PPD strategic meeting begins in China

Member states of the Partners in Population and Development (PPD), a grouping of developing countries, have convened in a two-day meeting in China to finalise its next five-year strategic plan.

Headquartered in Dhaka, the inter-governmental alliance collaborates among 26 member states in family planning, reproductive health, population and development in a gesture called ‘south-south cooperation’.

PPD says the meeting, being held in Taicang country under Jiangsu, is focussed on finalising its work plan in the context of the global reproductive health, population and development.

In 2014, PPD concluded its 20 years of mandate set at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994.

The Beijing meeting will take into consideration the upcoming post-2015 sustainable development goals and ICPD beyond 2014 before finalising the strategic plan.

PPD member states represent over half the world’s population, and have the largest youth population.

They are also grappling with aging population, while at the same time dealing with development challenges among other things.

PPD is a permanent observer to UN.

Bangladesh government has donated a piece of land for office premises as well as internal resource mobilisation for south-south cooperation.

The meeting at the beginning acknowledged Bangladesh’s contribution to PPD.

Commissioners of the Department of International Cooperation of China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission Hu Hongtao opened the meeting on Monday.

Taicang Vice-Mayor Zhou Wenbin, and PPD Executive Director Joe Thomas also spoke at the opening.

Bangladesh, Benin, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe are attending the meeting being jointly organised by the PPD and the Chinese government.