Ambassador Adam M Tugio envoys share tips for family planning

Staff Writer

Islamabad: Indonesia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Adam M Tugio this week shared tips for family planning.

Speaking at the 8th meeting of the Parliamentary Forum on Population organised by the Population Council with the support of the UN, the envoy said the family planning has long been a top priority of the Indonesian government’s human development programme as the fourth most populous country in the world.

“From 5.41 children per woman in 1971 to 2.27 children per woman in 2020, Indonesia has seen a dramatic drop in fertility. The total fertility rate decreased by 54pc in 2000 from 5.6 to 2.6 births per woman… The next goal is to stabilise population growth by 2025 by achieving a fertility rate of 2.1 births per woman,” he said.

The Ambassador emphasised the importance of committed family planning institutions, which improved information and access and promoted the National Family Planning Program to all segments of society, as well as the continued political resolve of succeeding governments.

Earlier, in her welcome remarks, Dr Zeba Sathar, country director for the Population Council stated, “We need to follow in the footsteps of Muslim countries and learn how Indonesia and Bangladesh achieved their development targets.”

“Legislators played a key role in the investment of human development goals in these countries which are similar to Pakistan as far socio-cultural and religious background is concerned,” she added.

The general secretary of the forum, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed claimed that the only way to address economic issues was to bring down the population growth rate.