President urges stakeholders to meet challenges of population growth

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari urged all stakeholders including civil society, NGOs, provincial governments and individuals to put the country on path of progress and prosperity through coordinated efforts in meeting challenges of population growth.

In a message on World Population Day to be observed on Monday, he said the World Population Day is being observed to create awareness among masses about population and development issues.

The President said the demographic factor alone plays a critical role in the developmental agenda and in order to strike a balance between population growth and resources required for sustainable development, concerted efforts are needed to obtain realistic estimates and figures.

"The fast pace of population growth should make us pause and reflect on its impact on the available resources and infrastructure," he added.

He said if the population continues to grow at the current rate, it will not be too long when the resources will just not be able to support the people.

"This growth rate is also a wake up call for us to plan our strategy for health and education sectors."

He said growing population is a factor behind Pakistan's lagging behind most counties of the region in the areas of literacy and primary education.

It has also contributed to unplanned urbanization, deterioration of the habitat and also strained the capacity to provide shelter to all, he said adding "this state of affairs demands a review of our development priorities and re-examination of our strategies," he added.

The President said to overcome the negative impact of population growth, provincial governments have been entrusted with complete responsibility under 18th Amendment to do planning to meet the challenges and issues of exploding population.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011