Population and Development Programs
The relation between population and development is considered an interactive one whereby the numbers of the population of a country, their growth rates as well as their demographic economic characteristics and geographic distribution affect development in general, and the opportunities for improving the quality of life and controlling poverty in particular. The population increase leads to weakening of development and increasing poverty levels.
The population growth in the Kingdom has witnessed a significant drop from 4% before 1994 to 2.2% in 2013, whereby the Kingdom's population did not exceed 2.1 million in the 1979 census, yet it doubled in 1994 to 4.2 million and the growth continued; in the start of 2016 the total population reached 9,531,712 depending on the General Census of Population and Housing results2015.
Jordan witnessed significant changes in demographic areas that were subjected to accelerated changes in the population growth elements which led to transition of the society from the high reproduction (birth) rates to lower rates. In its totality, this formed an indicator on moving closer to entering the Demographic Transition Phase, and the resulting Demographic Opportunity which is characterized by a significant drop in the ratio of children below 15 years and a significant increase in the proportion of working age population (15-64 years), provided that many conditions are achieved, most importantly the continued drop in fertility rates.
The HPC developed the "Demographic Opportunity Policies" document based on the HPC's recognition of the linkages between population and continued economic growth and sustainable development, and HPC's deep understanding of the importance of incorporating population issues in development strategies and all aspects of planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of population and development projects on all national and local levels to take decisions related to reproduction, production and improvement of the quality of life. The Cabinet endorsed the document in 2009 and it was updated in 2015.
The "National Plan for Monitoring and Follow-up of the Achievement and Investment of the Demographic Opportunity Policies" was endorsed by the Cabinet in 2011, and updated in 2015. Its objective is to identify the roles and responsibilities of the parties concerned with establishing and implementing policies, plans and programs that contribute to reaching the demographic opportunity and reaping its benefits it, and following up the extent of achievement of the results according to the adopted performance indicators and the targeted values for each.
This should allow the HPC, through the Steering Committee on Monitoring the Demographic Opportunities Policies" which represents all relevant parties, to monitor progress or decline in the performance of these indicators, and submitting the suitable recommendations to the Cabinet to instruct concerned parties to take the necessary measures to achieve the desired results.
The Population and Development Programs aims to support the achievement of the policies, programs and initiatives that drive the elaboration of a Jordanian vision exemplified by the achievement and investment of the Demographic Opportunity Policies to reach the desired results, and in a way that fosters achieving the welfare for the citizen. This is in harmony with the "National Agenda" and it's "Executive Programs" along with the national strategies and plans and the results of the international conference on population and development, sustainable development of the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 and the recommendations that came out with him, including the Cairo Declaration in 2013, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2015, which is working to integrate them into strategies, policies and national development plans, the latest of which was the vision Jordan in 2025, which represents a development framework totalitarian to Jordan to achieve the goals of sustainable development and economic, social and environmental dimensions of the three in 2030, in addition to the effort of the HPC to monitor and follow up the degree of achievement and effectiveness of the executive programs of the partner institutions in the development process.
The key objective of the Population and Development Program is to contribute to achieving the development policies and programs which aim at improving the quality of life, and standards of living, for the citizen, and providing the required social protection, and generating new, and qualitative, employment opportunities to reach the social and economic welfare through investing in the Demographic Opportunity.
Within the framework of the demographic opportunity, the Population and Development Program pursues the following results:
- Reaching the peak of the Demographic Opportunity by the year 2030 through achieving the demographic transformation by reducing the age dependency rate at its lowest level.
- Reaching higher rates of economically active population through establishing an educational environment conducive to learning, scientific research and creativity. A business environment conducive of investment and entrepreneurship is also envisaged along with increasing demand on vocational and technical education and training as well as on self-employment, entrepreneurship and strengthening the level of economic participation by women.
- Achieving the effective preparation for the Demographic Opportunity phase and beyond the peak through continuous improvement and diversification in the health and social protection services and providing the suitable infrastructure to meet the requirements of Sustainable Development.
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