By Musa Adamu
Abuja
Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, has decried the rising inequality gap among citizens of the world even as there also is a rise in middle class in the last 20 years.
Sulaiman stated this in Abuja to mark the 20th anniversary of the partners in population and development (PPD).
He although Nigeria celebrates the anniversary with great excitement and looked ahead to the future with optimism that lives of its people would be transformed, it can confidently say that there had been limited improvements in the lives of the estimated 1billion people living in the poorest countries which lives expectancy remains low.
Blueprint gathered that PPD is a south-south inter-governmental organisation comprising 25 developing countries, 14 of which are in Africa.
It was founded in Cairo 20 years ago based on the programme of action, aimed at improving the quality of life of people through sustained advocacy, capacity building, networking, knowledge sharing and management and transfer of technology in the field of reproductive health, population and development within the framework of south-south cooperation.
The minister said even as the member countries celebrate the PPD, they should not lose sight of the fact that 800 women die on daily basis from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth.
He said: “Young women in developing countries are still caught in the web of unsafe abortions. They urgently need our protection.
“Nigeria’s profile has also been enhanced through established of reproductive health structures in states of the federation as well as through the provision of family planning/reproductive health services aimed at meeting the needs of both male and female adolescents and reduction of maternal mortality and morbidity at all levels.”
Also speaking, UNDP country Representative, Daouda Toure, said the wisdom behind the support extended by the UNFPA to the alliance in Nigeria was for the country to enjoy its demography dividends since population could either be an asset or liability.
Director-General of the National Population Commission (NPC), Dr. Ghaji Ismaila Bello, said the celebration was an opportunity for the stakeholders to into efforts to manage population.
He said international agencies such UNFPA, USAID and others had been helping in generating data on Nigeria’s demography so that the country could profitably harness its population advantage.
