in this area and analyse the drivers and consequences of the changing age distribution of the population.

Further, the participants will look at how the shifts in the population age distribution impact government policies on health, education, work, social protection and intergenerational support. The meeting will also analyse the implications of changes in population age distribution on implementation of the new development agenda and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Dr. Zulu’s presentation or “think-piece” will focus on “Africa’s demographic transition and demographic dividend”. He will share lessons from AFIDEP’s groundbreaking demographic dividend work in Africa, where the Institute is looking to ignite policy and investment actions for governments to prioritise investments in health, family planning, education, economic reforms and job creation, and governance for achievement of the continent’s socio-economic transformation agenda.

In attendance will be global experts from among others, the International Labour Organization (ILO), Warsaw School of Business, University of Barcelona, University of California Berkeley, World Bank, University of New South Wales, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Stony Brook College, World Health Organization (WHO), Harvard University, UNFPA, University of Minnesota, Columbia University and University of Hawaii.

The report from the background “think-pieces” and meeting discussions will be shared with the UN Secretary-General as material for the preparation of the report on the special theme of 50th session of the Commission on Population and Development, “Changing population age structures and sustainable development.”