Ghana to deal with population issues

From Mrs Lydia Asamoah, GNA Special Correspondent, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, (Ethiopia), Oct. 24, GNA - Ghana is determined to promote partnership through South-South collaboration to deal holistically with population issues, Mr Kwajo T. Likpalimor, Minister of State, made this known in Addis Ababa on Friday.

Speaking at the closing of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD@ 15), Mr Likpalimor said government was committed at implementing population programmes especially at the district level to help tackle the issue of high maternal mortality rate, which still remained a major challenge.

The Minister led the Ghanaian delegation, including Madam Esther Apewokin Executive Director, National Population Council (NPC), Ms Marian Kpakpa Director, NPC and Mr Steve Gray, Deputy Director of the council. The review conference attracted more than 250 delegates from Africa and 30 ministers in-charge of population and development issues as well as civil society groups.

Also at the conference was Ms Marilyn Aniwa, Executive Director of the Union of African Population Studies, an international non-governmental organisation, based in Ghana.

Mrs Eunice Brookman Amissah, a former Minister of Health was also at the conference on the ticket of the UN.

Mr Likpalimor said population issues could not continue to be implemented vertically as there was the need to effectively integrate population dynamics into development planning processes at all levels in order to reduce poverty.

He therefore, stressed the need for Ghana to mobilise additional resources to implement population programmes.

Mr Likpalimor urged other governments to make reduction of maternal mortality a high priority on their development agenda. Madam Apewokin told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that, the technical output of the adopted conference document was very good as it highlighted the programme of action of the ICPD.

She said Ghana had done well in the area of girl-child education, adding that; "Ghana is on course in handling the issues because we have played a lead role in all issues raised, except maternal mortality". On the role Ghana played at the conference, Ms Apewokin explained that the country was on the committee that drafted the commitment report and made a lot of useful inputs on all the three committees set up at the conference to discuss the issues.

She said the country would use the outcome of the conference to support the preparation of the Beijing plus 15 Ghana-country report and also the preparation of a document for the climate change conference to be held in Copenhagen.