Government of India Reinforces its Commitment and Contribution to PPD

The ED of PPD Mr. Harry Jooseery met H.E. Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, Honourable Board Member of PPD and Minister of Health and Family Welfare, India, along with Mr. Naresh Dayal, Secretary, Ministry of Family Welfare of India and Ms. Aradhona Johri, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Family Welfare of India. The Honourable Minister firmly reiterated the unequivocal commitment of the Government of India to PPD and its South-South Cooperation Initiatives. Mr. Jooseery briefed the Honourable Minster on the recent, ongoing and planned PPD activities. The discussions took place on the development of strategic business plan, capacity development plan, human resources plan, RH commodity exchange among Member States, resource mobilization endeavours and advocacy campaign among the Member States and key players in the international arena towards integration of ICPD and MDGs, RH and HIV/AIDS Programs and RH Commodity Security through South-South Cooperation mechanism. In response, the Minister offered all possible support and assistance towards reinforcing PPD Secretariat and expressed India’s willingness for accelerated cooperation with the PPD Member States in the specific areas common concern. The Minister also assured to positively consider:

• Placement of a Business Development Consultant at the PPD Secretariat specialized in program development and resource mobilization.
• Assisting PPD Secretariat in the development of its e-MIS for better coordination and monitoring of its activities for the promotion of South-South Cooperation.
• Provision of fellowships to the professionals of PPD Member States through its premiere training institutions.
• Providing RH Commodities to PPD Member States as part of South-South Cooperation initiative

Mr. Jooseery with H.E. Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss (middle), Honourable Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India and Mr. Naresh Dayal, Secretary, Ministry of Family Welfare of India.

The Minister expressed his satisfaction on the pace of progress PPD has been achieving recently in addressing the most burning reproductive health, population and development issues facing the PPD Member States and other developing countries.

PPD and the Government of the Philippines in Dialogue on Accelerated Collaboration and Accession to PPD Membership

Considering the cultural, programmatic, strategic and geo-political importance of Asia’s sole catholic Christian country, the Philippines peninsula, the present PPD leadership intend to reinforce its collaboration with the country which was initiated late in the nineties. Accordingly, the Executive Director opened dialogue with the country which culminated in an official mission during 12 to 15 August 2007 to the country.

Mr. Jooseery briefing H.E. Dr. Francisco Duque (in the right), Secretary of Health of Philippine together with Mr. Thomas Osias, Executive Director, Commission on Population

Mr. Jooseery explaining the S-S Initiative to
Dr. Romeo Manalo, Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Philippine

In Manila, Mr. Jooseery had a number of high-profile meetings in which he discussed avenues for accelerated cooperation and the possibility of the Government of the Philippines accession to PPD Membership. He met with H.E. Dr. Francisco Duque, Secretary of State, Dr. Romeo Manalo, Under-Secretary of State and senior government officials of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministers and senior civil servants warmly welcomed the Executive Director and the discussion held in friendly and cordial atmosphere that generated profound enthusiasm about PPD. This has been demonstrated in the willingness of the Ministers and senior Government officials to initiate necessary formalities within the government to submit the Expression of Interest of the Government of the Philippines to join PPD.

Mr. Jooseery met Mrs. Suneeta Mukherjee, UNFPA representative in Philippine

The ED also took the opportunity to discuss with Mrs. Suneeta Mukherjee, UNFPA representative in Manilla. Mrs. Mukherjee, pledged her support to PPD in its endeavour to enlist Philippine as Member States of PPD.

Acting Director of Packard visits PPD Secretariat

The Acting Director of Population and Development of Packard Foundation, Ms. Sono Aibe visited PPD Secretariat on 20th August 2007 during her stop over visit to Bangladesh. During her stay PPD’s current projects and activities were reviewed. In the discussion Mr. Jooseery emphasized on the further potential collaboration between Packard and PPD. It was acknowledged that the technical and financial assistance of Packard had a great impact on South-South Collaboration and for sustainable development of reproductive health in PPD Member States. Both PPD and Packard agreed on the need to develop meaningful projects to strengthen S-S Collaboration for the achievement of MDGs and ICPD Program of Action.

Ms. Sono Aibe, Acting Director of Population and Development of Packard Foundation sharing Packard’s view with PPD staff

Ms. Sono Aibe, the Acting Director of Population and Development of Packard Foundation (5th from the left) with the staff in the PPD Secretariat.

Afro-Asian Parliamentarian’s Dialogue on Population, Health and Community Capacity Building for Sustainable Development toward TICAD IV and G8 Summit in 2008

Mr. Jooseery attended the “Afro-Asian Parliamentarian’s Dialogue on Population, Health and Community Capacity Building for Sustainable Development toward TICAD IV and G8 Summit in 2008” from 28th August to 2nd September 2007 at Tokyo and Gunma, Japan. The meeting was organized by Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) and AFPPD with support from UNFPA and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA).

Mr. Jooseery presenting a paper on “South-South Cooperation: What it has achieved?” at the meeting

More than 50 participants including Parliamentarians from Asia-Pacific, African, European countries and Japan along with representatives from UNFPA, IPPF, MOFA, Secretariats of National Committees on Population and Development and Selected NGOs and other related organizations attended the meeting.

The two-day Parliamentarians’ meeting offered a platform to foster dialogue among parliamentarians and experts from the Asia-Pacific, African and European countries including Japan on critical issues surrounding Population and Development and issues related to Asia and Africa. They shared their experiences, best practices and lessons learned, policy tools and action plans to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Particular focus was on the promotion of development cooperation between Japan and Asian & African countries through community capacity building, as well as Japan & South-South Dialogue. Parliamentarians adopted a Statement of Commitment for submission to the G8 Summit in 2008 outlining specific actions toward Afro-Asian and Japanese cooperation in achieving sustainable development.

PPD Executive Director made a presentation on the achievements of South-South Cooperation in promoting ICPD Goals and MDGs and urged parliamentarians to promote South-South Cooperation as a key strategy to move forward prioritizing in meeting urgent Reproductive Health needs. He insisted that South-South Cooperation gets a prominent place in the Statement of Commitment of the Afro-Asian Dialogue.