UNFPA Myanmar Country Office, 11 July 2010
The commemorative ceremony of the World Population Day 2010 was jointly organized by UNFPA and the Ministry of Immigration and Population (MOIP) in Nay Pyi Taw on 11 July 2010. Several deputy ministers and government officials, diplomats, representatives of UN agencies, and NGOs and prize winners participated in the event.
On this occasion, His Excellency, U Maung Oo, Minister of Immigration and Population and for the Ministry of Home Affairs delivered an opening statement. He stressed that the celebration of the WPD has been undertaken consecutively for 21 times and it underlines the goals of UN. He emphasized on the importance of data for development reflecting the theme of this year: “Everyone counts”. He also stressed the importance of reliable and disaggregated data and encouraged participation in the censuses and other data collection efforts. Additionally, His Excellency acknowledged the important role of international and national organizations in assisting in data collection, analysis and dissemination of findings. He concluded that promoting the quality of life of the people can be achieved through increased awareness of population and development issues.
Mr. Mohamed Abdel-Ahad, UNFPA Representative for Myanmar, delivered an opening statement highlighting the key issues related to the theme of this year “everyone counts”, underscoring the importance of numbers and data in telling us about people, their needs, concerns, living conditions and aspirations. He added that the theme speaks to the inherent value and dignity of each human being.
He stated that “reliable data is the foundation of evidence–based policies, plans and programmes to meet people’s needs and improve their lives”. He further mentioned that UNFPA has forged a strong partnership with the Government in the area of data collection and analysis that lead to improvement of access to demographic and health related data.
He stated that “reliable data is the foundation of evidence–based policies, plans and programmes to meet people’s needs and improve their lives”. He further mentioned that UNFPA has forged a strong partnership with the Government in the area of data collection and analysis that lead to improvement of access to demographic and health related data. His statement focused on the fact that there are significant challenges that lie ahead in Myanmar, such as the need to undertake a population and housing census, develop a master plan of official statistics, update the statistics and census laws, strengthen human resource capacity in data collection and analysis,
and harmonize the national statistics with international estimates. The Representative also referred to recent engagement of Monitoring & Evaluation group, which includes representatives from various UN agencies and other development partners, with the Government in dialogue about strengthening data systems, facilitating coordination among data collection activities and promoting south-south and north- south cooperation. He reiterated that UNFPA remains committed to working with the government and all other development partners to address such challenges. He finally concluded his statement with quotes from the message of the UNFPA Executive Director, Ms. Thoraya Obaid.
Finally on this occasion, prizes were distributed to 30 winners of the poster, essay, article & color photo competitions commemorating the World Population Day 2010. More than 4000 contestants participated nationwide from all 17 States & Division in these competitions.
