Senegal: 13th Inter-Ministerial Conference on Population and Development
Event Date: 28 - 29 Nov 2016
Event Location: Dakar, Senegal

AFIDEP’s Executive Director, Dr Eliya Zulu, will participate in a high-level panel session at the upcoming 13th Inter-Ministerial Conference on Population and Development, to be held in Dakar Senegal (Radisson Blu Hotel, Dakar Sea Plaza ) from 28 to 29 November 2016. The Conference, whose theme is Priority Population and Development Challenges in the Context of SDGs, is organised jointly by the Ministry of Health and Social Action of the Government of Senegal, UNFPA and Partners in Population and Development (PPD).

Dr Zulu is the key note speaker at the session on Creating greater understanding and addressing the relationship between reproductive health and poverty. The session’s objective is to create greater understanding and to address the relationship between poverty and health in order to streamline the SDGs Goals 1 (No poverty) and 3 (Good health and well-being). AFIDEP is implementing ground breaking work on the demographic dividend, which seeks to ignite policy actions to prioritise investments in reproductive, maternal and child health for Africa to achieve integrated social and economic development.

The conference envisages that the session will foster a better understanding of factors that affect the health of individuals and to contribute to the development of policies that reduce poverty and inequities and improve the health and well-being of people in PPD focus countries located in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is also expected to bring to the fore policy strategies needed to alleviate poverty and mitigate its effect on health. The Inter-Ministerial Conferences convened by PPD serve as global platforms for its member countries and development stakeholders to peer review, exchange knowledge and experience, network, policy dialogues, bi-lateral commitments and to promote South-South cooperation on sexual and reproductive health, population and development. They also review the unfinished agenda of ICPD Plan of Action and SDGs.

The main outcome of the 2016 Conference is expected to be the adoption of the “Dakar Declaration” by 26 PPD alliance countries and key stakeholders with specific commitments and actionable recommendations towards implementation of six priority interventions areas to expedite the progress on achievement of SDGs particularly Goals 3, 5 10 and 17. The meeting will bring together world leaders, advocates, policy makers, young people, researchers and leaders of corporate companies in addressing population and development challenges and realising the SDGs. It is organised in recognition of the reality that to achieve sustainable social and economic development, Africa needs a healthy population.