New York, 22 September 2014 - Malaysia has achieved most of the objectives and goals of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) - Programme of Action.
This statement was made by Dato' Sri Rohani Abdul Karim, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development during the Special Session of the General Assembly on the Follow-up Action of the International Conference on Population and Development.
She said that key enabling factors such as a political stability, a trained work force and abundant natural resources have resulted in a significant poverty reduction, a more balanced economic participation and a wider coverage of essential services such as healthcare and education nationwide.
According to Dato' Sri Rohani, the education sector has seen a rise in the number of female students in public universities. For the 2013/2014 academic year, 68.02 percent of 41,573 new students for first degrees are female students.
Dato' Sri Rohani stressed that the commitment made by the Government of Malaysia for advancing women in leadership is reflected in the Policy of at Least 30% Women in Decision Making in the public sector in 2004 and in the corporate sector in 2011.
Dato' Sri Rohani added that owing to an excellent healthcare system, Malaysia has one of the lowest mortality rates among developing countries, which is 4.6 deaths per thousand population in 2012.
Other areas where Malaysia has initiated policies to achieve the targets of the ICPD are the formulation of the National Strategic Plan on HIV and AiDS 2011-2015 and the introduction of a National Human Pappilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccination Programme to prevent cervical cancer. Various approaches to address issues related to the reproductive health of adolescents have also been adopted.
She concluded the statement by saying that although we have achieved almost all ICPD objectives, we are constantly assessing the changing socio-economic conditions such as the decline in fertility and population ageing.
The ICPD held in 1994 in Cairo, Egypt, coordinated by the United Nations, resulted in its Programme of Action, the steering document for the United Nations Population Fund.
New York
22 September 2014
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