Kathmandu, April 30 : Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population, Upendra Yadav, informed the international community that Nepal adopts right-based approach while dealing with the issues of population and development.    
    
“Nepal is committed towards a rights-based, inclusive, innovative, and sustainable approach to population and development,” he said while addressing the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on Population and Development in New York on Monday.    
    
On the occasion, the DPM underlined the full implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) is critical to attaining the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, according to a press statement issued by the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN.    
    
He also shared that Nepal had given utmost priority and importance to the implementation and attainment of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development since its adoption in 1994. The DPM informed the international audiences across various policies, plans, and programmes Nepal has been enforcing to enhance the quality of life of every citizen in a bid to create a just, inclusive, and equitable society.    
    
Meanwhile, DPM Yadav also addressed an informal plenary meeting organized by the President of the General Assembly to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development. Addressing the meeting, he said that thirty years since the landmark ICPD, the world has witnessed significant progress in poverty reduction, improved health systems, reduced fertility and mortality, increases in life expectancy, access to primary education, promoting gender equality, and advancing health and reproductive rights.    
    
“However, the progress we made is uneven within and among countries and there remain significant gaps and inequalities. Multiple challenges including pandemics, conflicts, geopolitical competitions, cost of living crises, and climate change, have impacted our efforts to achieve SDGs and the realization of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development,” he mentioned.    
    
The DPM reminded Nepal’s firm commitment to advancing people-centered development, human rights, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.    
    
The preventable maternal mortality must be reduced, comprehensive sexuality education promoted, youth participation enhanced in decision-making processes, and the National Population Data system for the full realization of the plan of action of the ICPD strengthened, he underlined. (RSS)