The Executive Bureau of the Arab Council for Population and Development held a meeting organised by the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States/Social Affairs Sector/Population Policies Department/Technical Secretariat of the Arab Council for Population and Development on 3 December.
The meeting precedes by one day the seventh ordinary session of the Arab Council for Population and Development, which will be chaired and hosted by the Republic of Iraq.
The meeting discussed draft resolutions on the items included in the agenda of the seventh ordinary session, with the aim of approving and adopting them. The draft resolutions reflect the priorities of Arab states and the region regarding population and development issues in the coming period and address several important topics, most notably: (1) the regulations for the Arab Population Excellence Award; (2) preparing and coordinating Arab positions for participation in the 59th session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development, whose theme is “Population, Technology, and Research within the Framework of Sustainable Development”; (3) population policies that support the silver economy; (4) Arab Population Day 2026; (5) a research paper titled “An Economic, Social, and Demographic Impact Assessment Study of the Urgent Population Plan in Egypt”; (7) the impact of wars and armed conflicts on families and populations in the Arab region; and (8) promoting reproductive and sexual health within the context of mixed initiatives through the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the Mediterranean and Arab regions.
The Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Dr. Hussein Al-Hindawi, affirmed that the meeting addressed a number of specific items, some of which relate to investing in peacebuilding and preserving human capital, as well as the impact of wars and armed conflicts on families and populations in the Arab region. He also stressed the importance of demographic shifts in the Arab world and noted that the spread of digital technologies and artificial intelligence is among the five major trends expected to play a significant role in shaping the region in the coming period.
For his part, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning of the Republic of Iraq, His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Ali Tamim, met in Baghdad on 3 December with the heads of delegations participating in the Executive Bureau meeting. They discussed the demographic situation and challenges in the Arab region and the importance of linking population planning to the achievement of economic and social development. His Excellency expressed to his guests his hope for the success of the meetings of the Arab Council for Population and Development in its seventh ordinary session, which is being chaired by the Republic of Iraq.
