Training workshop on Population, Poverty and Gender held

Participants gather for a group picture at the end of the workshop

The Population and Social Integration Section, Emerging Social Issues Division, UNESCAP conducted a training workshop on Population, Poverty and Gender from 19 to 23 September. Organized with the collaboration of UNFPA/CST in Bangkok (which provided the valuable services of its advisors for various sessions) , the training workshop drew 17 participants from the South and South-East Asian countries of Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand and Viet Nam. Drawn from various ministries and organizations, the participants reflected diverse disciplines, including national economic and social development planning, population, statistics, women affairs, foreign affairs and human rights.
The workshop was intended to elucidate the complex relationship between population, poverty and gender and demonstrate the “population effect” on economic and social developments. Moreover, the workshop offered fundamental concepts in demographic projections. The computer program SPECTRUM was introduced to the participants for the purpose of preparing population and sectoral projections on the economy, health and education. This has given the participants tools to better integrate population issues into development planning in ways that reduce poverty, promote gender equality and empower women towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
The training workshop attained its objective of imparting to national planners and policy makers the significance of the linkages between population issues and poverty and development, and the importance of integrating population concerns into poverty reduction and development policies and strategies. One of the highlights of the workshop was the presentation made by participants, utilizing SPECTRUM, on socio-economic sectoral projections that fully integrated population concerns. The workshop garnered positive evaluation and feedback from the participants. Several participants highly recommended that similar workshops be conducted by UNESCAP and UNFPA at the country level so as to benefit a larger number of national planners and policy makers, thereby strengthening capacity and promoting an enabling environment for the integration of population issues into socio-economic development efforts.