Dr. Hassan Ibrahim Al Mohannadi, Vice Chairman of the Permanent Population Committee said.
Speaking before the 42nd session of the commission on Population and Development on the Contribution of the International Conference on Population and Development Program of Action to the Internationally agreed Development Goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, Dr. Al-Mohannadi said that Qatar’s National Vision 2030, approved in 2008, gives a top priority to human development in its outlook for "the Development of the Qatar’s population with a view to building a prosperous society".
Qatar’s promotion to the 34th rank in the World Human Development Index refers to the nation’s achievements in the fields of population and development, Dr. Al-Mohannadi said.
During the past two decades, Qatar attained a number of socio-economic accomplishments that reflected positively on the various aspects of life. Such achievements, resulting from a broad development vision, led to the improvement of social, health and educational conditions and other related life basics, Dr. Hassan Ibrahim Al Mohannadi said.
The health sector witnessed an unprecedented progress in a short span of time, led to a remarkable rise in the life expectancy at birth, a decrease in the maternal and child mortality rates and a considerable decrease in the number of deaths resulting from fatal disease. Dr. Mohannadi said.
On the education sector, the Qatari official said Qatar has achieved improvements conducted to a rise of the literacy rates, enrolment rates of males and females, led straight forward to the development of the higher education.
As for empowerment activities, the Qatari society witnessed openings that enabled wider gendering issues. Women are now participating to various key domains, especially the labor market, where Qatari women constitute more than 33 percent of the national workforce. In higher education, for example, female to male ratio is 194 percent, he said.
In the economic sphere, the Vice Chairman of the permanent population committee said that Qatar uses its wealth not only to rise the national living standards, but also the improvement of the life standards of hundred thousands of families in the various world countries through the remittances of expatriate workers, who contribute effectively to the implementation of the country ambitious development plans.
Environment and environmental protection issues, classified as a major factors for sustainable development, occupied the highest priorities, among the government and society concerns, he added.
Qatar extends assistance to poor communities and support development projects across the world, he said.
Qatar focused on setting-up institutions specialized in population and development issues, such as the permanent population committee, the general secretariat for development planning, and the Ministry o International Cooperation to guarantee the follow-up and evaluation of the various international programs, approved earlier by the State, Dr. Mohannadi said.
He welcomed the delegates to Doha to attend the Arab Population and Development Conference scheduled for May 2009. The conference is conducted in coordination between the Permanent Population Committee in Qatar, the Arab League, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and will address various population issues, particularly those related to the Arab communities.
