Kathmandu, June 11

The Ministry of Health and Population published a report on the mid-term review of the Asia Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development today.

On the basis of eleven thematic areas, the reported includes key achievements and activities for further implementation of the Programme of Action of International Conference on Population and Development.

As per the ICPD review, Nepal‘s National Health Policy 2014, which recognises health as a human right, has become successful.

Pinky Singh Rana, a national expert, informed that since the endorsement of ICPD, 25 years ago, there had been remarkable reduction in the maternal mortality rate and significant increase in life expectancy at birth in the country.

The Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development was endorsed by 179 member countries in 1994. Countries, including Nepal, have population and development challenges as the national development agenda. The challenges include poverty eradication, employment, migration, food security and nutrition, health and education, climate resilience, gender equality and social inclusion.

Mahendra Shrestha, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population, said that Nepal was a signatory of the Sixth Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population Conference in 2013.

The declaration is a ten year regional framework that commits to priority actions in critical population and development areas that intersects with SDGs.

In the declaration, member states from the region, including Nepal, requested UNFPA and ESCAP to conduct a regional inter-governmental meeting to review the implementation of the Programme of Action of ICPA in 2018.

As part of the review process, Nepal is preparing national reports through a consultative process to highlight the key achievements and challenges of the last five years and the way forward. The meeting is going to be held in November 2018 in Bangkok.