ISLAMABAD: May 25, 2023, marked the end of the two-day learning event by DAFPAK, a leading organization dedicated to improving population health outcomes in Pakistan, focused on ensuring a brighter future for Pakistan, titled “Pakistan’s Population: A Brighter Future For All.”
Delivering Accelerated Family Planning In Pakistan (DAFPAK) is a £90m Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) programme that aims to improve family planning outcomes across Pakistan by improving access to family planning services for the most vulnerable and disseminating messages for the common good under a platform called KhairKhwah.
Jo Moir, Development Director of the British High Commission in Pakistan in her opening remarks of Day 2 further expanded on the Commission’s agenda and said, “Two years ago, the UK made a significant commitment to work with all our partners to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and young children by 2030. Within that programme, comprehensive reproductive and sexual health rights are absolutely crucial. Population dynamics are also central to a country’s development so even beyond the health space, family planning really matters and is one of the key reasons why we are so focused on this agenda.”
During a plenary session focused on Sustaining and Scaling Up Family Planning Investments: Perspectives on Future Strategies, Zeba Sathar, Country Director, Population Council, said, “The four things instrumental in achieving family planning in Pakistan are a joint clarity of purpose between all partners and institutions that the country needs a fertility decline, adequate funds to enact policy on a national level and implementation on the provincial level, proper mechanisms to measure change, and a women-centered programme that provides women with the right to health and mobility.”
Rapid population growth in Pakistan has created immense pressure on the country’s resources, and it has become difficult to provide essential services such as healthcare and education to all citizens. The event aimed to address these issues and come up with strategies to improve population health.
As the two-day event on family planning, population growth, and its impact on the country came to a close, it was evident that the gathering had achieved resounding success. Participants shared their invaluable insights, fostering a sense of collaboration and shared purpose among key partners in Pakistan’s family planning landscape. This insightful and productive event has paved the way for a better, brighter future, where strategic initiatives and collective efforts will lead to sustainable solutions.
The event was organized by Palladium Pakistan under DAFPAK-PSSD in collaboration with UNFPA, PSI, MSS, DKT, and M&C Saatchi in partnership with The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Islamabad, and provincial Health and Population Welfare Departments of Punjab, Sindh, and KP.
