Aide-memoire

I. Background

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) remains committed to countries in creating an enabling environment that addresses persistent and emerging issues on population and development. In the region where large numbers of people still live in abject poverty that thwart efforts to achieve economic and social development, ESCAP, together with partners, particularly the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), plays an active advocacy role in highlighting the linkages between population, poverty and development. Over the past few decades, ESCAP has convened a regional population conference every 10 years, the most recent of which was the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference (Fifth APPC) held in Bangkok in December 2002.
The Fifth APPC was convened to review the progress made by countries in the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Bali Declaration on Population and Sustainable Development adopted at Bali, Indonesia in 1992 and the Programme of Action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held at Cairo in 1994. The Fifth APPC adopted a Plan of Action on Population and Poverty containing strategic recommendations intended to address the twin challenges of population concerns and poverty alleviation. The Plan of Action identified 12 issues and priority actions, namely: population, sustainable development and poverty; international migration; internal migration and urbanization; population ageing; gender equality, equity and empowerment of women; reproductive rights and reproductive health; adolescent reproductive health; HIV/AIDS; communications and information technology; data, research and training; partnerships and resources.
As the mid-point implementation of the Fifth APPC Plan of Action approaches, ESCAP will convene an expert group meeting to assess and review the Plan of Action as called for in the resolution 64/9 adopted during the 64th Commission session held in April 2008.

II. Organization

The Expert Group Meeting will be held at the United Nations Conference Center, Bangkok, Thailand, from 3 to 5 February 2009. The Social Policy and Population Section, Social Development Division, ESCAP, will organize the meeting in collaboration with UNFPA-Asia and Pacific Regional Office. The participants will comprise about 15 experts from the region and representatives of UN agencies. The meeting will benefit from background papers prepared by the experts.

III. Expected results

The main objective of the Expert Group Meeting is to assess the progress in the implementation of the Plan of Action on Population and Poverty adopted at the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference, particularly its contribution to the advancement of the MDGs, and to recommend priority actions for the way forward in further implementing the Plan of Action. The EGM is expected to provide renewed impetus for the full implementation of the Plan of Action, as a crucial means to achieve the MDGs, thereby further fostering the integration of population concerns into development planning and strategies. In addition, the EGM is expected to provide valuable inputs to the ICPD+15 process that would review and assess progress in the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action in the region.