A half day Brainstorming Meeting of experts from diverse fields of Population and Development, organized by the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences (EAS) in collaboration with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, took place on April 29, 2024, at Elilly International Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Experts in the fields of population and development, took part in a productive session that resulted in highlighting the valuable insights into population and development situation of the Country and the issues related to it.
The primary objective of the meeting, which was organized as part of the final consolidation phase of the Academy’s series of activities on the issues of population and development, was to discuss the interrelationship of population and development, identify and prioritize areas for consensus studies, research and other activities on population and development in Ethiopia. The meeting was specifically aimed at gathering input to support the Academy’s efforts to strengthen its efforts to contribute to the long-term demographic and human resource development objectives of the country.
In his welcoming address, the Executive Director of EAS, Professor Teketel Yohannes, stressed the significance of deriving key insights and recommendations from the discussion. He said that the Academy plans to chart a new course of action to enhance the Academy’s activities on population and development to a program approach.
The discussion was centered around the five focus points suggested by EAS to deliberate on the various issues in which the Academy can play a sustainable key role in addressing population and development issues of national significance. The meeting provided the forum to deliberate and shed light on the relationship between population and socio-economic development in Ethiopia; including how the current population growth of the country is impacting its socioeconomic growth and development. challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Ethiopia in terms of population and socio-economic development.
The meeting also highlighted the multifaceted observed and potential impacts of population on the environment, politics, economy, social structures, and other sectors, emphasizing the need for increased attention by the Government to these critical issues. As population critically impacts various social services such as education and health, the meeting underlined that it is imperative to identify and prioritize actions in these sectors in relation to population through thorough consultations with the main stakeholders.
The meeting also emphasized the need for the academic community to closely collaborate with the government and other stakeholders in dealing with the misconceptions reflected in different regions of the country about the relationship between population and development.
The meeting commended EAS for taking the initiative to raise the handling of population and development issues from project to unit or program level. Specific mechanisms on how the Academy could effectively collaborate with partners to achieve its proposed agenda were also highlighted.