HRH Princess Basma, the Global Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund, speaks at a ceremony marking World Population Day
By Hana Namrouqa
AMMAN - Jordan has achieved satisfying results in population-related issues, but further work is needed in supporting family planning efforts, HRH Princess Basma said on Sunday.
Princess Basma made her remark during a ceremony marking World Population Day, observed annually on July 11, where she underlined the importance of the theme of this year’s celebration: “Family planning… it’s a right, let’s make it real.”
“Despite lots of talk on the benefits of family planning, it has yet to be tackled as part of human rights. This year’s theme focuses on family planning as a right and underscores that this right is still unattained and needs to be realised,” Princess Basma, who serves as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said yesterday.
International statistics show that young mothers’ mortality rates are high; therefore, family planning efforts should urge young women to wait until they are older than 20 to have children, the Princess said.
She commended UNFPA for supporting Jordan’s goals of developing reproductive health services, achieving gender equality and reducing maternal and infant mortality rates by 2015.
Maternal mortality in Jordan currently stands at 41 deaths per 100,000, while infant mortality decreased from 22 deaths per 1,000 in 2002 to 19 deaths per 1,000 in 2007, according to the Ministry of Health.
The ministry’s 2008-2012 strategy seeks to reduce maternal deaths to 25 per 100,000 and lower the total fertility rate to less than three births per woman by the year 2012.
Highlighting the importance of easy access to contraceptives, Higher Population Council (HPC) Secretary General Raeda Qutob said the use of contraception in developing countries can reduce the cost of health services, education, housing and infrastructure, thus curbing poverty.
“The main challenge that our country is facing today is the imbalance between population growth and available resources. The growth is still higher than what the available resources can handle,” Qutob said.
The Kingdom’s fertility rate is decreasing “very slowly” according to the demographic and health surveys of 2002 and 2007, which hinders efforts combating poverty, she added.
According to the Department of Statistics, the total fertility rate dropped by 16 per cent, from 4.4 to 3.7 births per woman, between 1997 and 2002, and then remained stagnant at 3.6 between 2004 and 2007.
“Ongoing efforts and cooperation with our partners is necessary to achieve the goals of the National Population Strategy, which strives to achieve a balance between population and economic resources… and protect the public from unsustainable and inequitable production and consumption patterns,” Qutob said.
Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator Luc Stevens said family planning is essential to women’s empowerment and gender equality.
“When a woman can plan her family, she can plan the rest of her life. Information and services for family planning allows couples to realise the right to determine the number, spacing and timing of their children,” Stevens said yesterday.
The UN official added that more could be done in altering demographic trends.
“Today in Jordan, we are facing a challenge; the 2007 Demographic and Health Survey shows that the modern contraceptives’ prevalence rate in the country is stagnant at 42 per cent and has not really changed over the last five years,” Stevens pointed out.
“This calls on us all to review our strategies and agree on collective efforts needed to ensure that all couples who would like to plan the spacing and timing of their children can do so with the support of the government, civil society, the media and other partners,” Stevens noted.
According to HPC figures, the Kingdom’s population currently stands at 5.7 million, with a child born every three minutes.
---The Jordan Times
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