Colombo hosts 12th General Assembly of Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development

The 12th General Assembly of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) successfully concluded yesterday in Colombo with the participation of Members of Parliaments from 24 countries from the Asia-Pacific region.

Minister of Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage S.B. Dissanayake chaired the event. 

At the two-day meeting over 150 participants, including 82 Members of Parliament and 37 national committee parliamentary staff from 24 countries from the Asia-Pacific region, jointly reviewed and evaluated the mid-term implementation status of AFPPD’s Strategic Plan 2016-2019.

The current strategy aims to enhance national capacity building and strategic partnerships, as well as strengthen political influence on agenda-setting and policymaking in population and development issues.

AFPPD’s three priority strategic pillars are gender equality and women’s empowerment, investing in youth and active ageing.

The 12th AFPPD General Assembly, held under the theme of ‘Engaging Parliamentarians, Pursuing Human Development’, provided a forum for Asia-Pacific parliamentarians to redouble their political commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and accelerate the implementation of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD PoA).

AFPPD member national committees also reflected on the first two years of their respective governments’ planning and implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The 12th General Assembly was organised in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Sustainable Development (SLPPD), an AFPPD member national committee, and is supported by the Japan Trust Fund through the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Sri Lanka’s national committee for population and development, chaired by Minister Dissanayake, was one of the founding members of the forum. 

-Pix by Ashraff.A.Samad