‘Own post-2015 development agenda’

Rosemary Ardayfio Apr - 15 - 2014 , 12:30

The Ghanaian delegation attending the 47th session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development at the UN headquarters in New York has proposed that the post-2015 development agenda should enhance country ownership of their development and increase political will to respond to the emerging issues and gaps of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly with respect to the MDGs on maternal and child health.

Commenting on the general debate on the contribution of population and development issues to the theme of the upcoming 2014 Annual Ministerial Review Meeting scheduled for July this year , Prof. Stephen O. Kwankye, the Executive Director of National Population Council (NPC), said although many countries in the developing world were making great strides with regard to their economic development, a lot still needed to be done in terms of advancements in social development and in attaining the MDGs.

The Ministerial Review will be held on the theme: “Addressing on going and emerging challenges for meeting the MDGs in 2015 and for sustaining development gains in the future”.

Maternal health

Prof. Kwankye, who is also the leader of the delegation, said the current situation of maternal mortality was a good pointer to the progress countries were making and the need for increased focus. Unlike some MDGs which rely on direct implementation of sector policies and programmes, such as MDG two, i.e., increasing gender parity in education, etc., MDGs five and six pose serious challenges cutting across multiple sectors.

“We, therefore, wish to recommend for consideration a new approach to government business which is driven by social outcomes funded by restructured economies that are growth-oriented and resourced innovatively as a key thrust of the post-2015 development agenda, as well as improved linkages and co-ordination among the various sectors in member states and hope this can be well articulated at the upcoming Ministerial Review Meeting,” said Prof. Kwankye.

“We also think that women and girls should be at the centre of post-2015 development discourse to ensure that in their attempt to produce lives, they do not unfortunately lose their own lives in the process through needless and often avoidable causes. This is an important issue which we cannot lose sight of,” he stated.

He pledged Ghana’s commitment to any process that would ensure that women and girls in particular were empowered through education to contribute towards the enhancement of quality of life for all.

Youth budge

He further noted that it was quite clear that the youth budge would also continue to be a phenomenon for many countries to deal with.

“Many countries have made quite a significant progress in their demographic transition. However, the demographic transition will not occur automatically and countries will have to work towards its attainment,” he stated.

Prof. Kwankye emphasised that this called for a new way of addressing population issues by being committed towards mobilising resources in-country to pursue the agenda for the realisation of this demographic dividend.