ISLAMABAD, Jul 20 (APP): To commemorate the World Population Day, NUST School of Social Sciences and Humanities (S3H) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) jointly organized a seminar “Envisioning a Resilient Future for Pakistan’s Population: Challenges and Way Forward” on Thursday.
Assistant Country Representative UNFPA, Dr Rubina Ali in her keynote address, congratulated S3H on the establishment of Center of Excellence on Population and Wellbeing Studies (CePwS) – a research centre committed to population and demographic studies.
Dr. Rubina said that although the population growth rate is exponential in Pakistan, focus must remain on ensuring the rights of every individual.
She stressed the need for capacity building of individuals as well as institutions to address population related issues.
In her opening remarks, Director CePwS, Ms Rehma Rabab Hyder shared the vision and purpose of the newly established center.
Dean S3H, Dr. Salma Siddiqui underlined the importance of pursuing Sustainable Development Goals towards ensuring quality of life and wellbeing of population.
The Country Representative UNFPA, Dr Luay Shabaneh joined the panel discussion through a video message.
He acknowledged the significance of CePwS-NUST in navigating the current population landscape of the country.
He emphasized evidence-based decision-making through collecting, combining, analysing and presenting data and statistics.
He maintained that by engaging all stakeholders, issues can be better evaluated and addressed.
Other distinguished panelists included Dr G M Arif (Former President PAP and Ex Joint Director PIDE), Dr Muhammad Fahim Khokar, Professor IESE-NUST and Dr Durr-e Nayab, Joint Director PIDE.
In her concluding remarks, Principal S3H, Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan touched upon some crucial statistics vis-à-vis ever-increasing global population.
He hoped that the establishment of CePwS would augur well for educating the masses, conducting advanced studies and, in so doing, arriving at plausible solutions to challenges emanating from the exponential rise in population of Pakistan.
The closing remarks were followed by prize distribution amongst winners of essay writing and photography competitions.
CePwS organised these nationwide competitions on the themes of amplifying women’s autonomy and wellbeing.
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