The Permanent Population Committee has celebrated the Qatar Population Day. Members of the committee, heads and members of working groups charged with following up the implementation of the population policy action programme, a representative of the UN Population Fund, and a number of experts in demographic issues took part.
President of the Planning and Statistics Authority and Chairman of the Permanent Population Committee Dr Saleh bin Mohamed al-Nabit said that the results of the fourth phase, from Nov 2020 to Oct 2021, of the Population Policy Action programme, have realised several important achievements and gains. The most prominent among these is the demographic return resulting from the change in the age structure of the country's population, which was manifested by a number of indicators, including the high rate of participation in the labour force, which reached 88.2% in 2020, which is among the highest rates in the world and a decrease in the unemployment rate, which did not exceed 0.1% in 2020.
The change in the age structure of the population was associated with a significant decrease in the demographic dependency ratio, and this percentage fell from 40.4% in 1986 to 20% in 2020, the matter that reflects the improvement in the living standard of the population in Qatar.
HE Dr al-Nabit pointed out that benefiting from the rise in the working age groups of Qataris and non-Qataris enabled Qatar to catch up with countries with high human development, as confirmed by human development reports issued by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
He added that despite the qualitative achievements there are still some challenges and difficulties, including the imbalance of the demographic structure, and the rapid global changes resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
Regional Director for Arab States of the UN Population Fund for the Arab Region (UNFPA) Dr Luay Shabaneh reaffirmed, in a recorded speech, the importance of the population agenda for sustainable development, health, and the future.
He pointed that the decline in the population and development agenda in the world is due to changing interests in countries, pressure on health services and basic services, population movement, economic growth, and all the areas that concern and affect the population in general.
Executive Director of Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) Dr Sharifa Noaman al-Emadi reviewed a study carried out by the institute on the social determinants of fertility in Qatar and the factors that affect its low rates, adhering to the best international practices.
She clarified the factors that determine the decision to have children, including personal, economic, structural, educational, and health factors, and others related to work-family balance policies, stressing the need to follow policies that achieve a balance between work duties and family obligations, financial support for marriage and childbearing, and spreading awareness to raise fertility rates and adopt policies related to increasing childbearing, such as surgeries.
Environmental consultant and expert Dr Mohamed Saif al-Kuwari explained the role of climate change in the spread of epidemics and diseases among the population, and the cause of devastating natural disasters such as unprecedented rainfall, floods, desertification, and forest fires.
He also pointed out that the rising temperature of the planet led to the melting of the ice in North and South Poles. This threatens the return of viruses and bacteria that have been frozen for thousands of years in these areas, and thus the emergence of new, unknown diseases and epidemics in areas where they were not spread before.
Senior Consultant of Community Medicine at the Primary Health Care Corp Dr Sadriya al-Kooheji explained how Covid-19 affected public health and Qatar's efforts to prevent its spread using precautionary, preventive measures and providing the necessary care to those infected with the virus.
Chief adviser to the President at Qatar University Dr Darwish Abdulrahman al-Emadi reviewed the university's efforts to confront Covid-19 through its participation in emergency committees and crisis management. (QNA)
 
 
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