Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations and Chair of the 55^th session of the Commission on Population and Development, informs UN Member States of the on-going efforts to revitalize the Commission at the inaugural ECOSOC Coordination Segment (Photo Credit: New York PM)

 

UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK, 04 February 2022 – Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations and Chair of the 55^th Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD55), informed UN Member States that the Commission intends to review the implications of major demographic trends to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This focus will substantively contribute to the global efforts to end poverty and hunger, and promote health, education, gender equality and sustainable production and consumption.

These points were part of Ambassador Manalo’s presentation on the innovations being made to align the work of the CPD with the work of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) during the inaugural ECOSOC Coordination Segment held on February 4, 2022 at the UN Headquarters.

Ambassador Manalo underscored the benefit that the Commission could get from greater collaboration with the Statistical Commission with regard to population and data and with the Commission for Social Development on strategies to achieve inclusive and sustainable development.

Responding to comments made by some Member States on incorporating environmental aspects in the work of the Commission, Ambassador Manalo noted that environmental change is integral to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The Commission, in its 55^th session, focuses on the interlinkages between population, sustained economic growth and sustainable development, and will thus be able to contribute to the critical issue of environmental degradation and climate change

Ambassador Manalo stressed that the Commission seeks to fully implement the Programme of Action of the 1994 ICPD. In revitalizing the work of the Commission, the CPD Bureau has increasingly reached out to UN entities with expertise on the annual theme. 

The ECOSOC Coordination Segment replaced the ECOSOC Integration Segment and the informal meeting of the Council with the Chairs of ECOSOC subsidiary bodies in accordance with the corresponding General Assembly resolutions. This new segment is expected to allow the Council to better deliver on its Charter role to coordinate its subsidiary bodies and the UN system in the economic, social, health, environmental and related areas.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said that the new coordination segment “can be instrumental in accelerating action” and that “the functional commissions can constructively ignite and support an equitable recovery guided by the 2030 Agenda,” including by incorporating climate change, gender equality and the concerns of countries in special situations in their work.

Permanent Representative Manalo was endorsed by Member States as Chair of 55^th Session of the Commission on Population and Development on 23 April 2021. Other CDP55 Bureau Members include the Vice Chairs from Côte d’Ivoire (African Group), El Salvador (GRULAC), Moldova (EEG) and the Netherlands (WEOG). The work of the CPD highlights the need to integrate population in development strategies and address the interlinkages between population, sustained economic growth and poverty, as well as population and the environment. The 55^th session of the Commission is scheduled to take place on 25-29 April 2022. The Bureau has been discussing the organization and outcome of the session, taking into account COVID-19 restrictions. Informal consultations on the outcome documents will be held in the coming months. END